A group of high school athletes and coaches deserve a public pat on the back.
In regards to high school sports in Western Massachusetts, there isn't anything quite like the Pioneer Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference indoor track season.
Six times during the regular season, teams make the trip to Smith College in Northampton for meets. Essentially, each week is the equivalent to a massive league championship. In the Pioneer League, 10 teams compete at the same time, while 11 teams go at it in the Valley League.
Keeping in mind there are boys and girls participating, 42 teams compete in a clockwork-like six hour span, which includes more than 1,500 athletes. Those are staggering numbers.
Meet director Bill Kane deserves kudos for running such a high-quality and efficient event week after week. Kane and the officials make things look easy.
However, the real purpose of this column is to compliment the indoor track athletes and coaches. I've been covering high school sports for almost 25 years, and in all those years I've never seen such a high-level of sportsmanship time and time again.
Are the coaches and athletes behaving perfectly all the time? No, of course not. But good sportsmanship is the norm at the indoor track meets, not the exception.
Two weeks ago, Mahar Regional coach Sarah Woodward saw a problem with the results. One of her athletes had been award first place in the 55-meter hurdles but she wasn't so sure that was accurate. She could have said nothing. Her team caught a break, right? Instead, Woodward, told Kane she thought there was a mistake, Kane dug through some results and discovered, yes, a mistake had been made.
Coaches self-reporting mistakes is common at the indoor track meets, and whether that self-reporting helps or hurts an athlete in the rankings is irrelevant.
The coaches also deserve credit for setting such a good example. There's little complaining, and the majority of the coaches carry positive energy. Most of the coaches are very friendly with each other during the meets, and a few even exchange coaching techniques.
The biggest pat on the back, though, goes to the athletes. Coaches know what's right and wrong and they should always be setting a good example. But that's harder for a high school kid, especially during an athletic competition.
Week after week, however, genuine gestures of noble sportsmanship are displayed. Athletes regularly wish a fellow competitor good luck prior to a race, and the same holds true for offering congratulations after an event.
Two weeks ago a boy went down hard during the 55-meter hurdles and needed some attention. After the race a boy from another team went to the hurdler on the ground and helped him to the trainer's table.
On Friday, just before the 4x400 relay race, girls from South Hadley and Pioneer Valley gave each other a high-five.
Also on Friday, a boy from Minnechaug Regional, Jack DeVine, cleared 6-feet-1 and was in position to win the high jump for the first time. That's a big deal to a high school athlete – a chance to win an event for the first time. Chicopee Comprehensive's Alex Niemiec then followed by also clearing 6-1, forcing the competition to the next height. DeVine responded by giving Niemiec a thumbs-up.
I picked Perry Nowell as Athlete of the Week and interviewed the Central standout Wednesday night. Whenever I interview a high school athlete I usually conclude it by asking if that athlete has anything else to say or add. Typically, I get an answer in regards to the season, tournament, a milestone, a goal, a coach or a teammate, which is all just fine.
Nowell, without any hesitation, answered by saying he wanted to wish all of the teams good luck in the upcoming Western Massachusetts Championship.
I've also interviewed the majority of the region's top indoor track athletes at some point during the season: Niemiec, Nowell, Longmeadow's Camille Blackman and Jenna Fisher, East Longmeadow's Gabriella Weithofer and Erin Rybacki, Northampton's Alex Sullivan and Adrienne Pascucci, Mahar's Sabrina Silva, Westfield's Blake Croteau and Cathedral's Mark Hegarty, to name a few. They're all star athletes, but they were all so humble and modest . . . some of them even uncomfortable to receive any extra attention for being interviewed by the press.
The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association has made a big push in regards to sportsmanship, and any athletic director or coach would be quick to state the importance of good sportsmanship. But has it really gotten any better over the last 10-20 years? I don't know the answer to that.
But I do know the level of sportsmanship from the coaches and athletes at the PVIAC indoor track meets is exceptionally high, and that deserves a public pat on the back.
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