Although the official start of spring is Thursday, gritty Old Man Winter is digging in his fingernails and holding on for dear life. The forecast for midweek did not hint of spring; instead, just the opposite. On the other hand, there are some positive aspects of holding on to a winter thing or two.
For the first time in Oconto Falls High School history, the Lady Panthers’ winter basketball season has been extended to the state tournament. Their first game is set for Friday morning, the first full day of spring. To show support and to avoid a lot of complications, classes in all district schools will be canceled on Friday. This was not without controversy, but from the big-picture perspective, it made a lot of sense. One day will be added to the end of the school year, so there will be no loss of instructional time.
In a conversation I had early this week, it was mentioned that if we knew a year ago that the girls would make it to state, we would have scheduled Friday as a vacation day. To be that presumptuous would have been extremely bad luck.
The story of their journey to the state tournament is filled with human interest and goes back a long way. Snippets of the story have been featured in area newspapers. The Times Herald gave great coverage of the “home town stars.” Green Bay television had good coverage. WOCO Radio of Oconto provided great coverage with elementary teachers Todd Peterson and Brett Crandall providing live play-by-play.
Part of the story of the journey to state would tell of a head boys basketball coaching vacancy and a neighboring school district’s head girls coach who expressed some interest. The connection was made. Eventually, the OFHS girls position was open, and he requested a switch to the girls spot. When asked why, in so many words or less, the response was, “The girls are more coachable.”
It’s hard to assess how much of this team’s success is due to the coach. The thousands of people who have followed the Lady Panthers and have seen Mike Kaczmarek pace the space in front of the bench have the utmost respect for his coaching style. He deserves to walk that space at the big dance.
We could take the opportunity to reflect on the great community support we have had for these young women as they worked through the season and post-season to make the final four in their division. It was truly amazing and made a difference. The fans experienced the thrill of their ever-faster pumping hearts as a few of these games wound down to the final minute of play, with fans knowing the result could go either way.
High school sports can be a big draw, especially for smaller communities. The connection between the community and the athletes on the playing court seems stronger than it is in bigger, urban areas. Some suggest that too much emphasis is placed on sports, and our schools might be better off if we eliminated sports and operated with a club system, as is the case in many other countries. After all, we could spend more time on the important things like reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmatic.
There are other opinions about what is important to teach in schools. Angela Duckworth, an assistant professor in the psychology department at the University of Pennsylvania, has done extensive research to determine how “grit” is a better indicator of success than factors such as IQ or family income. Several other researchers have also worked in this area and support the position that having goals and working toward them in spite of the odds can be one of the most important things we can teach in our schools.
The popularity of the term may harken back to John Wayne’s role in “True Grit,” the only film for which he won an Academy Award. In the end, he proved the point that being old, blind in one eye and a bit overweight did not stop him from accomplishing his goals.
Those physical attributes do not apply to the Lady Panthers, but they truly do have grit and worked at accomplishing their goals. They have learned an important lesson they will apply all through life.
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