It’s been awhile since I’ve been able to put together a ‘Hot Corner’ column simply due to the fact that I believe the local sporting events held throughout the city are more important than my opinion column.
But with a slight lull in local activity I felt that now would be the perfect opportunity to brush the dust off of the ‘Hot Corner’ and put together an article on something that has been bothering me recently.
That thing that has been bothering me is quite simple, really. Minor sports, especially at the teenage level are, essentially, dying.
It’s sad to say, it’s painful to say, but it’s true. This season the two communities of Yorkton and Melville, as well as the rest of the Parkland Valley (Zone Four) region have struggled to put together two midget level travel baseball teams.
In fact they’ve only been able to get one and a half midget teams together and if not for the local bantam players in Yorkton, the second team (Parkland Expos ‘AA’) wouldn’t even exist.
Think about that for a second. Two communities that had previously been able to put together at least one midget team each could not even find enough players to put together two teams in total.
17 years ago the Yorkton Expos had 60 Yorkton and area players try out for their midget ‘AAA’ team. That year that particular team won a bronze medal at midget nationals.
Sixty players are enough for five teams of 12. Fast forward to today and that same age group can’t even put together two full teams from a larger area. What happened? Is the advanced technology to blame?
Maybe the continually increasing price of registration has a hand in deterring teens from taking part in sport?
Or is it both of those combined with one other, more illegal, ‘recreational activity’ that is preventing teens from taking part in sports?
Hockey, too, has seen a decrease in teenager activity, although let’s face it; hockey will never die in Canada.
But with that being said, last year the Foam Lake Flyers won the midget hockey league playoffs. This year they were unable to get enough players together to defend their title. What’s wrong with that picture?
Other sports are seeing a decrease in numbers as well. Box lacrosse was once a popular sport in Yorkton, especially amongst teens, but now it’s basically on life support.
Something needs to change and I, for once, have a good idea (although it’ll be nearly impossible to implement).
I think that minor sports should join forces with the school system and give out high school phys. Ed credits to those that take part in out of school sports such as minor baseball, box lacrosse, tennis, etc.
Hockey would not be eligible for the credit due to never truly being in trouble in the first place, despite it sometimes struggling in smaller centres.
However sports such as baseball and tennis would be sports (among others) that would award players participating with a high school credit.
It would take a lot of communication and hard work between school boards, both locally and provincially, and coaches, but I feel it would both help sports come back from the brink of death and aid teens in getting a credit towards high school graduation.
I personally think that if that were to happen we’d see the return of midget level baseball to all of the small communities; something that has gone the way of the dodo over the last 20 or so years.
We’d also see a growth in fringe sports such as tennis, club basketball, rowing and maybe even handball.
And really, what’s the worst thing that could happen? After all, most teens aren’t playing sports already and, in my opinion, that’s already the worst thing that can happen.
