Clinton Athletics

One of the topics that is currently being debated within our community is the improvement of athletic programs at Clinton High School. I'm often asked from people outside of our community, "How can Clinton be one of the biggest schools in the Okaw Valley and always finish near the bottom?" Well, this stigma that has been cast upon us is not entirely true. In defense of our programs, if you look at the 2011-2012 school year, you would see that softball won 56% of their games (18-14), baseball won 57% (17-13), volleyball won 59% (22-15) , and girls basketball won 62% of their contests (18-11).  Obviously, all of these programs had winning seasons and were very competitive within the OVC.

With that being said; I believe that school enrollment and the number of athletic options that are offered plays a big role in the success and failure of sports programs. If you look at some of the successful smaller schools in the OVC, you will notice that the kids have fewer options for athletics. This streamlines their skill development options in the off-season, allowing them to become better at fundamental skills that are required for specific sports. Also, our kids are becoming categorized and specialized at an earlier age than ever before for specific pathways. We have kids today who feel an obligation to participate in off season club activities, AAU programs, running clubs, etc. These programs are great, however, they take potential athletes away from the in-season sports team. Like in life, everything can have a positive influence, but only if it's done in moderation. We can't give our kids a thousand options, and then complain when our team sports aren't winning at a championship level. Our school district is not large enough to have kids that specialize in one sport. The outcome might create more college athletes, but it's also going to lead to watered down athletic programs that struggle to compete on a yearly basis. In the movie, Jerry Maguire, Tom Cruise's character writes a mission statement about his vision of an agency that deals with fewer clients, and has more direct contact with each athlete. This same vision can be applied to high school athletic programs. The problem is...everyone wants the biggest slice of the pie.