The joy of journalism is it shows the journalist exactly how intelligent he or she is. Everyone makes mistakes, that’s what corrections are for.
I greeted Thursday like it was my first day of school. I was hydrated, dressed for the weather, and my best equipment was laid out for the first day of high school athletic practices. Just like a kid waiting for a school bus that would never arrive, I was devastated that I had the wrong day.
The mistake meant two things, not the least not having a feature article for the weekend edition.
First and foremost, I would write a correction. The deadliest error a reporter can make is doubling down on the error by mentally justifying it with — yes, I was wrong, but, after all, shouldn’t the first day of school be the first official day of practice?
Sure, I misspelled Kadyn’s name, but shouldn’t it be spelled Kaiden? Why is there not a uniform way to spell Kaiden?
When I worked in Richmond County, North Carolina, the first day of practice was July 31, which wasn’t exactly true because the team I covered essentially practiced every weekday throughout the summer as part of their strength and conditioning program.
The Richmond Senior High School football team was good, really good. I would compare their summer program to some of the D-I college programs I’ve covered in the past. They could run plays with the same skill a 15th century blacksmith could sharpen a katana. They were in shape. They were fundamentally sound when it counted. Everything they did was clean.
Yes, the Richmond Raiders had injuries, but those injuries weren’t from tackles. They did tackle drills throughout the summer. They scrimmaged other teams. Before going 100% for 12 consecutive Fridays, they learned how to do everything right so the right 11 guys were on the field every Friday. And that was a year-round process.
I greatly respect the area programs because when it comes to strength and conditioning, they know it is a year-round process. Sure, kids still get injured from time to time but with great training area teams avoid a lot of injuries. Other programs I covered at previous newspapers did not. However, when it comes to practices starting Monday, three school days after the first day of school, I do not believe that is enough time to prepare kids for America’s most dangerous non-motor assisted sport.
This is no indictment of any coaches. They do great. It’s less than two weeks of live hitting, letting a player’s body adjust to the equipment. The type of football I played is not the type of football they play today. It’s more sophisticated while simultaneously faster and the hits are harder. I understand the need to try to avoid concussions but maybe the solution isn’t less time on the field. Maybe, it’s more time.
No, the first day of high school practice was not Thursday, but it should be. It should be sooner. July and August is the peak time for family vacations, but coaches can work around those. KSHSAA officials should develop policies such as earlier practice schedules and increase the number of summer participation days. That or I’m just doubling down on being wrong.
