Rivaling for a Cause

January 25, 2013

It’s impossible to include all the perspective we gain from every “Battle of the Fans” visit. 

But this anecdote, although it didn't make Tuesday’s story about our Frankenmuth trip, tells of another great example for what student cheering sections can accomplish.

Frankenmuth and Millington are heated rivals, to say the least, separated by 13 miles and made more competitive by plenty of championship-deciding matchups over the years.

But for their boys basketball game Jan. 10 at Frankenmuth, student section leaders from both schools almost completely on their own set up the game as a cancer awareness night, complete with Frankenmuth students in black shirts and Millington’s wearing pink.

The idea was the brainchild of a of Frankenmuth section leader, who then received help from a local bank and contacted Millington to get the ball rolling.

Battle of the Fans has shown us the obvious – these student sections need strong leaders – but also the special things they can accomplish with additional initiative.

“Never Forgotten”

Two more rivals, Fennville and Saugatuck, met late last month for their second “Never Forgotten” boys and girls basketball games with proceeds going to the Wes Leonard Heart Team for the purchase of AEDs.

Players wore jerseys with names on the backs of friends and family members who had died, and those jerseys were then given to family members after the games. Officials Ace Cover, Chris Dennie and Kyle Bowen also donated their game checks to the Heart Team, as did the winner of that night’s 50-50 raffle.

Leonard died from sudden cardiac arrest after making the game-winning shot in a basketball game March 3, 2011. The two schools played their first “Never Forgotten” games last season.

More support for less specialization

I’m asked once a year at least about sport specialization – that is, athletes focusing on just one sport, often from an early age, and if it pays off some way down the road.

Most of my evidence to support my belief in the well-rounded athlete has been anecdotal, based on conversations with people at the high school and college levels over the years. But a British study published this fall in the Journal of Sport Sciences by University of Birmingham researchers provides some interesting empirical findings.

The study of 1,006 people from the United Kingdom showed that those who participated in three sports at ages 11, 13 and 15 were “significantly more likely to compete at a national rather than club standard” between ages 16-18 than those who had practiced only one sport.

In other words, the study found that those who played more sports at earlier ages played at a higher level during their high school-age years, which seems to contradict the one-sport focus philosophy.

Click for more perspective on the study from Chris Kennedy, the Superintendent of Schools in West Vancouver, British Columbia.

PHOTO: The boys and girls teams for Fennville and Saugatuck pose together after their "Never Forgotten" games Dec. 21 at Fennville High. (Photo courtesy of Al LaShell.)

Today in the MHSAA: 4/19/24

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

April 19, 2024

1. SOFTBALL Division 2 No. 8 Trenton defeated Division 1 honorable mention Allen Park for the first time since 2015, 5-1 – Southgate News-Herald

2. GIRLS SOCCER Division 4 No. 4 Royal Oak Shrine came back to defeat No. 12 Clarkston Everest Collegiate 3-1 – Oakland Press

3. BASEBALL Division 1 No. 3 Bay City Western downed No. 6 Grand Blanc 4-2, and they tied 1-1 in the second game – WJRT

4. BOYS GOLF Howell and Derek Kantola were the team and individual winners at the Black/Green/Gold/Orange Tournament – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

5. BASEBALL Division 2 No. 4 Spring Lake rebounded from a doubleheader sweep by No. 11 Coopersville to win the series’ third game 19-4 – Grand Rapids Press

6. BOYS GOLF Richland Gull Lake shot a 302 to win the Coldwater Invitational by 15 strokes – Coldwater Daily Reporter

7. SOFTBALL Division 1 honorable mention Midland swept Davison, and Grace Schloop struck out 16 in a 4-0 no-hitter win – Midland Daily News

8. GIRLS SOCCER Division 1 No. 12 Muskegon Mona Shores downed Wyoming, and Shay Norden became the Sailors’ second-leading career scorer – Local Sports Journal

9. SOFTBALL Hanover-Horton swept Division 3 honorable mention Leslie, but Leslie’s Ada Bradford reached 1,000 career strikeouts – Jackson Citizen Patriot

10. SOFTBALL Grace Lewis threw a six-inning no-hitter as Kingsley swept Kalkaska – Traverse City Record-Eagle