School Sports

An athletic advisory committee for high school sports plans to petition the Howard County school board for paid professional athletic trainers this week.The committee proposes that one trainer be available for each of the 10 county high schools during practices and games to evaluate injuries and assist in rehabilitation and injury prevention for the county's 6,600 student athletes.County schools have limited coverage by Kernan Sports Medicine on a voluntary basis, a three-year relationship that ends in May.The Interscholastic Athletic Advisory Committee (IAAC)

Arundel High School's Class of 1988 is planning a 10th reunion to be held the weekend of Oct. 16-18.The event will begin with a happy hour the evening of Oct. 16. The next afternoon, alumni are invited to Arundel's homecoming football game at the high school stadium.A dinner dance will be held Saturday night at the Bowie Comfort Inn. A band called "Reagan Years" specializing in '80s music will perform. Sunday afternoon, reunion festivities will culminate in a picnic at Quiet Waters Park in Annapolis.

Put smaller stadium on Memorial siteThe last ball game at Memorial Stadium has been played, marking the final move of professional sports to downtown Baltimore. Camden Yards is the perfect hub for professional sports in this city because of its proximity to other tourist attractions and hotel rooms. My concern is for the future of local college and high school sports in Baltimore.Even though Memorial Stadium has existed in its present form since 1954, there has been a stadium on that site for 75 years.

Howard County students with failing grades in any classes would not be allowed to play high school sports or participate in any other extracurricular activities under a proposal that would make the county's academic eligibility requirements the toughest in the Baltimore area.The new policy -- which could take effect in time for this coming season of basketball and other winter sports -- also would prohibit students from using summer school to regain eligibility and would eliminate a Howard schools' provision giving failing athletes a chance during the season to improve their grades and begin playing at midseason.

Howard County's plan to keep academically troubled students out of extracurricular activities -- including athletics -- got serious this week with the opening of the winter high school sports season.Throughout the county's high schools, controversy still rages over the new policy. But the fears of large numbers of athletes failing to make the grade appear not to have been borne out. And the new policy appears to have succeeded -- in at least a few cases -- in pushing students to improve classwork.

Howard County's plan to keep academically troubled students out of extracurricular activities -- including athletics -- got serious this week with the opening of the winter high school sports season.Throughout the county's high schools, controversy still rages over the new policy. But the fears of large numbers of athletes failing to make the grade appear not to have been borne out so far. And the new policy appears to have succeeded -- in at least a few cases -- in pushing students to improve their classwork.

Fifth-year senior Chris Williams, 19, wants to wrestle for Hammond High School.The Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association, which governs high school sports, says he can't because he participated in two all-star meets after last season.The MPSSAA permits athletes to compete in one all-star event upon completion of their career eligibility in that sport -- normally in their senior year.Williams' eligibility became an issue when he didn't graduate last June and then enrolled in three courses in September.

Anne Arundel high school sports are very much a man's world.The 12 high school athletic directors -- all men. The 12 assistant directors -- all but two are men. Boys get to play at 7 p.m., "prime time" in the sports schedule, more often than girls. The boys generally have nicer, newer uniforms. Their playing fields usually are in better shape.A school Gender Equity Committee has found enough evidence of a disparity in the treatment of girls' and boys' sports to make it clear the school system needs to do a better job of ensuring fair treatment.

There is a feeling of emptiness around Carroll County these days.Bob Henard, Mr. Liberty High School, is gone from the sports scene.One of the truly good guys has been forced to the sidelines. Damage to Henard's lower spinal cord has made it too dangerous for him to continue as athletic director and physical education instruction at Liberty, the Carroll County school board said.Someone else will take over his position, but there is no replacing Bob Henard.He was a rare breed in a field where increased pressures from parents, a growing number of students and a growing number of sports have made it a thankless job with long hours and low pay.Most people don't love their jobs as Henard, 62, did.And very few athletic directors make a visitor feel at home the way Henard did at Liberty.

In Anne Arundel County, high school sports are very much a man's world.Of the 12 high school athletic directors, all are men. Of the 12 assistant directors, all but two are men. Boys get to play at 7 p.m., "prime time" in the sports schedule, more often than girls. The boys generally have nicer, newer uniforms. Their playing fields usually are in better shape.A school Gender Equity Committee has found enough evidence of a disparity in the treatment of girls' and boys' sports to make it clear that the school system needs to do a better job of ensuring fair treatment.

There will be no bonuses for Maryland's 188 public school athletics departments this year. The Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association raised enough money through state tournament ticket sales and corporate sponsorship to fund its day-to-day operation and still hold a little in reserve, but there is no big surplus as had built up in the previous few years. In 2007, the MPSSAA gave each school $1,000. Last year, each got $500. Ned Sparks, MPSSAA executive director, said that surplus was exceptional, but he had expected a small surplus this year that never materialized.

Wheelchair athlete Tatyana McFadden sued for the right to share the track with her high school teammates in Howard County. She brought home gold medals from a national Paralympic track meet, setting an American record along the way. Yesterday, the Atholton High School senior asked lawmakers in Annapolis to help ensure that other athletes with disabilities get their chance to compete. "No student should have to fight to be accepted in high school," McFadden told a state Senate committee.

Years from now, if we're fortunate, the names of Kevin Hart and Terrelle Pryor will stand as symbols of the time when the sporting world started to get a handle on high school sports in general and recruiting in particular. More than likely, however, their names will serve as the markers for the point at which the whole thing began to careen out of recognition of anything that resembles normality. For now, the hype surrounding Pryor, supposedly the nation's most sought-after high school football player, and the hoax attached to Hart, the offensive lineman from Nevada who concocted a story that he was turning down scholarship offers from four schools to accept one to California, seem like the next legs of a march down a pathetic road.

For 18 years, between ages 5 and 22, I lived in a jersey. Sometimes it was green, sometimes purple; usually it was red. From clinic soccer at Lutherville-Timonium Recreational Council to Division I lacrosse at Stanford, I lived to compete. Now, two years after hanging up my cleats, I am able to step back to examine the game from a different angle. I coach high school JV girls lacrosse and spent this past summer coaching an elite-level club team. My players hailed from eight strong public and private school programs.

The Sun's Varsity high school sports page will begin next Wednesday in the Howard edition. Look for an expanded notebook, a question-and-answer profile, games to watch and By the Numbers.

As the curtain is about to close on another school sports year, there is a promising development on the horizon for next year, namely the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference's football committee's decision to try to limit running up scores. The committee's action - to suspend for a game any coach whose team wins by 50 - is one of the more promising developments heard in high school sports. Oh, the sports talk show crowd - never known for intellectualism - has had a field day with the new rule, calling it overprotection at best and an example of dreaded political correctness run amuck at worst.

With all due credit to Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report for the concept, it's time to hand out some tips of the cap and wags of the finger. Let's start with a conditional tip of the cap to the Board of Control of the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association, which passed and sent on to the state superintendents and Board of Education a proposal to move the beginning of football season and practice earlier. The change, as explained by MPSSAA executive director Ned Sparks to The Sun's Lem Satterfield, would move the start of summer practice up a few days to facilitate a Labor Day weekend launch of the football season.

The scene plays out every day along the Beltway, Interstate 95 or some other major highway of choice: Two cars sit alongside the road, post-collision, with a tow truck preparing to take one away. And as drivers whir by, rubbernecking their heads to get a glimpse of the scene, two thoughts inevitably creep in, namely, "How did that happen?" and "Man, am I glad that's not me." These crashes, metaphorically speaking, of course, are happening more and more in high school sports, to the point where they'll happen too fast and too close to witness from a distance.

To submit an announcement, E-mail sports@baltimoresun.com. The announcement must include a valid E-mail address and phone number for verification. Travel lacrosse Level 2 Sports is seeking high school JV and club lacrosse teams to play in the Battle of the Beltways Lax Tournament on November 12-13 at Villa Julie College's Lacrosse Complex. For more information or to register go to www.level2sports.com or call Spencer Ford at 410-982-3666. 12 & under AAU basketball tryouts Where: Back River Community Center When: November 9 and 12, 2005 Time: 6:30-8 p.m. Registration Cost $20 (non-refundable)

To report a high school signing or commitment, email sports@baltsun.com or call 410-332-6200. BOYS Soccer Jonathan Ports, McDonogh, Maryland GIRLS Lacrosse Allison Perkins, St. Mary's, Maryland Amanda Spinnenweber, Chesapeake-AA, Maryland