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Nothing wrong with a friendly rivalry
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Related Topics: BALTIMORE
BALTIMORE (Map, News) - A little after 9 a.m. Saturday, 100 or so spectators already were in the Broadneck High School gym, supporting the Bruins junior varsity girls’ basketball team in a game against the Severna Park Falcons. For the next eight hours, parents, grandparents, classmates and teachers moved in and out of the stands for a four-game basketball marathon involving one of the best — and sometimes one of the more bitter — high school rivalries in the area.
The Saturday basketball-fest was a response to a rivalry that was straining the boundaries of respectability. Broadneck-Severna Park games — football, soccer, basketball, lacrosse, pretty much any scored event — are competitive relationships. Opponents live in bordering school districts and play together or against each other on club teams. They attend the same camps and health clubs and hope to play for the same colleges. The result is a familiarity that can exaggerate the importance of every single high school game.
Some of the problems that erupt from high school rivalries can be traced to college and professional sports, where the trash-talking and car-burning seen on television makes it fashionable to show angry support for a team. Chat rooms also contribute to the unhealthy fascination with anger.
By last year, night football and basketball games between the Bruins and Falcons had become ugly. After the 2006 football game, the “Fifth Quarter” community event at a nearby park was shut down because of threats of fighting. At the basketball games, students interrupted the National Anthem, chanted obscenities and taunted players. After the final basketball game between the teams, fights erupted in the parking lot.
Administrators at the two schools could have responded with their own anger and threats. They could have ordered the fans and players to behave this season or risk having games played in an empty gym. They could have severely limited attendance and forced fans to buy tickets in advance.
Instead, the schools responded with a plan to preserve the rivalry while controlling the atmosphere. They scheduled the football game and both basketball games on Saturday afternoons.
On Saturday, the result was a full day of basketball that satisfied the concerns of school officials and parents, but did not strip away the excitement of the event. The schools should be applauded for not taking the easy way out and for committing the staff to ensure a safe yet fun event.
It also turned out to be a special day for parents. Junior varsity games, usually played before sparse crowds at 3:30 on weekdays, were well attended. Parents and students dropped by the free junior varsity games in the morning, with coffee and cameras in hand. Many then stayed around after the gym was cleared and admission fees were collected for the afternoon varsity games.
A little after 5 p.m., still in daylight, administrators made sure that the students’ sections — Severna Park all dressed in white and Broadneck in their “black-out” colors — were directed out of the gym through separate doors. In the parking lot, there was enough show of police to move spectators quickly to their cars without a massive police presence that would have suggested that a fight was expected.
The message was succinct: We want students here in force, supporting their school. We want them to dress up and cheer passionately. And we understand that it is the adults who must recognize that teenagers need direction and limits.
Was it perfectly serene? No, each cheering section slipped briefly into that disrespectful territory. But the announcer halted ay escalation of emotion by announcing that individuals who were rude would be asked to leave. That sent a personal message that each student was responsible for his or her own action. There would be no mass disciplinary action, nothing to further spark a mob-mentality. If you acted up, you were on your own and you would leave, simple as that.
Parents enjoyed the all-day basketball event and look forward to the next one when the teams meet at Severna Park next month. For the record, the final result was a draw: Severna Park won the boys’ junior varsity game and the girls’ varsity game while Broadneck won the girls’ junior varsity game and boys’ varsity game.
Students may favor the evening games, however, and may get another chance at that next year. The real success of the day was that the adults who found a way to let kids do what kids do — act a little silly and immature — without getting themselves or others in trouble.
Effie Dawson writes about high school and youth sports. She can be reached at edawson@baltimoreexaminer.com.
Comments from Examiner Readers
4:21 AM MST on Mon., Jul. 21, 2008 re: "Jousting: An age-old tradition is alive and well in the land of pleasant living"
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7:41 PM MST on Sat., Jul. 19, 2008
re: "Jousting: An age-old tradition is alive and well in the land of pleasant living"
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3:21 PM MST on Fri., Jul. 4, 2008
re: "Superstars not needed for family sports fun"
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re: "Baltimore needs to expand its proud lacrosse tradition, advance the sport"
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7:28 AM MST on Tue., Oct. 23, 2007
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Examiner Reader said:
Thank you for a wonderful article and capturing the spirit of an equine sport we love. Vicki Betts, President, Maryland Jousting Tournament Association
6 agree | 4 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Effie- What fun to read- What a great Maryland tradition that is being kept alive-Thanks this was fun to read.
5 agree | 4 disagree
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Attila the Hon said:
Please disregard the previous comment. He didn't even explain himself. Pretty gutless, I think. It's great to see a Baltimore-area newspaper columnist finally show some love for Crystal Palace Baltimore. I always look forward to the Examiner's refreshing coverage of this very highly deserving team. Puts to shame The Sun which almost always ignores Palace and deserves its declining readership. Keep up the good work. GO PALACE! UPSET NEW ENGLAND!
12 agree | 9 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Worst. Column. Ever.
10 agree | 15 disagree
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The Undertaker said:
People in this country are too fat, lazy, and stupid.
11 agree | 11 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
"These days Maryland kids often get their first sticks before their first tricycles. College coaches flock to the state for showcase camps and recruiting tournaments. And lacrosse has deep roots in the business and political communities, where former players maintain connections far stronger than academic degrees." Laugh out loud. This is a paragraph supporting lacrosse? In truth it is an indictment of all that is wrong with the sport. Kids SHOULD get trikes before sticks. Most lacrosse families consist of semi-talented white athletes (who couldn't compete in other sports) pushed hard by parents who live vicariously through them, and hope to achieve greater social status through their "Excellent play". So sad.
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Examiner Reader said:
Please don't say the l word around baseball people.
13 agree | 12 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
This Annapolis woman, who has taken Rafael Alvarez spot on page six is BORING. BRING BACK ALVAREZ, he is from Baltimroe, where we who live in BALTIMORE can read about our town.
11 agree | 11 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Bravo! I totally agree! With a daughter on the John Carroll team, I know they'd welcome a game to determine the mythical "champion"! What a blast that would be.
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A Mother of Boys said:
Thank you for your insights on the life lessons for this young man. He has carved a hard road for himself, and forced the grown ups around him (parents, coaches, authorities) to make hard choices about his future. We, like you, are praying that he gets a second chance, and makes the most of it. That's another life lesson.
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examiner reader said:
This guy should be hillary's running mate
73 agree | 56 disagree
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Not...paying attention said:
The writer actually points out the fact that children know the score and are competative. She is correctly trying to make the point that youth sports should be about learning the fundamentals of the game and sportsmanship. For young children, the experience should be FUN. Winning is much less important to most 6-7 year olds than their parents. Most children would much rather play in the game than watch their "team" win. Children who enjoy the experience will be much more likely to develop a passion for the sport and a commitment to self development. This provides a much stronger mental foundation for the player when they hit High School and College when sports are rightly focused on winning and losing. It is a shame that children no longer experience the sand lot version of sports where parents are no where to be found. Yes, we kept score but it was forgotten as soon as we started the next game. We played because it was FUN!
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Not said:
"But those wonderful first years of athletic participation are not the time to teach kids that sports are all about winning." They do not have to be taught this. Kids keep score on everything competitive and naturally seek to win. This mamby-pamby false protectiveness of children is precisely the kind of crud that is counter intuitive for chidren.
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Don said:
I'm glad I am done with all of that sports stuff, and competition dance is even worse....been there, seen it done it. Its no small wonder why older people have grey hair.
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