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| Athletes’ Summer Schedule Is Busy |
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| Sports | |||
| Written by David Wolman | |||
| Wednesday, 17 June 2009 08:00 | |||
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Summer schedules for high school athletes across the state suddenly became busier, especially those who are serious about sports. Summer jobs are still the norm for many. They want to earn money they can spend it on new clothes, a vacation or even contributing to the family fund to help purchase items such as a flat screen television or a new computer. Some might even save the money for the future.  Family vacations and even day trips to Worlds of Fun, a Royals game or a trip to St. Louis will still likely occur, although we are dealing with a tough economy. But with a new rule passed by the Kansas High School Activities Association last fall, athletes can now work with their respective head coaches through the first half of the summer. Many athletes will spend at least two or three days per week working on new moves, scrimmaging other teams and competing in leagues against other schools. Heck, that beats facing your teammates repetitively for six straight weeks. Coaches I’ve talked with certainly don’t want to give their athletes an Al Saunders-like playbook. Okay, I may be highly exaggerating, but the point is that coaches don’t want to their athletes to have to learn too many plays over the summer. And for good reason. One, their players are relaxing their brains after completing nine months of school. Two, coaches want their players to have fun while they’re coming to participate in an athletic event. Fun. That’s what many coaches want their athletes to have this summer. Yes, you do want your athletes to pick up new moves and develop team camaraderie along the way and also stay in shape, but at the same time you want to treat it more like a pick-up game at the YMCA. Thanks to the new rule, high school coaches can pay more attention to plays and technique instead of conditioning by the time fall, or even winter or spring practice, gets underway. The first week of practice can be used to add new plays to their arsenal and prepare for their first opponent. Like Osawatomie football coach Clint Bailey told me last week, by the time the first game in early September rolls around, the summer camps and leagues should help get his team in mid-season form by the time. I’m glad the KSHSAA made the rule change. It was needed. — David Wolman can be reached at 755-4151 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
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