Travesty of youth Sports

[Bagman]

As an unbiased spectator of a YMCA 6th grade championship in Roaring Spring Tuesday evening I was sickened by the manipulation of rules by coach Mcnight form the Spring Cove team. I was told by a Spring Cove parent of how the coach recruited kids from Altoona and Bellwood that helped them beat a good Tussey Mountain team. I was told that after Spring Cove signups coach Mcnight hand picked the 6 or 7 top kids from the sign up and then instead of filling out his team with kids from their town he then added 4 very good players from Altoona and Bellwood while leaving the rest of the hometown boys on their own to go winless for the season. I watched Spring Cove play at least 4 games this year and 3 of those recruited kids was not there for any of those 4 games , so did coach Mcnight just bring these kids in for the playoffs? And if so where was the the parents of Spring Cove kids that played and practiced all season that had to take a back seat to these recruited kids? After the game the Tussey head coach confronted coach Mcnight about the situation and coach Mcnight's response was that he didn't have enough kids but in reality they had 2 teams in the league 1 with all the good players (his team) and 1 with all the below average kids. In my opinion this was just the coaches way of manipulating the system to win a $10 trophy. I also talked to the director of the YMCA and he said he was embarassed for the program that this happened and belives that the Tussey kids was the best team and had something taken away from them that they can never get back.
And that he emailed the Tussey coach apologizing for this travesty. I would like to congratulate the Tussey Mountain team for a great season and to hold their heads up high because they should be the Champions.
Coach Mcnight you should be ashamed of yourself for putting you own goals ahead of the communities youth sports programs.

[kmr]

It happens in every youth sport until 7th grade in most towns around here.

[footballfan1]

A couple points to the post. This is why the Head varsity coaches should be more involved with the youth programs. Also, if my son played for Spring Cove and he was passed over by a player from another school district I would be asking some questions. The youth coach in question I know for a fact emphasizes one thing and one thing only to the teams he has coached and will continue to coach. WINNING. He will do whatever it takes to win.

[abpk2903]

C'mon man, that's what it is about winning. Plus its Spring Cove, everyone should know that they have quite a high standard in the Martinsburg metropolis. I have heard some horrible stories of the actions of the Spring Cove Jr. High/7th and 8th grade team coaches over the past few years. I mean everyone in that town drives 40 MPH and has to deal with the worst smell imaginable. They need something to hang their hat on and obviously its their youth basketball program.

[life hunts]

Some added points to the Garver YMCA boys 5th/6th grade league...

1. The season began with only 5 comitted sixth grade boys from the original group of players that had been playing at the Y since 3rd grade. One of the players was suffering from an injured foot and decided to take the winter off from hoops and another sixth grader from SC was added but was not able to commit to every game/practice since he came from a single parent family and had travel issues. Two other 5th grade teams from the Cove area had already secured sponsors and entered their respective teams in the league....Great. Those teams might not get as many wins, but would gain valuable playing experience.

Not to lengthen this point any further, but the 6th grade boys team had to pull a 4th grade boy who also plays in the Garver Y league to have just enough players for an early season game/scrimmage just to have 5 players.

The coaching staff had a choice to try to squeeze through the season with 5 players or invite some players from neighboring school districts to play along.

2. The entire core group of Spring Cove 6th graders...all five of them, were invited to play with a team in the Jewish Memorial Center in Altoona in a winter basketball league and that is where the friendship/commraderie of players was formed. The Spring Cove team needed a few extra players and Coach McKnight invited some of those players to join the SC team and add one extra game to their 6th Grade basketball experience.

3. The Garver YMCA serves areas not just in the Cove. Teams travel from the following town/cities to participate in programs/leagues in Roaring Spring....Northern Bedford, Bedford, Chestnut Ridge, Claysburg, Tussey Mountain, Hollidaysburg, Altoona, Huntingdon, Cresson, Johnstown, and we have even had in baseball teams travel from St. Mary's to play in our baseball tournaments. All communitites are welcome to participate and use the well maintained facilities for a small town.

The question at hand is the "recruiting" idea. As a coach, do you struggle through a season with only 5/6 players on the roster and account for sickness (quite expected in the winter months), travel, and/or injury or fill out your roster with teammates from another league....Obviously, Coach McKnight chose the second to avoid the headaches of the former.

One might think the emphasis was on winning, but the true result was how the level of play of the 5/6 Spring Cove kids was elevated by playing with an older/more experienced group. Vast improvements could be seen in defensive hustle, passing, team offense, and excitement of the playing the game.

Lastly, Point #4.

The emotions/actions/language of the Tussey Mountain head coach was horrific during the final game. Attacking words and vulgar language was used during and after the final game in most cases, right in front of our young players from both teams who had just played their hearts out.

To me, that is the situation that needs to be dealt with. Under any circumstances, when does it become right to cuss and swear as so called adults in a public venue, especially in the direct line of impressionable children. Obviously, the head coach from Tussey Mountain did not care who was hearing his tyraid and continued to show his true colors when faced with defeat in a well played game from both teams.

By the way, during the final game, all 11 players from the Spring Cove side played a significant portion of the game and each boy contributed to the win. The Tussey Mountain team had 15 players dressed and the head coach played his starting 5 players the entire game until two substitutes entered the game in the final two minutes of play.....How does that factor into the development of the kids??

With all these thoughts/opinions, my take from this was the winter basketball league was a huge success. All the teams in the league had the opportunity to compete in a winter basketball league and gain valuable experience as they progress in their basketball future. Lessons were learned in winning and losing....by the way, Tussey Mountain defeated the SC team earlier in regular season play.

In the big scheme of things, this one game is quite insignificant. Lets value the improvement of play of all the kids and be thankful for the opportunity to play.

Wow....long winded.

[WPIAL~Titan]

This thread is nothing more than a statement of the obvious in terms of what private schools do in PIAA athletics and how AAU basketball programs operate.

[Bagman]

Life Hunts The question is where were the out of town kids in the 4 games I seen, you never addressed that question. And if TM beat SC in the regular season it makes me more suspicious that the out of town kids were brought in to beat TM. I also was there watching the SC / NB semifinal watching SC full court pressing with the score 24 - 4 so don't try to portray Mcknight as MR Sportsman. You also stated you only had 5 players but you had 11 kids dressed , 11- 4(out of town kids) = 7 and 1 or 2 5th graders and you have a true hometown team.

[life hunts]

One of the SC boys attends St. Pats in Newry....the other one is from the single parent family who was unable to attend games when his mother was working.

The games throughout the year were sporadically attended by all of the boys...homework, illness, games in other leagues. I am sure we did not have 11 players there for any one game throughout the year...

Usually 7 or 8 kids on a given night.

[Bagman]

But 11 on playoff night , interesting.

[Portage Alum]

"Something smells rotten in Roaring Spring"....oh, wait a minute, it always smells rotten in Roaring Spring.

~PA