Other than my son and my wife; high school basketball has been the most important thing in my life. I owe a lot to high school basketball. It was the reason that I went to university and became a teacher. I didn't really want to teach; I wanted to coach basketball and teaching was the best way to do that. Most of my closest friends come from my coaching; whether they were players or assistant coaches.
My love for high school basketball began in 1969 when I went to the Edmonton City Championship at the U of A. The game was between JP and Ross Shep. My memory of that night was crowd of Ross Shep fans pinning the officials to the wall at the end of the game; due to the fact that there was a no call in the last few seconds of a one point game (Refs - even then I knew that they were fuck-ups!). Since that night I have played, followed, watched, coached, lived and died high school basketball.
I was able to be part of one of the greatest dynasties in Alberta sports history. Our/my high school had a run of about 25 years that is the equal of almost all high school in Alberta. Yes I know about Raymond, HA, RS, but check the records. We were much more successful for a period of 25 years than any other high school. Being part of the wonderful tradition, the exciting times, and the success was something that I will never forget.
Now, this is not a trip down memory lane piece. The problem is the things that once made high school basketball wonderful are gone. The result is that high school basketball; as it now is played; basically sucks. It's dead. Playing high school sports should be something that spawns a lifetime of good memories. It is supposed to be a situation where kids get a chance to compete, have fun, get better, hopefully win some games, have good times after the games, maybe get the opportunity to play at the next level, spend time with their friends, live the life of a high school jock, get chicks, have the teachers look the other way because you are the starting point guard (Hmm... not talking about me specifically of course), and basically be a kid. Those are memories that come from high school basketball.
High school basketball used to be a very simple thing. It was my neighborhood against your neighborhood. Simple. Let's see if the guys in our school can beat the guys in your school. It may have been neighborhood verses neighborhood, Dogans verses Pagans. My town verses your town. That is what high school basketball WAS about. There was no recruiting. We didn't have kids all go the best school so they can win. Kids didn't change schools to play volleyball or football, and then go back just to play basketball. There would be a new good team each year because teams stayed together and improved. If they were young and had a poor record one year, they knew that they would be good next year and have a chance to win.
Now, high school basketball is a joke. There is only four teams in Edmonton with a chance to win. Ainley, Shep, JP and OL (And OL has a very small chance). That's it. All the good players in the city basically go to those schools so they can win ( Just like LBJ did in the NBA). Why the hell should any other schools even play? It is a waste of time. You'll hear the bleeding heart idiots; who have never played or competed, talk about just 'playing for fun', 'do your best', 'everyone gets to play', 'everyone gets a medal', 'as long as you try', blah, blah, blah. What bullshit. Playing is about competing. If you cannot compete with teams because the playing field is uneven; why the fuck waste your time, and energy?
And believe me, the playing field is not even. The big four have all the advantages and if they lose; it's because they didn't work hard enough or had really, really shitty coaching. Kids now want to win at all costs. The kids think, that if they get every good player in the city to come to; say, Ainley, they'll win. It's like shooting fish in a barrel. How can RS and HA lose; yet they seem to. JP has as many 'transfers' (a softer, gentler word for recruits) and still never wins (they do work hard so...). The big four get all of the publicity from the papers. If someone came from out of town and reads the Edmonton Journal's high school sports page (a rare occurrence), they will think that the only schools in all of Edmonton and surrounding areas, are HA, RS and JP. That's a joke. 80-90% of all articles in the 'Urinal' are about these three schools.
The big four have large populations, nice gyms, big tournament opportunities, pretty good coaching (as least one of them!), advantaged kids and and province wide reputations. Great players look at the positives and go there. Is this recruiting? Is it against the rules? I do wonder what would have happened if a coach or principal said no to the Alberta team player? Tell them to stay and play with his team at QE or wherever. Just because you don't go out and 'recruit' doesn't mean you don't recruit. We tell the kids to, "Just say no". Why don't the adults follow their own advice?
The other big reason that high school basketball is broken is the most serious of all: parent involvement. Parents have ruined high school basketball. They are allowed, by school administration, to get themselves involved and it is WRONG. Parents have their own agenda and do not care about teamwork, togetherness, role players, team depth, skill development and even winning. They only care about their child playing. That's it. What's best for the team does not matter. Just let my kid play and preferably let my kids shoot as much as they want, play no defense, not work hard or even come to practice, never pass the ball, not do any of the dirty work, or spend any time at all on the bench. And if the team loses; of course it is the coaches fault and a phone call will soon follow.
Parents think that because they have watched 50 basketball game since their precocious child began junior high; they are fucking experts on basketball. They have never played; they have never coached; they know nothing about developing a team; but they feel compelled to criticize and berate the coaches. Hmmm... Here is a coach that has spent 20 years teaching, coaching, learning about the game. They spend literally tens of thousands hours of their 'free' time trying to help young people get better. Daddy; who have spent 100 hours watching crappy basketball, is now the fucking expert and expects to give his opinion about how poor of a job the lifelong coach is doing. Jesus; I've eaten in a lot of restaurants, but I don't think I could tell the chef how to do it. Parents drive good coaches out and nobody holds them accountable for their bullying.
No high school coach is above this parental bullying. I know coaches that have won 4-5-6 provincial championships, who are still criticized, bullied and have had their lives made miserable by parents; who by some fucking miracle, know more that these coaches. Like the uneven playing field; why would you want to put in all the time and energy when you get nothing but grief and criticism from parents of kids that you are giving up your time to improve? So good coaches quit and the high school game suffers.
Kids don't understand commitment, nor do the parents reinforce the need for commitment. Coming to practice now is considered a suggestion to the kids. They come if they want. But they want to play 40 minutes the next game.
Kids work. They think that they should be able to work, not come to practice, and still play 40 minutes a game. Parents complain like hell when you set a practice schedule because it restricts poor Johnny's ability to work at Starbucks and make money.
Kids have low expectations of what high school basketball is all about. They just about shit themselves when they play against someone who plays hard and plays to win. When they have been given medals all of their life just for breathing, not for winning, your competitive spirit becomes non-existent. They have no ability of overcoming adversity. Mommy and daddy have always bailed them out and they expect it to happen in basketball or they quit. ...
And the phone calls begin. Those are just some of the reasons why high school basketball now sucks.
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