By Owen Gotimer
LoCoSports Editor-in-Chief
[twitter-follow screen_name=’BigO_Gotimer’]
(June 4, 2016) — I’ll be the first to admit: student-athletes in some sports don’t get as much coverage from the media as others. Heck, some sports don’t get covered at all. But when the governing body of local high school sports decides to follow suit and completely dismiss the hard work of high school student-athletes, coaches and teams, something is wrong.
Due to weather and safety concerns, the VHSL decided to cancel the remaining events at the VHSL 3A/4A state championship meet which was being held at Harrisonburg High School on June 3 and 4, according to MileStat.com.
Track & Field: BREAKING! Some quacks at @VHSL decided to cancel the #VHSL3A/#VHSL4A state championship meet! #WhoWonStates?
— LoCoSports (@LoCoSports) June 4, 2016
Student-athletes from 52 public high schools in the VHSL 4A classification will be left without a team state champion in 2016 and without individual state champions in the 200-meter, 800-meter and 4×400-meter relay, according to a source.
Seniors from 103 public high schools who have worked their entire seasons, their entire high school careers, their entire lives for the chance to race for a state championship will no longer have that opportunity.
This is plainly inexcusable.
I agree safety has to be the most important concern for each and every one of these student-athletes. But there have to be alternatives to cancelling the final events.
For example, the VHSL could race those events next weekend at one of the jubilee sites for the other spring sports championships. The VHSL will already have officials on site to host state championships for baseball, softball, soccer and lacrosse and probably without much effort could hold those three VHSL 4A track & field events before, during or after the baseball, softball, soccer or lacrosse state championship games – which, in case anyone was wondering, will not take place on the track.
Or the VHSL could simply push the remaining events to a weekend one, two or three weeks from now.
@VHSL_athletics step into the athletes shoes: especially the seniors. This was their last race. Let them finish, win or lose #whowonstates
— Lohr, Sean (@sean_lohr) June 4, 2016
These student-athletes deserve the opportunity to finish their careers with a chance at running for state championship glory.
When I sat down to launch LoCoSports, I wrote a mission statement:
LoCoSports’ mission is to provide high school student-athletes in Loudoun County with the recognition they deserve while providing in-depth, genuine and timely updates to student-athletes, coaches, administrators, classmates, parents and fans. Local student-athletes pour sweat, tears and long hours into their crafts while maintaining eligible academic standing, and it’s time for each and every one of them — no matter their school, their sport or their gender — to be showcased.
While our staff certainly covers some sports more than others, we try our best to give every sport its fair share of attention.
After a long season, athletes dedicating their all to what they love, you up and left. #whowonstates @VHSL_athletics @VHSL
— Woodgrove XC/TF (@GroveXC) June 4, 2016
In an effort to give our local track & field athletes media attention in 2016, LoCoSports added LoCo Top Times pages for both boys and girls: tracking and ranking the top times and scores for student-athletes in Loudoun County.
However, the VHSL has clearly opted not to put any effort into providing a fair answer to these hardworking student-athletes.
If there were weather and safety concerns surrounding the VHSL 6A state championship football game, would an alternative solution have been provided?
Simply put, the VHSL underappreciates these track & field student-athletes.
Sadly, the VHSL won’t change its mind this spring, but maybe this rant will lead to a more positive outcome if a similar situation was to occur in the future.
In the meantime, I guess we are all left wondering #WhoWonStates?
Big O, out.
3 Comments
Excellent article and spot on! Thank you!
Thank you for writing this! My son would have been in the 800m race today and while not a senior, he still deserves his race. What I can’t understand is why the rest of the meet was cancelled when the weather cleared 15 minutes after the meet was called…..
I know, right! My son (a senior) was warming up for the 800m when they pulled the kids inside. If they had just waited a little longer. We went to dinner and ice cream in town after they canceled and still no more storm. They had plenty of time to get the rest of the meet in. Heck, had the race been managed better, they could have been done before the storms arrived. Lots of things they could have done here. They didn’t even get the t-shirts right….no boys names! Really! This whole meet was a mess. It needs to be moved away from Harrisonburg HS and this meet official has no business running a meet of this caliber.