The code violation season

Even though it’s rainy this week, the warmer temps and the end of basketball season for most schools have us all thinking about spring and the spring sports season.

We soon will have the unique “thud” of baseballs and softballs into gloves, the sound of the starter’s pistol splitting the crisp air and the “wack” of the golf ball being smacked down the fairway off the first tee fill our ears.

Spring is the season of optimism. But it’s not all good.

I have no stats to back it up, but I think more kids commit acts that violate their school’s athletic code in the spring and summer than at any other time of the year. That makes them miss parts of or all of the spring season and beyond.

Consider this an open letter to parents, grandparents, guardians and anyone else who is responsible for kids from fifth grade through high school at 6A schools and 1A schools alike.

I am asking you for a favor. No, I am actually begging you to do something for me, and for you, and for those kids.

I want you to pull them aside — somewhere quiet, without anyone else around—and ask them these questions: “Do you vape?” …  “Do you drink?” …  “Are you doing anything that could get you in trouble?”

Here’s a hint: if they drop their eyes to the floor, take that as a “yes.” Another hint: if they say “no” but their eyes look down and to the left, take that as a “yes” also.

Either way, follow up with “If you took a drug test or a Blood Alcohol Content test right now, would you pass it?”

You’re looking for the same responses.

When I was in school in the 1980’s, I knew that there were kids who smoked occasionally, drank alcoholic beverages behind the barn, and/or did drugs — mostly during the spring and summer. I remember having to stop the team bus on the way home from a soccer game because one of my older teammates was having trouble breathing. I thought it was caused by the physical strain of a hard match. I was naïve and didn’t understand what was really happening until much later.

Once I knew, I didn’t have the confidence and courage to speak up. I was 15 years old.

I am not 15 anymore.

According to the most recent stats from the Indiana Youth Tobacco Survey done by the Indiana Department of Health, 9-percent of Indiana high school students use e-cigarettes regularly. And those who admitted using preferred the flavored kinds.

Please, don’t be blind to the truth. Athletes are doing it too! Not just trying it, doing it…regularly.

Maybe they are using the flavored kind. Maybe they are mixing in a little “pot” with it.

You may say “none of your business” or “worry about your own kids.” You don’t understand—your kids are my kids. They are my business. And we’re not just talking about Warsaw athletes here. I care about Wawasee kids, Triton kids, Tippecanoe Valley kids, Manchester and NorthWood and Whitko and Lakeland Christian kids too. Non-athletes and athletes alike. However, in my job as a radio announcer and sportscaster, I focus more on athletes. So does this column, generally.

My grief comes from the fact that I am watching kids work all year long, put in hundreds of hours in the weight room and conditioning, going to camps and traveling all over the Midwest and then needlessly put all of that at risk because they are violating their school’s athletic code. Why? How did they start? Who helped them start? I can’t answer any of those questions.

What I can do is beg you, again, to pull the teen in your life—girls as well as boys—into a room and have one of the most important conversations you’ll ever have with them.

And it starts with those simple, powerful questions: “Do you vape?”… “Do you drink?”…and “Are you doing anything to get into trouble?”

The biggest problem on the team your kid plays on may not be playing time, or whether they pass the ball enough or if the person playing shortstop should be playing short or second base. Simply by the numbers, one starter on every basketball team, 2 starters on every baseball and softball team, one golfer, one tennis player and multiple football players — are violating their school’s rules on substance abuse.

Ask the question.

No matter if they see their classmates doing it, they are still doing it. Teammates get caught and suspended for it, but they’ll still do it.

Ask the question.

“Can’t happen here”. “Not in my family. We’re tight.” “We live in a certain neighborhood.” “I know my kids.”

Do you? Do you really?

Ask the question … and brace yourself for the answer.