10/06/05 - Silver Chips Online - Montgomery Blair High School

silverCHIPS
SPORTS
CHIPS
Making the grade
Snively is, by all accounts, a basketball
fanatic; outside of school, he plays for a
Division I league on weekends, occasionally
drills with a private coach and devotes
most of his free time to practicing. He
spends his summers playing at elite invitational
camps. But despite his extensive
skill and experience, Snively has never
played basketball for Blair. Because his
GPA is below 2.0, he is not eligible to try
out for school sports teams.
As one of many athletic Blazers barred
from playing Blair sports because of academic
prerequisites, Snively’s story is
hardly unusual. Current Montgomery
County policy stipulates that students
must have a 2.0 GPA and no more than
one failing grade before they can participate
in extracurricular activities. Based on
these requirements, as many as 845 Blazers
— approximately 25 percent of the student
body — currently do not qualify to participate
in the sports program. Ineligibility is
an increasingly serious problem among
those talented would-be athletes who, like
Snively, fail to meet the academic requirements
of the policy.
The athletic achievement gap
Blair has recently pioneered the use of
an eligibility database to prevent ineligible
students, like Snively, from even trying
out for a school sports team. During tryouts,
coaches can input the identifi cation
numbers of all
prospective players
into a schoolwide
database
that records the
GPA of each student
for each
quarter of the
academic year,
enabling coaches
to cut any ineligible
athlete. According
to Joseph
Bellino, the Blair
teacher who authored
the database
program,
Blair is currently the only Montgomery
County high school with this capability.
This same program is also used by the
school staff to track the eligibility of current
and past athletes throughout the
school year. Despite coaches’ best efforts
to monitor and prevent ineligibility, however,
many student athletes still struggle to
maintain their grades once the season has
ended. According to the database, of the
525 Blair students who participated in a
school-sponsored sport last year, 86 — 17
percent — were ineligible during one or
Junior Quentin Snively squints towards the sun, his
eyes following the basketball as it leaves his outstretched
palms in a graceful arc. It sinks into
the net with a satisfying swish. Snively spends
most of his lunch periods the same way he has since he was
in second grade — out on the school basketball courts with
friends, engaged in a casual game of four-on-four.
“The least I can do
is to help them where
they’re struggling.”
more quarters of the offseason.
MCPS policy dictates that any student
who becomes ineligible during the season
must be removed immediately from
the team. The rigid consequences are designed
to prevent recurrence of academic
failure, according to Blair athletic director
Dale Miller. “[Students] who become
ineligible...[are] encouraged to get to study
halls and academic support so it doesn’t
happen again,” he says.
Junior Sarah Curcio-Rudy was barred
from the JV softball team when her GPA
fell after the fi rst semester of her freshman
year. She acknowledges that the extensive
time commitment required of athletes may
have contributed to her poor grades, but
she questions whether her removal was justifi
ed. “School and sports are separate, and
the policy keeps people who don’t achieve
academically from being able to achieve in
other areas,” she says. “[The rule] is a bad
idea. It just made problems worse.”
Despite the rigidity of the academic requirements,
not all Blazers are opposed to
the policy. Junior Deandrey Woodward,
an avid football player, chooses instead
to compete in several leagues outside of
Blair because his grades prevent him from
participating in school sports. Still, Woodward
believes that the policy provides
positive motivation and an objective for
would-be athletes to strive for. “When you
play a sport, you know your [grades are
passable],” he says. “So I guess it’s good in
a way.”
However, there
is a signifi cant
drawback to the
policy: by prohibiting
students
with low GPAs
from participating,
it dramatically
decreases
the athletic talent
pool at Blair,
since some gifted
players do not
meet the eligibility
requirements.
“At Blair, we
have a hard time keeping students eligible
from one year to the next. It’s the reason
we can’t compete with other schools,” says
JV football coach Earl Lindsey.
-basketball coach
Orlando Larracuente
School fi rst, sports second
To combat their players’ slipping grades,
many Blair coaches have initiated afterschool
study hall programs for athletes.
Although by law, school offi cials may not
make attendance mandatory, coaches say
that even without complete participation,
By Allie O’Hora
such programs are an effective approach to
the ineligibility issue.
Basketball coach Orlando Larracuente
proctors such a program for his own players,
giving them an opportunity to get their
schoolwork done before they ever get on
the court. “I try to provide an environment
where they can succeed,” he says. “These
kids are busting their tails to represent
Blair. The least I can do is to help them
where they’re struggling.” Despite his role
as a coach, Larracuente says he maintains a
focus on academics at all times. “The goal
is to make sure no kid is ineligible, on-season
or off,” he says.
Lindsey recently instituted a similar
study hall policy for the football team,
which has been historically plagued by
ineligibility issues. Lindsey says the effort
has already produced signifi cant improvement.
Both coaches affi rm their conviction
that school, not sports, should remain the
priority for student athletes. “School is
fi rst,” says Lindsey. “I’m a teacher fi rst
and a coach second.” Larracuente echoes
his sentiments: “It’s about education,” he
says. “The NBA is not the goal. College,
university — that’s what I want to be the
goal.”
Indeed, today’s college athletes are held
to increasingly exacting educational standards
as universities strive for comprehensive
academic achievement. The University
of Maryland, for example, gives substantial
consideration to grades when weighing the
merits of prospective recruits. Zina Evans,
director of undergraduate admissions for
the University of Maryland at College
Park, explains that their admissions policy
is derived from the belief that a strong academic
foundation is the most essential element
in any successful college athlete. “I’ve
seen kids who’ve...had coaches and teachers
who just let the grades slide over the
years, banking on an athletic scholarship,”
she says. “But they’re not doing them any
favors if they end up failing out of college
because they can’t keep up with advanced
coursework.” Because of this problem, she
says, she supports high-school ineligibility
policies, since they require participants to
demonstrate an ability to balance athletics
and academics.
This kind of balancing act is diffi cult for
many of Blair’s student athletes, but Snively
is hopeful — he says he plans to split his
time between schoolwork and sports this
quarter. He hopes to improve his grades
enough to be able to try out for the basketball
team this winter. Perhaps, he says, the
very policy that restricted him will serve
as a means of motivation. “It’d be nice to
be on the team,” he says wistfully. “I don’t
know...maybe this year.”
CENTERSPREAD
October 6, 2005
Thomas Herrion was a player
looking to fulfi ll his NFL dream.
A former University of Utah offensive
lineman, Herrion joined
the San Francisco 49ers in December. But
on the night of Aug. 20, Herrion’s life took
a turn for the worse.
The 6’3”, 330-pounder threw a key block
on the fi nal play of a scoring drive, walked
off the fi eld for coach Mike Nolan’s postgame
address, knelt for the Lord’s Prayer
and collapsed on the locker room fl oor.
Herrion died hours later from heart failure,
setting off a controversy about how
obesity affects football players from high
school to the pros.
Herrion was just one of the quarter of
all NFL players who are considered morbidly
obese, according to Joyce Harp of
the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill. Obesity is especially prevalent along
starting offensive lines, where 30 of 32 NFL
teams average over 300 pounds per player.
Linemen maintain heavy weights in order
to better block for other offensive players.
While the emphasis on large-scale weight
gain has long been important to success in
professional football, Blazers are also fi nding
that weight can be an issue that makes
or breaks their chances.
Shouldering the load
For senior David Ufford, a 5’10”, 220pound
starter on Blair’s varsity offensive
line, there was intense pressure to add
bulk throughout the offseason. Ufford’s
silverCHIPS
Packing the Line
Obesity in linemen raises questions about coaching pressure
coaches said he needed to add weight if
he wanted to play well. “They told me I
looked too small,” Ufford recalls.
Another key starting lineman, junior
Scott Lavon, says that his natural bulk
stopped coaches from demanding that he
eat more. “I’ve always been one of the bigger
guys,
so they’ve
n e v e r
pressured
me to
get way
b i g g e r, ”
L a v o n
says. In
order for
L a v o n
to maintain
his
size advantage,
c o a c h e s
r e c o m -
mended that he consistently use the bench
press.
Weight training is all the Blair coaching
staff recommends in building mass,
according to head varsity coach Jeff Seals.
“Kids go to the weight room; that’s all I
need out of them,” he says.
Seals says he would feel better about
the varsity linemen’s sizes if they spent
more time in the weight room. Lavon, for
instance, is unable to lift as often during
the winter and spring, when he is playing
ice hockey and lacrosse, respectively.
Multiple sports cease to be an issue for
college athletes, according to former Blair
lineman Martin Brown, who plays football
for Salisbury University. At Salisbury,
Brown says, the football team’s weight
training is more effective because it is required.
“Everyday that’s not a game day
is time for
l i f t i n g , ”
he says.
E v e n
with daily
weight
l i f t i n g
and more
i n t e n s e
training,
S a l i s -
bury’s Division
III
f o o t b a l l
team focuses
less
on weight
than most top football programs. “They
don’t care about your weight as long as
you can play,” Brown says.
Too much of a bad thing
Steven Horwitz, a certifi ed sports
physician in Silver Spring, affi rms that,
although unhealthy weight fl uctuation
among football players is an issue at major
universities, the pressures can affect players
at all levels. Horwitz recalls cases of
athletes as young as nine years old with
Top left: Junior Quentin Snively plays basketball at lunch. Top right:
Blair football player sets up for the next play. Bottom right: Football
practice on Oct. 3. Photos by Hannah Rosen and Nic Lukehart
coronary blockages caused by obesity.
Besides the long-term health risks, like
diabetes and heart disease, associated with
being overweight, Horwitz says that athletes
can lose in-game skills. “They tend to
lose speed and have more chance of hurting
their lower extremities,” he says. Horwitz
fi nds it counterintuitive that linemen
are told to gain weight when they should
build muscle and reduce bulk.
Brown thinks that the Blair team could
deal with weight issues more effi ciently if
they solicited nutrition advice. “[The Salisbury]
trainer talks to the team about what
to eat. He makes sure we have healthy diets
and can play our best,” Brown says.
Last year, Collin Reed, a junior starter
alongside Lavon and Ufford, was instructed
to lose 20 pounds. Reed believes that
the coaching staff sent confl icting messages
about his size when they infl ated his
height and weight on the roster, a practice
used to intimidate opposing teams.
Seals denies that his coaches deliberately
pad the statistics. “We might give a kid
like 10 pounds if he’s really, really light,”
he says. Reed estimates his weight to be
235 pounds, but he is listed at 260.
“Massive” proportions
With the issue of weight so ingrained in
the high-school football culture, Horwitz
says that athletes are unlikely to recognize
health risks unless they compare their
weight to their height. The accepted comparison
system, known as Body Mass In-
By Jason Meer
dex (BMI), is a relatively accurate gauge of
a person’s risk for disease. A BMI reading
between 18.5 and 24.9 is considered normal,
and readings between 25.0 and 29.9
identify overweight individuals. Anything
higher signifi es obesity and high risk
for related health problems.
Lavon, Reed and Ufford’s BMI scale
readings are 31.2, 34.7 and 31.6, respectively.
However, Horwitz says that BMI measurements
are unreliable for most athletes
who weight train because they tend to
have higher muscle mass. Though lighter
individuals are always at lower risk for
disease, Horwitz says that a disease risk
evaluator like BMI “doesn’t apply if the
guy is in good shape and lean.”
Conversely, checking Herrion’s BMI
might have been useful in saving his life.
At the time of his death, Herrion’s BMI
reading was 41.2, well over the threshold
that indicates risk. Horwitz hopes that
linemen and coaches at all levels can learn
from the Herrion tragedy. “Stronger and
faster is always better than just big. Unfortunately,
at those line positions, you will
get pressured to put on weight,” he says.
Seals does not think that Herrion’s
death will change the way he coaches the
team, because none of his players are morbidly
obese. “If you’re strong and small, it
doesn’t matter in high school,” he says.
Lavon says that Blair’s line, considered
to be average in size compared to the rest
of the county, will be able to do the job.
“We’re not the biggest, but we can still be
successful,” he says.