By Mike
McGraw
Executive Director
When we
started our efforts to visit every high school athletic director in Indiana, we had to make
a tough decision. Did we try to make appointments, or should we just drop in?
We decided
to simply drop in. We knew this could be slightly inconvenient because ADs are
busy people, but making appointments with 400 men and women would have required
at least 1,500 phone calls, and it would have taken over a year to complete our
project.
So, we
decided to take our chances.
It has
worked well. Of the 24 ADs we have visited within an hour and a half of Indianapolis, all but one
has taken a few minutes to chat with us. However, I had a feeling that Road Trip
#3 would test our luck.
I headed
to two of the far-reaching areas of the state. First came a trip toward
Louisville to visit with the schools along the Ohio River. The second
destination was â??The Regionâ? in northwestern
Indiana. Both
of these are parts of the state that often complain, sometimes
rightfully so,
that the exploits of their athletes are ignored, or outright snubbed,
by the
rest of the state. If you think you know where this is going, you are
right.
While down
south, only four of eight athletic directors would take the time to talk. Not
surprisingly, three of the four were from Jeffersonville,
New Albany, and
Floyd Central, so-called outlying schools that fall into the small number that
already receive decent media coverage.
The
percentage who would meet with us up north was much better. However, at least
one athletic director (at a school that shall remain nameless) made it clear
that he thought media coverage actually HURT his athletic program. As you might
imagine, that was rather discouraging in so much as Hoosier Authorityâ??s main
goal is to increase the interest in local athletic programs.
If I sound
critical, I do not mean to do so. My point is only that the next time you, as a
reader of this site, believe we have failed to report the achievements of a
quality athlete or team from Providence, Silver
Creek, Merrillville,
or several others, please know that we tried.
Now, to the
rewarding parts of the trips — and there were many. First, the south.
Floyd
Central is located in the most scenic venue of any school I have ever seen. You
could take a nature hike and never leave the property.
New Albany has more than a rich athletic past
of which to be proud. The Bulldogsâ?? student-run radio station actually appears
in the ratings books for the Louisville
market! That is quite an accomplishment.
The Jeffersonville athletic department should bring some pride
to Michigan City,
even though the two are at least four hours apart. Thatâ??s because first-year
Athletic Director Tony Branch is one of the best basketball players ever to
play for the storied Michigan City Elston Red Devils. Old folks like me will
remember that he went on to play for the Louisville Cardinals of Denny Crum in
their heyday of the late 1970s and early â??80s.
Perhaps
the most interesting news from this area of the state concerns football. After
giving its blessing to a youth football program in the town, the Scottsburg
school board has turned down a request to start football at the largest school
in the state that does not field a team. The action has sparked a good, old-fashioned
political brushfire that some believe is behind some administrative changes and
is likely to lead to some hotly contested school board races this fall.
By the
way, two other schools that do not field football teams currently have proposals
in front of their board: Silver Creek and Henryville.
The news
from up north centers on conference realignment. For those who do not know, the
seven largest schools of the Lake Athletic Conference, including Andrean, Hobart, Highland, and Munster, are forming a
new conference that will begin play in the 2007-08 season. The move has been
needed because the LAC simply had too many teams (16), and the difference in
enrollment among the members was getting far too large.
There is
also a new conference forming that affects some members of the Porter County
Athletic Conference, the small-school conference that includes many of the
township schools in the rural parts of Lake
and Porter counties. The PCAC has never had football, and those schools that
have grown to the point of wanting to field football teams are parting ways
with the league.
By far,
the most unique story from these trips comes from North
Newton. It seems the wrestling coach of the Spartans, Bruce
Cunningham, is currently in Iraq.
He is an active member of the Army Reserve. That is reason enough for note, but
it is only part of the story. You see, North Newton
has run the risk of losing its entire
core coaching staff. Not only Cunningham, but the football coach, boys basketball
coach, and recently resigned girls basketball coach, are ALL members of reserve
or National Guard units.
A person
could get the notion that patriotism is a way of life in Newton County.
While I
was racking up the miles, Hoosier Authority Video Coordinator Eric
Eaton was
talking to Speedway Athletic Director Ron Probst, one of the real good
guys in Central Indiana athletics. Did you know that Speedway High
School offers no bus
transportation? The home of the Sparkplugs is an old-fashioned
neighborhood
school. The situation does make it interesting for the athletic teams,
though. Speedway teams rent buses for away games, and the school pays
for that, in part, by parking cars during the Indianapolis 500.
Keep that
in mind the next time you head to the race.
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