Wherein I Am Saved From Ruining Something Beautiful by a Cadre of Teenage Girls
In my exalted position as middle school Athletic Director, I am often charged with making unpleasant budgetary decisions regarding how many sports we can participate in each year, given the district does not sufficiently fund the full compliment of sports. On the chopping block this year was volleyball -- probably girls and boys, but definitely boys. The reasons abound: lack of prior success, lack of popular support, the majority of the boys team would be drawn from the basketball team, who I thought would be playing in many spring tournaments, the desire to fund track & field where we would be more competitive.
When the news breaks regarding volleyball's demise, one particular group of incredibly motivated, successful, driven young ladies -- the ones I am no longer smart enough to communicate with -- want to know why. I break down the budget, the relative costs of sports, the absurdly high cost of transportation ($189 to travel 6 miles!). They literally take notes and then devise a plan to save the season. They take surveys of potential male interest, hold informational meetings, convince a teacher to coach, and essentially resurrect both the girls and boys teams from the my evil cost-cutting clutches.
Although successful by our school's less than stellar volleyball standards, the girls fell one loss short of the playoffs. The boys on the other hand, sneak in as the last seed, upset a 1-seed on their home floor, beat a 2-seed, and yesterday played for the county championship in this big, bright gym with expensive banners hanging from the ceiling and a polished shine on the floor. The girls have traveled with them to every game, making signs and cheering, and its been this big positive rush of good feelings. Boys volleyball? In the championship? "And to think," muse several of my colleagues, "we almost didn't have a season..."
They lost. In three sets. A lot of nerves, a lot of frustration, some impressive spiking by the other squad, and they fall a few points short of a goal nobody even considered possible.
Except maybe those girls.
When the news breaks regarding volleyball's demise, one particular group of incredibly motivated, successful, driven young ladies -- the ones I am no longer smart enough to communicate with -- want to know why. I break down the budget, the relative costs of sports, the absurdly high cost of transportation ($189 to travel 6 miles!). They literally take notes and then devise a plan to save the season. They take surveys of potential male interest, hold informational meetings, convince a teacher to coach, and essentially resurrect both the girls and boys teams from the my evil cost-cutting clutches.
Although successful by our school's less than stellar volleyball standards, the girls fell one loss short of the playoffs. The boys on the other hand, sneak in as the last seed, upset a 1-seed on their home floor, beat a 2-seed, and yesterday played for the county championship in this big, bright gym with expensive banners hanging from the ceiling and a polished shine on the floor. The girls have traveled with them to every game, making signs and cheering, and its been this big positive rush of good feelings. Boys volleyball? In the championship? "And to think," muse several of my colleagues, "we almost didn't have a season..."
They lost. In three sets. A lot of nerves, a lot of frustration, some impressive spiking by the other squad, and they fall a few points short of a goal nobody even considered possible.
Except maybe those girls.
posted by Kilian Betlach at 6:58 AM
1 Comments:
Topic Hijack from Liz at I Speak of Dreams
You've been eduwonked
Thursday, April 06, 2006
New Edublogs...And Is Russo In Legal Or Physical Jeopardy?
Couple of new edublogs on the blogroll, including this one, Teaching in the 408, which I didn't know about until Russo trashed it! I like it. Not to worry though, he'll get his because reading the comments* on the post it seems ed school prof/blogger James Horn, last seen here accusing Jay Mathews of altering his WaPo stories, is either going to sue or attempt to harm Russo, or perhaps both. *Yes, finally something interesting in the comments even if it is Russo's potential legal or physical demise.
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