September 21, 2007

As the Webmaster for http://www.havenfootball.net, a website owned and operated privately and without school funding or input, I take strong issue with the tone and "editorial" content of your "Football Team Runs into a Wall" article by David Page (September 14, 2007).

My first issue is that this piece was placed and run as a report on an athletic event and not as an editorial sports write-up.  

Coach Clancy’s Panthers has seen an almost complete dominance by Strath Haven in the Central League and District 1 AAA since 1996. No coach's tactics always work but in high school football the better programs start working with the kids in Middle School and consistency is the key to success. However, this discussion is a legitimate one among football fans.

My second issue, and what is not legitimate, is the direct criticism of a high school athlete.  Mr. Page's reference to Haven quarterback Ryan McCann as one who "does not have a strong arm" in reporting on  Strath Haven’s poor showing against Ridley.  I can easily dispute Mr. Page’s criticism of McCann with statistics from that game but the accuracy of his criticism is not the point.  To isolate a high school student athlete for criticism goes beyond good journalism.  I am sure that 17-year-old Ryan McCann didn't sleep well after their loss to Ridley but Monday was a new week and a new opponent and McCann and the rest of his teammates dug down deep and went out and overwhelmed their previously undefeated opponent the following week.  Incidentally, McCann went 6 for 10 for 98 yards and two touchdowns for a QB rating of 208.32 against Radnor.

We have a policy at our website:
www.havenfootball.net recognizes that all participants in high school sports are young to mid teens and they are performing to the best of their ability. No negative criticism of their efforts is ever acceptable.

The vast majority of high school student athletes will never compete in competitive sports once they leave high school. Through their participation in sports the students learn teamwork, building success and sportsmanship but most importantly they learn to deal with the setbacks that all teams (and individuals) face and learn to recover and continue to make the best effort they can.  They may not win but they will know that they did all they could for success.  Criticizing any high school athlete for a weak arm, inaccurate pitching, poor base running or slow receiver should be unacceptable.  If Mr. Page wishes to write articles critical of student athletes let him cover some big college schools.

In future articles if Mr. Page has nothing nice to say about a particular athlete then he should nothing at all.