I learned the truth
14 years ago about the state track team championship meet sponsored annually by the Michigan Interscholastic High School Track Coaches Association (MITCA).
I learned that despite all we’re told about dedicated athletes in search of individual and school glory, when it comes to the MITCA meet, it’s not so much. To be sure, there are many who sacrifice their blood, sweat and tears, but there are also too many who value more a good time with their buds.
Hopkins and Wayland have had to endure the difficult personal choices athletes must make because the championship has been held the morning after the annual “Grad Bash” parties in which students party down all night long. Though this challenge does not apply to non-seniors, the majority of point-scoring athletes on track teams indeed often are seniors.
It was a Saturday during the Memorial Day weekend of 2002 that I first witnessed the MITCA meet. The Wayland boys’ team had won the Division 2 regional title to qualify and my son, Robby, was a distance runner for the Wildcats.
Wayland did pretty well, considering the absence of its top thrower. He had injured himself earlier that morning trying to prove his powerlifting prowess by trying it out with the bus that brought the kids to the Grad Bash site. He was injured so badly he could not compete. He was a terrific shot putter and discus thrower and would have scored a boatload of points.
I also learned that day that some other Wildcat seniors were competing in a sort of daze, having been awake all night to celebrate their graduations at the all-night party. I told my wife I was appalled that the kids wouldn’t choose to be in better condition for a state championship, but she defended the lads for wanting to make their last night with classmates special.
Fast forward to 2012 and 2013, when I covered the Hopkins girls’ teams after they qualified for the MITCA meet, but there were some sub-par performances that I was told were the results of a few Lady Vikings being only half awake.
So in too many instances, the kids were confronted with an important question — would you rather cut the Grad Bash a little short for sleep to be in better shape for the championship, or would you choose the party down all night long? It’s been my experience that too many choose the latter. It’s a matter of values.
I understand that all-night graduation parties were started in the mid-1980s in an attempt to avoid too many teens celebrating too much and getting themselves killed while driving drunk. Yet I have long wondered if there is a better way to handle that problem.
I fear that too many businesses have taken advantage of parents, who are forced to fund-raise throughout the academic year to pay for the destination, transportation and the prizes. Back in my day, during the Punic Wars, the graduates all fanned out to their homes for cake, ice cream and gifts from Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Louie and Aunt Pitty-Pat. The trouble came later in the evening when the guests left and students went out howling, sometimes getting too carried away.
I just wish there was a way for parents to spend a lot less money and time fund-raising to come up with an alternative grad party. And I wish there was some way to avoid that nasty conflict between graduation and the MITCA meet.
Good luck to the Lady Vikings, who stand a decent shot because many of their top guns are freshmen. But can they keep the likes of Bailey Ballard, Julia Forbes and Shelby Henshaw rested and ready to rock and roll?
