Sounding the alarm

Greetings, Jaguar Country! I've got troubling news to report. I'm sick about it, and it's going to consume me this entire week. I'm stricken with a mix of anger and disgust at numerous players who quit the sport of girls' tennis at B-B-E. After speaking with the captains of this year's B-B-E Jaguars girls' tennis team this morning, it appears there's at least 3 so far, hopefully no more, who were on the team last year but are not going out for tennis this year.

I can ask what on earth is wrong with the players, but the bigger question in my mind is: what is wrong with their parents? What the heck? I am so disgusted right now! There is a scenario where too many girls quit, and the result is that they are unable to field a varsity team. The tennis program has been in existence at B-B-E since 1992. They have had lower numbers in some seasons since 1992, but they've always fielded a varsity team with a few athletes to spare for JV action.

For the players who are not quitters this fall, the captains practices for the girls' tennis team are being held this week at the high school courts from 8 to 10 a.m. They held practice this morning, and one glimmer of hope is that they have at least one new recruit to the team: seventh grader Harper Herickhoff. (GOOD JOB, Herickhoffs!)

That's all I've got to say right now.

...later, on Monday night: the outlook has improved! It's too early to tell if the outlook has "greatly" improved, but as of tonight, the odds that the tennis team can field a varsity squad is "high."

All of this is happening while the B-B-E Jaguars football team will not field a JV squad this fall. That's another entire issue that greatly stresses me. In case you were wondering: the varsity team's season opener is on Thursday, August 28 at home in Belgrade. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. that night against New York Mills.

...and now on Tuesday: it is looking like the tennis team will have a very nice group of seniors leading the way this fall. The captains and others on the team are working on getting other prospects to join. This is good! 

Remember: any time a student devotes to sports is time that they're not on their cell phones or on social media. THINK ABOUT THAT. 

What has been fascinating to me is that, amongst this personal angst I've had looking at the tennis numbers dip and rebound with in the span of 2 days, it's uncovered a bigger issue I see that has become well-known across the country. This stems from kids becoming detached from peers who are positive influences on their lives and instead devoting time and energy to negative influences in the form of peers who make bad decisions. I see it 100% in my own household. 

It is a never-ending battle parents in the technology age have to deal with.