July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Lessons in swimming valuable (4/23/05)
Editor's Mailbag
By To the editor:-
As a child were you ever turned away from an activity or sport because you were not good enough?
Did you pour your heart and soul into something and try your very best, but still could not meet the standard set by the coaches?
Do you remember how that felt?
Did you ever have your parents tell you that you were not from the right family, or that you were from the wrong part of town, or the wrong side of the county?
Did you ever really understand why?
Wouldn’t a sport which takes all who are interested and are willing to put in a little hard work be a refreshing change? Wouldn’t it be nice to participate in a sport in which you could see your children gain self-confidence and learn teamwork as well?
Wouldn’t it be even more welcome to be from an outside community and know that your children would be accepted and brought into the fold as if they lived next door?
We have such a sport in Jay County. It is swimming.
In all the years I have been around the sport of swimming in Jay County, I have never seen anyone cut from the team. A lot of people may not realize that about our sport. There have been many, many children/teens who could just barely swim one length of the pool, but they still got to participate. I have seen children with physical disabilities who were able to join the team and do very well.
As the swimmers invest the time and effort necessary to improve, they are able to see their progress, to see their times improving, and gain self-confidence. The kids work together, cheering for each other even if the one in the water is in last place. I have seen the students start to cheer for the person in first place and then spread themselves to all the other lanes and at both ends of the pool so that no one is left out, and so that everyone had someone cheering for them. That is what I call teamwork.
There are nearly 200 children who use the pool at the high school on a pretty regular basis from early September to the end of May each year. There are several children who come to our pool from surrounding counties — Mercer, Adams and Randolph — to participate for local swim programs. While those children are practicing, their parents are visiting local businesses. There are several athletes from other teams who cross-train using the Jay County High School pool. There are athletes/citizens in the community who use our pool for rehabilitation. Every physical education student who is able, uses that pool in gym class. A lot of people may not realize that about our facility.
Yes, this is a plug for the proposed building improvements at our high school. If we shut down that pool for two years or even one, there will be many, many students affected. Many of those children are the ones who have been turned away from other sports. What will these children be doing while they are not in the pool? Where will they turn for acceptance? In my book it is well worth the extra few dollars that we will end up spending in tax dollars, even if just one kid stays off the streets, or off drugs.
The school board members are only hearing from the people who are dead set against these improvements. We learned at one of the meetings that the money for academics and building improvements have to be kept separate; the renovations are not keeping our children from getting new textbooks or better teachers. If we do not apply for funding for our building, it will be used by someone else — another school district.
Please let the school board members know that you are not against the building upgrades. It is not about just getting a pool. There are a lot of things on the table, including repairs to the heating system and the roof, as well as other parts of the building.
I know many people in the community think the county places too much emphasis on athletics, and maybe to an extent that is true, but the benefits are there.
The kids who participate in sports learn to work together, they learn about commitment and responsibility. They may never turn pro or be in the Olympics, but they can turn out to be pretty darn good parents and good employees in the future.
Can we really deny any child the opportunity to learn these things?
Shouldn’t everyone be allowed to participate and not be cut from the team?
Teresa Kelly
Portland[[In-content Ad]]
Did you pour your heart and soul into something and try your very best, but still could not meet the standard set by the coaches?
Do you remember how that felt?
Did you ever have your parents tell you that you were not from the right family, or that you were from the wrong part of town, or the wrong side of the county?
Did you ever really understand why?
Wouldn’t a sport which takes all who are interested and are willing to put in a little hard work be a refreshing change? Wouldn’t it be nice to participate in a sport in which you could see your children gain self-confidence and learn teamwork as well?
Wouldn’t it be even more welcome to be from an outside community and know that your children would be accepted and brought into the fold as if they lived next door?
We have such a sport in Jay County. It is swimming.
In all the years I have been around the sport of swimming in Jay County, I have never seen anyone cut from the team. A lot of people may not realize that about our sport. There have been many, many children/teens who could just barely swim one length of the pool, but they still got to participate. I have seen children with physical disabilities who were able to join the team and do very well.
As the swimmers invest the time and effort necessary to improve, they are able to see their progress, to see their times improving, and gain self-confidence. The kids work together, cheering for each other even if the one in the water is in last place. I have seen the students start to cheer for the person in first place and then spread themselves to all the other lanes and at both ends of the pool so that no one is left out, and so that everyone had someone cheering for them. That is what I call teamwork.
There are nearly 200 children who use the pool at the high school on a pretty regular basis from early September to the end of May each year. There are several children who come to our pool from surrounding counties — Mercer, Adams and Randolph — to participate for local swim programs. While those children are practicing, their parents are visiting local businesses. There are several athletes from other teams who cross-train using the Jay County High School pool. There are athletes/citizens in the community who use our pool for rehabilitation. Every physical education student who is able, uses that pool in gym class. A lot of people may not realize that about our facility.
Yes, this is a plug for the proposed building improvements at our high school. If we shut down that pool for two years or even one, there will be many, many students affected. Many of those children are the ones who have been turned away from other sports. What will these children be doing while they are not in the pool? Where will they turn for acceptance? In my book it is well worth the extra few dollars that we will end up spending in tax dollars, even if just one kid stays off the streets, or off drugs.
The school board members are only hearing from the people who are dead set against these improvements. We learned at one of the meetings that the money for academics and building improvements have to be kept separate; the renovations are not keeping our children from getting new textbooks or better teachers. If we do not apply for funding for our building, it will be used by someone else — another school district.
Please let the school board members know that you are not against the building upgrades. It is not about just getting a pool. There are a lot of things on the table, including repairs to the heating system and the roof, as well as other parts of the building.
I know many people in the community think the county places too much emphasis on athletics, and maybe to an extent that is true, but the benefits are there.
The kids who participate in sports learn to work together, they learn about commitment and responsibility. They may never turn pro or be in the Olympics, but they can turn out to be pretty darn good parents and good employees in the future.
Can we really deny any child the opportunity to learn these things?
Shouldn’t everyone be allowed to participate and not be cut from the team?
Teresa Kelly
Portland[[In-content Ad]]
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