For fans of the status quo, the press release from the annual meeting of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association is a good read.
Proposed amendments to WIAA by-laws intended to address competitive equity were defeated last month, meaning that divisional placements for postseason tournaments will stay the same.
One of the amendments that got shot down would have promoted schools to a higher division based on how successful the school had been over the past three years.
Another amendment that went belly-up would have applied an enrollment subtractor based on the number of students at the school receiving free or discounted lunches.
With both amendments failing by more than a 2-to-1 margin, it is clear that the majority of WIAA members feel that the bylaws in their present form aren’t broke and don’t need fixing.
In summarizing the results of the annual meeting, Todd Clark, the WIAA director of communications, made a couple of salient observations with regard to the winning-is-everything ethos pervading our culture.
“There is really no silver bullet to balance the playing field,” Clark said. “The discussion could be on where our priorities are with athletics.”
It’s doubtful that anyone could have foreseen the gargantuan leap in societal influence that sports has taken over the past 25 years. For proof, check out the proliferation of radio and television shows dedicated solely to the art of jaw-flapping about missed cutoff men, blown layups, bad contracts and all things sports.
Clark’s point was that too many athletic functions are structured for the benefit of the premier athletes, and that along the way a lot of others are marginalized.
“High school athletics isn’t about all of the elite kids,” Clark said. “Athletics are just as meaningful to the kid who’s the seventh or eighth one on the bench. There are top-level travel teams in baseball or softball, driving all over Wisconsin for games against other elite teams. There’s no end game to it. How many tournament championships are enough?
“The benefits kid get from athletics have been shown – it’s about self-confidence, a better self-image, which can lead to better attendance, better grades, those kinds of things. All kids should get the benefit of athletics, not just the top players.”
Equality in high school athletics has been a hot topic ever since someone noticed the coincidental number of good athletes who sought the disciplined instruction of a parochial school education where, coincidentally, other good athletes also attended.
Those eager to level the playing field will echo Clark’s sentiments, while reasonable defenders of the status quo say that the parity camp won’t be satisfied until every football, basketball and baseball team in Wisconsin finishes .500. Less reasonable defenders of the status quo are soon braying about entitlements and socialism.
In their purest form, sports can reflect that allegorical life parallel: You win some, you lose some, some days are better than others, but keep hustling and good stuff eventually happens. The defeats along the way make the wins sweeter.
No one gets through a lifetime unbeaten, untied and unscored upon. To that end, it is healthy to experience the full spectrum of outcomes in athletic competition.
It’s when defeat becomes routine and inevitable that inspiration dissolves and the psyche takes a pounding.
Those seeking to even out the playing field will likely revisit the issue in the future, hoping to come away with something other than a reminder that life ain’t fair.
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