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Why high school athletics suck in Ohio

posted by Jeff | Tuesday, December 23, 2003, 2:31 PM | comments: 2
This has me so pissed off I don't know where to begin.

State regulations spike players' chance at camp

The OHSAA has been a pain in the ass for far too long. These assholes in Columbus are so backward thinking it's disgraceful.

I've been to the High Performance tryouts... they're insane. The best of the best (with honors, sir!) show up for these things and get to experience volleyball at a level they can't get anywhere else. Thanks to the state's fucked up rules, they can't go to this camp.

It's not the only stupid thing they've done. Not more than three kids from the same school can play together on the same club team either. That's stupid for older kids because at that point you know what your varsity teams are going to be like, and it's stupid for the younger kids because the opportunities to play club far outnumber those at the kids' schools.

And then this bullshit they say about "protecting" the kids from "exploitation?" Give me a break. Since when do we not allow kids to do the things they're interested in? That's insanity. We should be thankful that they want to do anything that isn't drugs, alcohol and unprotected sex.

These kids get further screwed because these are the kind of experiences they need to perhaps land scholarships. Are Ohio kids doomed to miss out because of where they live? That's stupid.

But what do you expect from the OHSAA? This is the organization that has been putting off adopting the newer rules for volleyball for years, and it shows. Club volleyball, organized under USA Volleyball and our Ohio Valley Region, is getting to be much bigger than high school volleyball. It's already more competitive. You can't even compare.

If I had limitless cash, I'd step in and sue the shit out of the OHSAA to see to it that these kids could go to the camp and retain their eligibility. The truth is, it will only be a few more years until high school volleyball plays second to club anyway. We'll show them!

Comments

freeze

December 23, 2003, 10:28 PM # I was just reading that article. "Protecting" the kids from "exploitation". That's some bullshit. OHSAA makes the rules up as they go along. Different sport, different rules. They tried to suspend LeBron James for taking a throwback jersey under a rule that couldn't hold water in court. I wouldn't blame you if you sued, good chance you'd win.
Exploitation was the word of the last year concerning Lebron. OHSAA was nowhere to be found when scalpers were selling $15 tickets for the state basketball tourney last year for 4 bills, and had no problem letting St. Vincent St. Mary pimp him across the country for finanical gain.
For high school, football has a shitload of national camp, some in Ohio. Basketball has AAU camps, matter of fact, they go as low as the 2nd grade. OHSAA's not raising hell about that and all the shoe companies executives and agents are lerking around those places.
If you read between the lines, Clair Muscaro and the OHSAA posse might have short arms and deep pockets when it comes to the other sports. If this was football, basketball, or even baseball, it's a non-issue. It's a shame to shut down these opportunity for kids over some nonsense.

astrosgp

December 24, 2003, 12:47 AM #
Muscaro said the rule also is intended to keep elite players from gaining more of a competitive advantage over other athletes.

Wait a second, I thought the point of competitive sports was to practice and train hard to become a better player??? Perhaps we whould just not keep score and just hope everyone has fun? You know, like they do in T-ball for four year olds. Give me a break.

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