Luke Matheson wrote:
Go listen to the interview with Lance Taylor in the thread. Taylor is not going to state false statements on the air, on record.
At least, not statements that can be
proven false.
And it doesn't make a single bit of sense to punish a kid for a full year because his family moves. That's completely asinine.
A kid who isn't into athletics doesn't get punished and have a major part of his formative life blown to smithereens if his family relocates. Say a kid's parents move from Rison to Rogers, and this kid doesn't even play a sport but is into all sorts of other extracurriculars. Is he going to be held out of quiz bowl, band, choir, FFA, etc. for a full year?
Hell, we can't have kids transferring from school to school just to get a better education ... it'll kill the local districts! We should ban them from classes for a year if they move!
A lot of people in this state live in towns where jobs are scarce. How tough would it be to lose your job, get offered a new one elsewhere that required a move, and here you are with a kid about to enter his senior year and now because of some bulls--t rule he has the best year of his life ripped apart so that your family can eat. Maybe the kid's even good enough to earn himself a college scholarship to an in-state D2 or something ... if he shows he's worth it his senior year. But now he can't, and you can't afford to send him. Tough luck, sonny. No higher education for you.
That's what you're advocating with that nonsense you spouted off.
Oh, but "he could live with grandma". What if grandma is dead or in Wyoming? "He could live with a coach or a friend". Uh huh. Makes good sense to have to split a kid from his family so that he/she can have the same normal social life and life experiences that come with being a part of a team.
And this blanket rule across the board for all sports? Even more asinine. People may do some transferring for football and basketball and such. But how big a problem do we have of people skipping from town to town trying to screw the system to play golf, soccer, tennis, run cross country, etc.?
Oh hey, Heber kid who has run cross country your whole life ... sorry the lodge shut down and your folks lost their jobs and had to move to Piggott, but we just can't have you pulling any shady stuff on us and now you must sit a year. Why? Because we have dumb rules, and people with websites support us. Sincerely, AAA.
Come on. Screwing kids over (kids in 9th grade are what ... 14 years old? Screwing 14 year-olds over – that's what you're all about?) when they are far from independence and cannot control their own destiny seems beyond absurd in my mind.
Of course, high school athletics and small-town BS aren't the preeminent forces in my life either so maybe my vantage point is a bit different. Oh well.