Cheers and Jeers
Sportswriter Steve Tietz will use this blog to try to duly reward the great, praise heartily the hard-working, uncover the unsung, and take to task the spoilsport, the foul-mouth and the crass in the local prep sports scene. He'll try to remember that kids are just kids and that coaches aren't in it for the money. He'll try to gently remind parents that the kids are playing for fun, not for profit and that the officials, though occasionally human and therefore prone to error, are there to ensure fair play and not out to get anyone.
HHS, Falls and BC golfers recent road trip more than just a chance to get out of town
No, there wasn't a lot of snoring on the bus and "wet willies" to the unfortunate sleepers were few and far between, when the Menomonee Falls, Homestead and Brookfield Central boys golf teams recently shared an overnight bus trip up to the Onalaska Invitational.
It was a chance to share tall tales, get to know your local competitor, see a great golf course (the La Crosse County Club) plus a little bit more, said Falls coach Tony Pritchard and Homestead coach Steve O'Brien.
"We really hung out together," said Pritchard. "We all stayed in the same hotel and went to the same restaurants. It was good for us to do that with two perennial state teams and see how they reacted at a high-level meet."
"It was also good for the kids to see their coaches not throw stuff at each other for once (big laughs)."
Falls got invited last year to the meet (Whitefish Bay was on that trip too), and Pritchard worked with Riteway Bus to get a large enough coach bus to accommodate all the coaches and the players, including Central and its coaches Brian Scrobel and Dan Wandrey.
"That's the beauty of our game," said O'Brien. "Certain coaches and players can come together and really bring sportsmanship into focus. There we are, three or four teams on a bus, talking and having fun. We're still competitors, but we also learn something too."
"It's also a safer trip too, with a professional driver. To incorporate all those things, well, it''s just something the kids really enjoy."
The teams played reasonably well on the hilly track ("I had to remind them that it wasn't a vacation, that we were out there to perform," said O'Brien), but that was sort of incidental to all the other good things going on like simply getting to know your neighbor.
"I thought it was a great life lesson," Pritchard said. "It showed that we can respect each other. Sure there are giggles on the bus but the kids also learn how to handle themselves in a public situation. Just a great team-building exercise."
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