By Ed Piper
Having visited the steamy (104 degrees) Imperial Valley over the weekend (Aug. 13), I looked up some of the high school sports activity in the area, and came upon a news report of an awards assembly at one of the Valley high schools.
In recognizing top athletes for both girls and boys, one of the presenters explained that the school doesn't try to pick the top performer in a sport or sports. The emphasis is on identifying student athletes who are "well-rounded": good students, good citizens, and active in the community.
I thought this was a great emphasis. What this does is motivate other student athletes coming up to shoot for the well-rounded pedigree--not just be super athletes on the field.
In this day and age of personal coaches and highlight videos, it's good to see that good people are being rewarded for their hard work. Our society needs more young people--our future leaders--who strive to embody the positive values of service and citizenship.
Too many times in the Golden Triangle area do I find folks fixed on entrepreneurship to make money. That isn't going to get us there. The problem, too, is that our young people are watching, and what we grown-ups do, they're going to aspire to do.
Who are going to be the next generation's teachers, professional caregivers, even pastors, priests, and rabbis? We need those professions filled out. They helped build our country to be the greatest country in the history of the world.
We need to safeguard it, so that we don't become one-dimensional money-makers, focused only on performance or results.
The positive side of sports is that they can help young people form lasting friendships as they learn to work together with others against opposition. Young people can learn skills that make up their particular sport or sports. There is an inherent value in that. It doesn't always have to lead to an athletic scholarship or a track to the pros.
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