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Show Thursday, December 27, 2007 Page 12 0 R E M TIMES SPORTS?'E&EC Utah high school sports: A sorioys business Ethan Thomas Lvery I rid;iy evening in the full I he Timpview High School football stadium fills with fans who've come to wat h the Thundcrbirds devour yet another an-other opponent. At Timpview, winning is stamped in the minds of their up-and-coming players who have seen their school win three of the last four '1A state championships. If a quick trip to the I impview team Web site can't help you understand how im-portant im-portant football is there, then maylx-the two I V stations covering t lie game will. The T-liird players and their 2-rnan 2-rnan coaching stall take things serious and the results have followed "Ixik at our players," Timpview offensive coordinator coordi-nator ('had Van Orden said. "We've got good players at every spot and they just keep coming. I think we provide them with the environment to he successful." Timpview 's success is a great example of how impor weekfeVisfc& -r. akVng Most Insurance Plans Accepted Payment Options Available Great With Children Senior Discount Emergencies Welcome Nitrous Oxide - Preventive Dentistry Cosmetic Dentistry Teeth Whitening Crowns & Bridges Dr. Dentures Root Canals Sedation Dentistry Smile Re-Design Tooth Colored Fillings FINANCING AVAILABLE Valid V, S I T -mm 1 II I L nWrtfi fill Ji tant high school sports have In-come statewide. For some Utah high school athletes, winning is everything. 1 he increased pressure has brought success to many programs, but the results are not always as jositive. Something to talk about I his past football season has been full of positives, but it has also given those in charge of high schools sK)rts a lot of headaches. Before the 2007 began, Timpview head coach I.ouis Wong was suspended for a game by the Utah High Schcxl Activities Association (Ull-SAA) (Ull-SAA) because of a recruiting violation. The accusations were made by city-rival Provo I ligh School. In September, 22 players were kicked off of the 1 1 Merest I ligh School football team after skipping practice in protest of head coach Kirk Merhish's coaching style. The athletes' actions may have been influenced influ-enced by their parents, who fought hard to have their chil- iRlatesSRgciafeCMdtHms) Bnm&Rib FridavsWdaTJy toferoups. foRy,our6titiihneTr? - . t . ! uimuercmcaiesiHyaiiaDieiT i orderV for Holiday Steven R. Braithwaite & Family mi J y TKKTH WHITENING WITH NEW 3 PATIENT EXAM, CLEANING & X-RAYS $175 Value! Valid ilh coupon only. Nol Valid ilh olhcr oilers. only will new patient eiarm I'tptre 10M07 r. WW"" , -, MARK JOHNSTONNorth County Mountain View's Mark Garrett right tries to complete a pass over Timpview's Michael Alisa on Sept. 14. dren reinstated, but to no avail. .lust weeks later, the UH-SAA UH-SAA allowed a mid-season transfer to a rival school after a dispute between a player and a coach. "Anytime you elevate the competition, you elevate the chance for pxr sportsman- i i l.Jf t. VI ' pies & rolls!s mmm outKioqv&t OBMi r '-v.,1' yn yxm 4f r j- 2 Bed, 2 Bath, I IX m mm m$ LEASE OPTION FOR AS LITTLE AS $1,000 DOWN, $995 Mo. Limited Availability! Only 4 Units Left! HURRY! Matt Evans 801-437-5600 MCMMmnmnnnMEE 615 acre recreational estates underground utilities electric, phone state-of-the-art water system restrictive covenants architectural review committee well-maintained roads year-round access call B01 368 8272 soldiersummit.com 0 ship," said Rob Cuff, assistant director of the UHSAA. "So we have some things we need to continue to work on." Another incident happened during the state football playoffs play-offs when American Fork and Hunter were involved in a bench-clearing brawl that involved both players and fans. The game was called with 1:59 remaining, after which five players were disciplined because be-cause of their roles in the fight. The lack of sportsmanship displayed by players, coaches and parents may be a key to the problems that have plagued high school sports in Utah this past year. Each sport carries with it a different type of pressure. "Sometimes the pressure is good, and other times it is bad," Cuff remarked. "And for each sport it is different. In basketball and baseball, the coach has added pressure from making cuts that the football coach doesn't usually have to worry about." Pressure manifested The pressure on the athletes ath-letes and coaches involved in the highly competitive realm of sports is usually shown through their actions. "One of the issues going on today is the win-at -all-costs philosophy," phi-losophy," said sports psychologist psycholo-gist Ron Chamberlain. "All across the sports world there is pressure on coaches and players, play-ers, from parents, fans, and sometimes media." tRstMI ir ilKttt R . " "i 1 300 Sq. Ft. Contaci Dan Evans 801437-3922 MOUNTAIN ESTATES marketed through: David Cunningham Bankers Realty devetopedby. I I I N M t O It If Athletes who fall for this philosophy and let their emotions emo-tions spill out onto the playing field might not have this type of pressure in any other aspect of their life. The pressure isn't always a bad thing, either. For instance, when someone feels the pressure pres-sure mounting on him or her but they are able to succeed, it makes success feel even better. Chamberlain feels that this is the reason most people participate partici-pate in or coach sports: They are either motivated by their dreams or their fears. "Good kids and good parents get involved in sports and they say and do things they might never do in other situations," he noted. Keeping up with the big boys Pressure in sports is not new to states like Texas, California, Califor-nia, and Florida, which have always been the go-to states for college recruiters looking to nab the best talent in the country. What makes them the best has always been their ability to produce a number of different players who are able to play college sports. The way they groom them, through great coaching and enhanced competition, has always been the secret recipe. But that isn't the only reason. rea-son. Part of making it through high school and into another level of athletic competition is the exposure athletes get. There can be great athletes that don't have the luxuries of exposure, and sometimes they become a feel-good story about a kid who came out of nowhere. While Utah is still not to the level of notoriety that these bigger states are, it is moving quite steadily in that direction. "The state is growing at a rapid pace, new schools are being be-ing created and the amount of talent is increasing," explained American Fork head football coach Davis Knight. Knight, who is in his 41st year at American Fork, has seen the evolution that has taken tak-en place throughout the state as the population has grown by nearly one million people since 1990. Of course, the increasing population brings more talent to the forefront and teams are becoming more and more competitive com-petitive as the time goes by. "Now we have teams that are reaching out and playing programs from other states," Knight said. "Like us, we went and played one of the best teams in the country, Mater Dei in California." In fact, Utah high schools played 33 football games against teams from California, Nevada, Colorado, Hawaii, Wyoming, Georgia and Alaska in 2007. In those 33 games, the Utah teams boasted a 21-14 combined record. Turning heads As Utah continues to improve im-prove the level of competition - Y if f A IT II rvnuiuauic Tdx edo Shouldn't f 377 Look Like 7828 University Pkwy (Brigham Landing) li (Him p1iTl. If 1774 N. f Prow within its amateur athletics, the coverage it receives from media outlets in the area is also increasing. Just 10 years ago, student-athletes student-athletes would expect no more than to see their game in a box score in the morning paper. pa-per. Now, games are covered much more extensively in the newspapers, and many prep contests are now broadcast on the radio or television. "Since I arrived here in Utah, I think the local media market has recognized the importance impor-tance of covering (high school sports)," TV and radio personality person-ality Alema Harrington said. "And it is worth it because it wouldn't be covered if it wasn't a high-quality product." Two major sports radio stations sta-tions carried a football 'game of the week' on their airwaves, while newspapers beefed up coverage throughout the state to feed the higher level of interest inter-est in the communities. The latest wrinkle was the increased television coverage throughout this past football season. Park City TV continued contin-ued to offer their games with a tape delay, as did Comcast through their On Demand service, ser-vice, but KJZZ TV broadcasted a live game weekly, something unique to the market. The station also did live broadcasts for both the basketball basket-ball and football championships this year. While the media coverage is oftentimes positive in nature, the attention could bring out the egos of those affected by the coverage and cause un-needed un-needed problems. "I don't think it can be helped," Harrington said. "Good things are being magnified magni-fied and bad things are going to be magnified as well. The positive of the coverage is that before, some of those things might have floated under the radar, but at least now they can be addressed." Easing the burden The coverage prep athletes receive has brought to light the problems seen over this past football season. While those administering prep sports in the state have recognized that these challenges exist, the amount of help to solve them doesn't appear to be as extensive exten-sive as the many debates heard on talk radio. Besides a handbook, clinics clin-ics and several suspensions, the governing authority (UHSAA) has not been able to completely control the consequences of enhanced competition. One step has been to address ad-dress the growing area of drug and alcohol abuse amongst athletes. Whether it is performance-enhancing drugs, which are popping up in all levels of sports because of increased pressure to succeed, suc-ceed, or even recreational drugs athletes use as a means to relax and escape, the problem prob-lem is unavoidable. The Granite School District See PREP SPORTS, Page 13 ( A o . V It: ifi.itili CD ' If r 11)00) |
