Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 18, 1993 TAG: 9302180498
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-14 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOHN A. MONTGOMERY SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
MIDDLE SCHOOLS WRESTLE WITH IDEA OF COMPETITIVE SPORTS
Stan Parker, assistant principal at Jackson Middle School, leaned on the railing overlooking the school's gymnasium. An idea was being weighed, and he was interested in the outcome.He was watching a wrestling match between Jackson and Ruffner middle schools but couldn't tell who was winning from the scoreboard. There was none.
Parker, a man associated with the sport in this area for more than 30 years, explained the philosophy within Roanoke's middle schools (Grades 6-8) toward wrestling, and toward athletics in general.
"The idea is to make sports as non-competitive as possible," Parker said, "to involve as many students as possible, to give students the opportunity to learn a particular sport, to participate, and to decide if they like it."
In essence, everybody plays and team score is not formally kept. No one is ever "cut." A noble gesture, to be sure, but in the eyes of some, idealistic.
Howard Light, director of health and physical education for the city schools, oversees this mission at Addison, Breckinridge, Jackson, Madison, Ruffner and Woodrow Wilson Middle Schools in a dozen sports, from baseball to volleyball.
Is the concept working?
"It depends on whom you ask," Light said.
He acknowledged that the program's loudest critics are often family members of the best natural athletes, those whose playing times have been reduced. Likewise, some of the plan's biggest proponents are those who can appreciate the benefit of more playing time than might otherwise be accorded.
Light, a football and track star at Jefferson High School and Roanoke College in the 1950s (he once was timed in the 440-yard run in 49 seconds), is quick to point out that eighth-graders and their parents who feel constrained by the system always have the option of moving up to the junior varsity.
It's been four years since this change was implemented in Roanoke, and Parker, who was at Madison Middle School at the time, was given the charge of applying the concept to the wrestling program.
Parker has since moved into administration, and no longer coaches, but he still officiates at the high school level, and he still watches wrestling matches intently. His program is still intact.
"When I was asked to do this, one of the first things I did was to eliminate weight classes," Parker said. "Probably the biggest problem our sport has encountered nationally is weight loss."
Parker, who wrestled at Northside High School under Ken Shelton in the early 1960s and then later at Appalachian State University, is painfully aware of the practice of shedding pounds to make the weight limits. He coached scholastic wrestling for nearly 20 years and has officiated for 25.
Light also has a background in wrestling. He coached at Jefferson after finishing graduate school and also officiated years.
It's well known that wrestlers who legitimately weigh 135 pounds, for example, train and diet, often excessively, so they can participate at a lower and presumably less competitive weight. Since every wrestler has the same opportunity, the relative advantage is often lost along with the weight. More than one wrestler has endangered his health in the process.
Parker wanted to eliminate this problem, and feels he has found a system that works.
"At our middle school matches, everybody weighs in - at their normal weight - before the match," he said. "There's no need to strip; the boys weigh in in their uniforms. The coaches match up wrestlers at comparable weights and abilities."
High school wrestling fans are accustomed to 13 matches. At middle school matches, one might see 25. "Everybody wrestles," Parker said. "If a student weighs less than 140, he will wrestle someone within five pounds of his weight. Those that weigh more than 140 will wrestle someone within 10 pounds. And if one school has more wrestlers than the other, some wrestlers might wrestle more than one match. Or some students might wrestle members of their own team."
Three one-minute periods constitute a match, half as long as high school competition. The shorter matches serve several purposes: those that are required to wrestle two matches have the energy to do so, and if 25 matches are scheduled, the length of the overall match does not drag out.
While team scores are not kept, the individual matches are scored. So each student has exposure to winning and losing, but the concept is not overemphasized.
Parker pointed out that, in middle school, basketball season ends before Christmas, and wrestling starts after New Year's. This permits students to experiment with two winter sports.
While Parker's system has several advantages, he concedes there have been some drawbacks.
"I've taken some criticism on this," Parker said. "Some people say it doesn't prepare kids for high school wrestling where they still have to make weight.
"My answer is that I'm not trying to prepare them for high school wrestling. I want them to find out if they like it.
"No one wants to see wrestling succeed in this Valley more than I do."