IPS athletes hope sports can stay in play

YPRESS MEMBER LOGIN

PRINT THIS PAGE
EMAIL TO A FRIEND
RELATED STORIES
MOST COMMENTED
ARCHIVE
MOST EMAILED
RSS FEEDS

MEET THE AUTHORS

NAME — Keisha Mitchell
AGE — 19

NAME — Joe Morgan
AGE — 19

IPS ATHLETES HOPE SPORTS CAN STAY IN PLAY

Photo by Ariana Gainer, 11

August 13, 2006

By Keisha Mitchell, 17, Joe Morgan, 17

Jarell Davenport is a three-sport athlete at Tech High School. So, he's skeptical about a new Indianapolis Public Schools proposal that could cut sports teams.

"It's not fair to anybody," said Jarell, 17, who plays football, wrestles and runs track.

His doubt is echoed by many IPS student-athletes. Some believe the new program could turn students away from the state's largest school district.

Others cut IPS administrators slack for drumming up a revised version of the plan that ultimately restored several teams, including Howe Academy's football team.

"They actually took the time to take kids' opinions," said Lauren Gorton, 17, a Howe Academy senior who plays softball and volleyball. "That's good because it's not actually the adults playing the sports; it's us that play."

IPS School Board members will vote on the final proposal in a matter of weeks. "We expect it to pass," said Curt Ervin, IPS athletic director. "We haven't heard much opposition."

Nationally, students have expressed concerns about their rights to participate in high school sports. Hundreds of students in the Racine (Wis.) Unified School District, outside of Milwaukee, walked out of class in protest last year when budget cuts threatened elimination of sports programs.

Howe Academy students have protested teacher cuts, and Lauren said they're prepared to protest again if any of the school's sports are eliminated.

The IPS proposal actually boosts the athletic budget for high school sports by more than $900,000 to about $1.5 million by the 2008-09 school year. It provides an extra $350,700 for middle school and elementary athletic programs. But Superintendent Eugene White has said he wants the money spent more wisely.

Last fall, White said the district's athletic program was unable to provide IPS with strong teams.

"The current program is dysfunctional, and it compromises the success of our children by failing to prepare them for competition," he said in the proposal.

White has a long track record with sports. He's a former coach for Fort Wayne schools and played basketball in college. He said that experience helped him to be a better student.

The proposal has been in the works for a year. The first drafts eliminated sports at several high schools; many were restored after public outcry.

Participant numbers are key

Those sports remain in jeopardy if they don't attract a certain number of student-athletes.

Among other components of the plan:

All of the schools will offer basketball, cross country, soccer, track and volleyball this year.

Every school except Crispus Attucks will have baseball, football, softball and wrestling teams.

Golf will be limited to Tech, Broad Ripple, Manual, Northwest and Crispus Attucks.

Tennis will be offered at Arlington, Tech, Broad Ripple and Manual.

Swimming will be offered at Broad Ripple, Tech and Washington.

Some schools that don't attract a quota of athletes for the 2008-09 school year in soccer, wrestling, tennis or golf teams could lose those teams.

In other cases, teams would be spared, but one or more coaches would lose their jobs. Under the proposal, Crispus Attucks will always offer golf and soccer.

Lauren said she's optimistic that more Howe students will join sports teams that are in danger of being cut because of low participation rates. She says she'll urge other girls to try out for softball and volleyball, even after she has graduated.

The school district's sports records have been unimpressive in recent years. A Star survey last fall found IPS high schools won only three sectional championships over the past five years, compared to 192 titles at the seven metro-area high schools.

White has said he believes the new proposal will lead to more IPS wins.

But high school sports should be more about giving kids a chance to learn a sport and make friends rather than winning, said Andrew McLeish, who graduated last spring from Howe Academy.

"You're taking away the opportunities of all these kids and what they can do," said Andrew, valedictorian of his class and a multi-sport athlete.

White has argued that the revised program would boost opportunities for students, especially those in younger grades. Feeder systems at middle and elementary schools will teach students a common core of fundamental skills that will help them thrive in sports as they get older, he said.

"This proposal takes participation, preparation, coaching, facilities and discipline into consideration," White said in the report. "It is structured to maximize our resources and compensate our coaches in order to recruit the best coaches available."

Kudos from IHSAA

Officials at the Indiana High School Athletic Association praised the IPS proposal for beefing up sports instruction in elementary and middle schools.

"I think Dr. White is pro-athletics and wants IPS to do well," said Blake Ress, the association's commissioner. "He's not out to create more problems, but wants to develop sports teams systematically."

Eliminating programs when participation in a sport dwindles makes sense, Ress said.

Many Indiana high schools have stopped offering certain sports because both money and student interest have dried up. For example, several schools had male gymnastics teams 25 years ago. None do today, and it's no longer an IHSAA sport.

Smaller high schools such as Alexandria Monroe, Eastbrook and Lanesville have cut less-popular sports such as soccer, swimming and gymnastics.

But the pattern reaches school districts in big cities, too, including Speedway and Pike Township schools. Girls gymnastics often falls victim to cuts because it requires specialized equipment.

Even IPS hasn't offered all 19 eligible sports teams at every high school. Tech offered 18, Manual and Howe 13 sports each and Washington 11.

"IPS students show signs of outstanding athleticism, but their skills are underdeveloped and limited," White said. "If we are to provide athletics for our students -- and the public consensus seems to be we should -- then they must be quality programs."

Many IPS high school students doubt the proposed reforms will make a difference.

"I don't feel that the teams will improve at all," Jarell said. "I believe they're gonna get way worse because people are gonna get sick of messing with IPS, and they're gonna send their kids to township schools, and then we're back to square one because there are gonna be no talented athletes at all."

Students also are skeptical of the transfer option, which offers them the sport they want at another school. A transfer could render them ineligible for a year.

Jarell also worries he'll lose the motivation to maintain good grades if he loses any of his sports.

"If I lose something, like wrestling or football, it'll affect me a lot," he said. Sports keep him motivated to get good grades, he added.

A North Carolina High School Athletic Association study found student-athletes had a B- average, up from the C average of non-athletes. Athletes also missed half as many days and posted lower dropout rates.

IPS students and graduates have offered some alternative ways to improve sports in their school district.

McLeish suggests finding corporate sponsorships for school teams.

Jarell said the IPS superintendent should review how other school districts operate and should get more serious about fundraising. He suggested looking to professional teams such as the Colts for support.

Emily Warren, a Howe Academy senior who plays softball and volleyball, is worried that fewer sports opportunities will hurt athletes hoping for college athletic scholarships.

"What chance does that give a child to go on to college if nobody looks at them while they're in high school, playing sports?" she asked.

REPORTERS: Millie Cripe, 13, Steven Thompson, 15, and Tommaso Verderame, 12

Check out the proposal

To read the proposal on the IPS sports programs, visit www.athletics.ips.k12.in.us/athleticproposal/default.aspx

Girls grapple with sexism in sports
	By Keisha Mitchell, 17, Joe Morgan, 17 Tasha Borta and Katelynn Todd think it's only fair that they be allowed on the North Montgomery High School wrestling team -- even though their teammates and a lot of their competitors are male.
Football still a closed sport to many girls
	By Keisha Mitchell, 17, Joe Morgan, 17 "Girls can do anything boys can do." Visit any playground in the United States, and you are almost guaranteed to hear this phrase being shouted by a handful of girls. Times have changed from when the only sport girls could participate in was croquet. Title IX of the federal Education Amendments of 1972 requires girls and boys to have equal opportunities to participate in sports. But while the play
Women aim to be athletes to look up to
	By Keisha Mitchell, 17, Joe Morgan, 17 Young Niele Ivey intently watches the basketball game on television with her four older brothers. Her eyes focus on the moves and actions of her favorite player, Michael Jordan. More than 10 years later, Jordan continues to be one of Ivey's role models because of "his personality and his dedication to the sport and to his family. He was in the gym an hour before practice, an hour after practice, a
Gender split doesn't bother soccer players
	By Keisha Mitchell, 17, Joe Morgan, 17 Before the 1970s, soccer was almost nonexistent in the United States. Since then, however, it has steadily gained in popularity so that now it is played routinely at the high school level, as well as at a national one. In Marion County schools, about 900 boys and 700 girls are on varsity soccer rosters. While play at the elementary level is often co-ed, few Marion County high school teams are mixe
Steroids? Not around us, athletes claim
	By Keisha Mitchell, 17, Joe Morgan, 17 W hen former All-Star Jose Canseco used his book "Juiced" to go public on steroid use by professional baseball players, it not only embarrassed the sport, it cast suspicion over other athletes, even at the high school level. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in its 2000 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance survey that among high school seniors, 3.3 percent of females and 6.4 perc
Teens offer lessons on high school
	By Keisha Mitchell, 17, Joe Morgan, 17 It's his first day at Cathedral High School. As he walks through the noisy, crowded hallways, he is overcome with a sense of fear and anticipation. Then it hits him: He has no idea where his first class is. He finally finds it, but he's 20 minutes late. He tries to slip in without being noticed, but the door announces his entrance with a "Click, Errrrk!"
Censorship in schools
	By Keisha Mitchell, 17, Joe Morgan, 17 At Noblesville High School, student journalists were discouraged. They had tried for weeks to get a story about teen drug abuse published in the school newspaper without success. Administrators didn't like the story, but students couldn't understand why. At Columbus North High School, it was a different story. The newspaper staff, with the approval of the principal, was able to publish a sensitive, well-researched story about the realities of oral sex among teens.
8 'pillars' hold up Key Schools
	By Keisha Mitchell, 17, Joe Morgan, 17 The walls lack a student-of-the-month plaque, an honor roll list and a trophy display case. Outside the classroom, you won't find any school group competing in sports or academic contests. Yet, students flock here every day, year-round. Dozens more are on a waiting list. Welcome to Key Learning Community, the first Indianapolis elementary school to rely on the multiple intelligence theory that learning can't always be measured by standardized tests. The Indianapolis Public Schools elementary opened in 1987. A middle school followed in 1993, and a high school opened in 1999.
As spectators, parents can take fun out of games
	By Keisha Mitchell, 17, Joe Morgan, 17 Have you ever seen parents beating each other with clubs, chains and brass knuckles at a youth sporting event? According to three Lawrence Township students, such actions aren't far from the truth. After all, a Massachusetts man was just convicted of beating to death another man after a youth hockey practice. Payton DeLong, 15; Nicole Sharp, 13; and Lauren Hobert, 12, all participate in athletics.