Tournament too far
As a former Adams Central High School student, I was surprised to read AC was playing in the Great Northeast Nebraska Shootout. The shortest route from AC to Wayne State College is approximately 170 miles. Boone Central will travel half that distance and the remaining six teams will each travel less than 45 miles. The AC athletic director, principal, and superintendent need to find a map, a cost analysis worksheet, and a can of common sense to scrutinize the decision to play in this three-day tournament.
I reviewed the size of the eight schools participating in the tournament. AC has the largest enrollment (NSAA website 2012-13 basketball classification) of 226. The other four Class C-1 schools have enrollments ranging from 215 to 120; the two C-2 schools’ enrollments are 105 and 92; and the D-1 school’s enrollment is 78.
Is the AC program desperate for a victory? The AC girls’ and boys’ first opponent is Battle Creek. The Battle Creek teams both have records of 1-4 this season and their enrollment (120) is almost half of AC’s. Of the five C-1 girls teams only Wayne has a winning record.
On the boys’ side, two of the five C-1 teams have losing records. Wayne has a perfect record like AC but Wayne and Boone Central (6-2) are in a different bracket. AC will not play both.
Adams Central administrators, ask each other:
• “Does this financially make sense for the patrons of the district?”
• “What are our teams gaining by playing in this tournament?”
• “Wouldn’t more family members and fans be able to support the teams playing at a closer location?”
• “Does the end result justify the resources spent?”
You are stewards of taxpayer dollars; please take that seriously.
As a former Adams Central High School student, I was surprised to read AC was playing in the Great Northeast Nebraska Shootout. The shortest route from AC to Wayne State College is approximately 170 miles. Boone Central will travel half that distance and the remaining six teams will each travel less than 45 miles. The AC athletic director, principal, and superintendent need to find a map, a cost analysis worksheet, and a can of common sense to scrutinize the decision to play in this three-day tournament.
I reviewed the size of the eight schools participating in the tournament. AC has the largest enrollment (NSAA website 2012-13 basketball classification) of 226. The other four Class C-1 schools have enrollments ranging from 215 to 120; the two C-2 schools’ enrollments are 105 and 92; and the D-1 school’s enrollment is 78.
Is the AC program desperate for a victory? The AC girls’ and boys’ first opponent is Battle Creek. The Battle Creek teams both have records of 1-4 this season and their enrollment (120) is almost half of AC’s. Of the five C-1 girls teams only Wayne has a winning record.
On the boys’ side, two of the five C-1 teams have losing records. Wayne has a perfect record like AC but Wayne and Boone Central (6-2) are in a different bracket. AC will not play both.
Adams Central administrators, ask each other:
• “Does this financially make sense for the patrons of the district?”
• “What are our teams gaining by playing in this tournament?”
• “Wouldn’t more family members and fans be able to support the teams playing at a closer location?”
• “Does the end result justify the resources spent?”
You are stewards of taxpayer dollars; please take that seriously.
Rita Deveny
Grand Island
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