My daughter and son played three sports through high school. They loved playing and wanted to play but there were many days in the summer when my daughter went to volleyball conditioning in the morning played two or three basketball games in the afternoon and went to softball practice that evening. The weekends were then 4-8 softball games depending on how well you played. The softball was travel ball and nothing to do with the dead period but I do not think another two weeks of dead period would have destroyed the volleyball or basketball season. We now have kids playing more games in the summer with their high school team than they do in season. Extend the dead period.

 

My basketball teams played approximately 25 games during the season on the varsity level.

 

We would play 40-55 games in the summer.

My daughter and son played three sports through high school. They loved playing and wanted to play but there were many days in the summer when my daughter went to volleyball conditioning in the morning played two or three basketball games in the afternoon and went to softball practice that evening. The weekends were then 4-8 softball games depending on how well you played. The softball was travel ball and nothing to do with the dead period but I do not think another two weeks of dead period would have destroyed the volleyball or basketball season. We now have kids playing more games in the summer with their high school team than they do in season. Extend the dead period.

 

 

Of course there is the other option of exercising a little parental control and telling your daughter that she cannot play all three sports or not letting her participate on teams that travel so much. Seems to me like you want the KHSAA to mandate longer down time because you as a parent don't want to do it yourself. Sorry to be so harsh, but that's how I'm reading this.

Of course there is the other option of exercising a little parental control and telling your daughter that she cannot play all three sports or not letting her participate on teams that travel so much. Seems to me like you want the KHSAA to mandate longer down time because you as a parent don't want to do it yourself. Sorry to be so harsh, but that's how I'm reading this.

 

You are reading it all wrong. Why would I tell her should could not play a sport that she wanted to play.Parental control was not the point. Softball is where she got her free college. She would have liked to play softball in the summer and basketball in the winter. You keep thinking its the parents and the coaches who want the down time. A kid should be allowed to play all the sports in there season and not have to play three at the same time. You should not be required to play basketball and volleyball all summer just so you can play in the winter when it is in season.

I no longer have any children in school but have read all the comments regarding the "Dead Period" and had to put my 2 cents in. I work in a job that requires that we do our planning based on full weeks and have to request time off a long time in advance. I also know many people that work in factory jobs that have "shut down" periods and offer the following suggestion. If it appears worth using, I offer it to anyone that wants to submit it to KHSAA as a rules change suggestion or request, please feel free to use it.

 

Change the wording from the fixed dates to read something similar to:

 

The "Dead Period" shall begin at 12:01 AM on Monday of the last full week in June and end at 11:59 PM on the Sunday 2 weeks (14 days) later. (Assuming that the Dead Period remains two weeks) Then how hard would it be for the KHSAA to send an e-mail notification to the member schools and/or coaches notifying them of the exact date each year so that there could not be any chance of a misunderstanding. Would this work?

This year would have begun June 23 and ended July 6

Next year would begin June 22 and end July 5

2010 would begin June 21 and end July 4

2011 would begin June 20 and end July 3

2012 would begin June 25 and end July 8..............................and on and on

 

 

 

As I said, I don't have any horse in this race, but I can understand the problems encountered by parents that want to schedule a family vacation and cannot get time off when they want to.

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You are reading it all wrong. Why would I tell her should could not play a sport that she wanted to play.Parental control was not the point. Softball is where she got her free college. She would have liked to play softball in the summer and basketball in the winter. You keep thinking its the parents and the coaches who want the down time. A kid should be allowed to play all the sports in there season and not have to play three at the same time. You should not be required to play basketball and volleyball all summer just so you can play in the winter when it is in season.

 

 

Help me then understand your point better. Who is requiring her to play basketball and volleyball all summer just so she can play in the winter when those sports are in season?

Help me then understand your point better. Who is requiring her to play basketball and volleyball all summer just so she can play in the winter when those sports are in season?

 

Simply the fact that those she is going to compete against are doing it.

 

Either do it and remain competitive or don't do it and become uncompetitive.

 

That attitude might be fine for adults and the real world, but we are talking 13 year olds, 14 year olds, etc, etc.

 

And actually talking 10 year olds, 9 year olds, as that mentality has left the HS setting and made it's way to the MS and elementary level.

Simply the fact that those she is going to compete against are doing it.

 

Either do it and remain competitive or don't do it and become uncompetitive.

 

That attitude might be fine for adults and the real world, but we are talking 13 year olds, 14 year olds, etc, etc.

 

And actually talking 10 year olds, 9 year olds, as that mentality has left the HS setting and made it's way to the MS and elementary level.

 

Assuming that such is the same reason that Mr. Wong feels his daughter is required, here are my thoughts:

 

As I understand it, rather than a parent telling his/her child they are spending too much time on athletics and the child has to pick one or two sports but not three and four, you want the KHSAA to provide participation limitations. I understand your logic that some kids may be devoting too much time to athletics and not enough time simply being kids. Assuming that logic is valid (and I'm not necessarily agreeing with you), while that may be the case with kids wanting to play 3 or 4 sports, what about the kid that only wants to participate in one sport. Do we hamstring that kid's improvement for the sake of the kid that wants to play multiple sports? Is the multiple sport kid somehow more valuable than the single sport kid?

 

If we have overzealous high school coaches that throw kids off teams for missing a week of practice while on family vacations, is that an issue to be handled by the KHSAA by instituting longer dead periods, or is that an issue more appropriately handled by the local school board? I still go back to parents telling their children that they cannot participate on too many athletic teams if the parents feel that the children are not getting the amount of down time that the parents feel is needed. Mr. Wong's response to that was why should he tell her not to play a sport that she wanted to play. Well the answer to that is that if he thinks her over active athletic schedule is hurting her development, then as a parent he should prevent her from doing so whether she wants to or not. Don't ask the KHSAA to do the dirty work. It sickens me to hear parents of soccer players whine and whine about soccer tournaments over holiday weekends when the parents feel their kids should be with them enjoying family time. I ask them: then why in the heck do you allow your child to be on that team? Their response: because my child wants to (as if we have to allow our children to do everything they want) and if she is going to be a really good soccer player and be on the high school team she has to be on this club team. Well, again, I say: hooey. If its too much in a parents opinion, then don't allow your child to participate or address the excessive demands at the local school board meeting.

Assuming that such is the same reason that Mr. Wong feels his daughter is required, here are my thoughts:

 

As I understand it, rather than a parent telling his/her child they are spending too much time on athletics and the child has to pick one or two sports but not three and four, you want the KHSAA to provide participation limitations. I understand your logic that some kids may be devoting too much time to athletics and not enough time simply being kids. Assuming that logic is valid (and I'm not necessarily agreeing with you), while that may be the case with kids wanting to play 3 or 4 sports, what about the kid that only wants to participate in one sport. Do we hamstring that kid's improvement for the sake of the kid that wants to play multiple sports? Is the multiple sport kid somehow more valuable than the single sport kid?

 

If we have overzealous high school coaches that throw kids off teams for missing a week of practice while on family vacations, is that an issue to be handled by the KHSAA by instituting longer dead periods, or is that an issue more appropriately handled by the local school board? I still go back to parents telling their children that they cannot participate on too many athletic teams if the parents feel that the children are not getting the amount of down time that the parents feel is needed. Mr. Wong's response to that was why should he tell her not to play a sport that she wanted to play. Well the answer to that is that if he thinks her over active athletic schedule is hurting her development, then as a parent he should prevent her from doing so whether she wants to or not. Don't ask the KHSAA to do the dirty work. It sickens me to hear parents of soccer players whine and whine about soccer tournaments over holiday weekends when the parents feel their kids should be with them enjoying family time. I ask them: then why in the heck do you allow your child to be on that team? Their response: because my child wants to (as if we have to allow our children to do everything they want) and if she is going to be a really good soccer player and be on the high school team she has to be on this club team. Well, again, I say: hooey. If its too much in a parents opinion, then don't allow your child to participate or address the excessive demands at the local school board meeting.

 

I understand your point and you make a strong argument.

 

On the first bolded, surely dampening them for 2 more out of 50 weeks is NOT going to negatively hamper them.

 

And the dead period does not mean that all their activities in that sport ceases. It simply means they will have NOTHING tied with the HS athletic team that will be going on.

 

As you said, it then comes back to the parent having some backbone and saying no to the club team, the AAU team, tournaments, etc, etc.

 

NOW, I KNOW that there are ways around this. An enterprising parent that could also be a qualified coach for the club team or AAU team etc, etc, can be taking them, practicing at a local church and playing 20-30 games during the dead period in a local league.

 

And as you are sickened, it equally sickens me that schools/coaches setup club teams with parents and the like to get around the rules. While they are not breaking any rules, they are breaking what is supposed to be the spirit of the rules.

 

But I think the KHSAA would be wise to stand a stand on the issue and say, hey we think kids need to be kids for 4 weeks of the summer months than just 2 weeks.

 

On the second bolded, overzealous boards that want their sports teams to win do not always have the best interest of the kids at heart. That is what the schools making up the KHSAA should.

 

On your last few paragraphs, I thought athletics was supposed to be about building character, how to play as a member of a team and all of those find personal traits. Your last few points seem to indicate it is about winning, winning, winning and championships, championships, championships.

 

It would be a pure guess but I would guess no more than 10% of the kids playing HS athletics will ever taste a championship ring and I think it is more important to focus and protect a child's ability to be a part of a HS athletic team so that they can learn those positive personal traits than it is to win championships.

 

And we both know that playing HS athletics is NOT the only opportunity for kids to improve their athletic skills. In fact, it is becoming less and less the majority of it.

I understand your point and you make a strong argument.

 

On the first bolded, surely dampening them for 2 more out of 50 weeks is NOT going to negatively hamper them.

 

And the dead period does not mean that all their activities in that sport ceases. It simply means they will have NOTHING tied with the HS athletic team that will be going on.

 

As you said, it then comes back to the parent having some backbone and saying no to the club team, the AAU team, tournaments, etc, etc.

 

NOW, I KNOW that there are ways around this. An enterprising parent that could also be a qualified coach for the club team or AAU team etc, etc, can be taking them, practicing at a local church and playing 20-30 games during the dead period in a local league.

 

And as you are sickened, it equally sickens me that schools/coaches setup club teams with parents and the like to get around the rules. While they are not breaking any rules, they are breaking what is supposed to be the spirit of the rules.

 

But I think the KHSAA would be wise to stand a stand on the issue and say, hey we think kids need to be kids for 4 weeks of the summer months than just 2 weeks.

 

On the second bolded, overzealous boards that want their sports teams to win do not always have the best interest of the kids at heart. That is what the schools making up the KHSAA should.

 

On your last few paragraphs, I thought athletics was supposed to be about building character, how to play as a member of a team and all of those find personal traits. Your last few points seem to indicate it is about winning, winning, winning and championships, championships, championships.

 

It would be a pure guess but I would guess no more than 10% of the kids playing HS athletics will ever taste a championship ring and I think it is more important to focus and protect a child's ability to be a part of a HS athletic team so that they can learn those positive personal traits than it is to win championships.

 

And we both know that playing HS athletics is NOT the only opportunity for kids to improve their athletic skills. In fact, it is becoming less and less the majority of it.

 

Don't know what you were referring to when you said my last few points seem to indicate it's about winning, winning, winning. Actually, I think too much emphasis has been placed on winning state championships (hard to believe coming from a Highlands guy, I know). Don't get me wrong, it should be a goal. Actually it should be a barometer. The goal of each player, each coach and each team is to become the best that you can become. Winning a state championship can be a barometer to test whether that goal is met. Then again, not winning the state championship does not mean the goal has not be met.

 

As to overzealous boards, I still feel you are wanting the KHSAA to do the dirty work. Years ago I was at a Republican fundraiser and a certain N. KY Republican Judge/Executive and I were talking about consolidation of the counties and cities; he for and I against. He pointed about something not being handled well by the city council of a certain city (name withheld), talked about how messed up that city council was and stated that in order to improve the lives of the people in that city, they needed to be merged into Kenton County. My simple retort was that if the people in that city continued to re-elect the same messed up people to their messed up city council, then the citizens got what they deserved and who was the Judge Executive to tell the people what is best for their city. Needless to say I added one more person to my "fan club" (I think the real kicker was when I told him he was thinking like a DC Democrat that thinks they know what is best for other people; that ended the discussion, like right now:D).

 

If there are overzealous school board members, more focused on winning than doing what the citizens think is best for the children, that the citizens re-elect, then that is what the community must want, wrong as they may be. If you disagree with them, you either work to change them, enroll your children at another school or make the tough decisions about your children's participation. But I really don't think the KHSAA should intrude into those areas. Safety is one thing that the KHSAA must be involved with; deciding when a kid has too much participation in too many sports and not enough down time are things that the KHSAA should not be involved with in my libertarian oriented opinion.