Shape Up Or Ship Out

Last night the Waterbury Board of Education took a very important step in the fight to improve the city's reputation. They reminded everyone that the most important word in the phrase "student-athlete" is student. While this is not a revolutionary viewpoint in the world of High-School sports, it is about time that the city got on board with the colleges and the rest of America and forced our students to change.

To bring about this change the board last night instituted a new rule for the 2007-08 academic year. This rule requires students to have a 2.0 Grade Point Average (GPA) when they enter a sport. In Waterbury a 1.0 is any grade between a 60 and 69, and a 2.0 is defined as any grade between a 70 and 79. Furthermore, grades of 80 to 89 are worth a 3.0, while grades of 90 to 100 earn you a 4.0. Therefore a student must be doing C work or better in nearly all of their classes to participate in sports.

While the coach of the Crosby Boy's Basketball team was vocally opposed to this measure I feel that it provides our students with many more benefits then people realize. Right now the school system is fighting to change the reputation of Waterbury athletes from both within and without. Within the school system the athletes can develop a reputation that they are superior to their school mates. They can feel that because they can run, jump, or shoot a ball, that they don't need to study. Despite the recent 15 game suspension of Carmello Anthony after this past weekend's Knicks-Nuggets fight, students can act as if their ability on the field is all that matters.

This has led to a diminishing of our reputation outside of the city. Many of our student-athletes leave the school system unprepared for college. They have spent so much time on the field or court instead of in their books, that they do not understand the basic skills to survive beyond athletics. By forcing the students to focus on both books and balls, we can avoid the further embarrassment of seeing our students sent off to a year of prep-school before they have any chance of going to college. As an example, can anyone name me two players in the past ten years that have left Waterbury and made a name for themselves in college?

The student-athletes of Waterbury need to adjust their priorities, and this is just how to do it. The young men and women who where Crosby blue or Wilby green need to remember that how they work their brains is as important as how they work their bodies. Then, even if they never play in the NBA or NFL, they will have the opportunity for a better life.