Potential North, South swimming and diving elimination with levy failure would be sad

When voters in the Willoughby-Eastlake School District have their ballots counted, there is a lot to consider.

An emergency operating levy is up for consideration, passage or failure of which will have deep impact in that district’s communities. When it comes to a school levy, sports are not — nor should they be — at the top of the priority list.

It may not even be in the top five or 10.

And of course, right now amid a worldwide pandemic, sports are not high on any priority list in general. Nor should they be.

But when you look at the list of potential cuts should this levy be voted down, there is one cut that strikes particularly close to home.

Middle school and freshman sports were cut in November after that levy failed.

And now, should voters say no again, one of the next items proposed to go are six varsity sports at North and South.

All of them are important — with baseball, bowling, golf, softball and tennis on the list as well.

But seeing those letters that spelled out swimming and diving was especially gutting for me.

When you see the same faces year after year. When you watch student-athletes develop and mature right before your eyes. When you get to know the families, coaches, schools and communities that make the dynamic tick, the people and the sports matter to you.

There will be adversity. There will be highs and lows. But in a broader and impartial sense, you want to see what’s best for them.

We can all agree it’s better — if at all possible — for student-athletes to have a choice to participate in their given sport for their school than to not have that option at all.

March 16, the day before it were to occur, Governor Mike DeWine recommended in-person voting be postponed until June 2. CNN later reported a request to a judge to have the postponement take effect was denied, a decision lamented by DeWine.

Whenever it does occur, the point remains nonetheless. Fully realizing how much of a profound personal and civic responsibility casting a vote is, I would never tell anyone how to vote.

After all, honestly, I wouldn’t want anyone to do the same to me.

And suffice to say, the passage of a school levy is a solemn responsibility for a district to be entrusted and administer properly.

But what is important in moments such as these is to reflect and consider all sides of a debate before making such a vital choice.

They say a community’s identity is forged and sustained in part by the schools they keep. That comes from the value young people bring by representing their community.

It doesn’t have to be in sports. It could be in mock trial, robotics, debate. Some of my most profound memories growing up in Painesville and being a 1998 Harvey graduate were in Future Business Leaders of America and being a news anchor and football and basketball play-by-play announcer on our educational access station, WHHS Channel 30.

Enhancing the value of a community is undoubtedly about superficial look and curb appeal, as well as commercial and industrial prowess on Main Street and to the city limits.

Young people enhance a community when they have a vested interest in its representation. Sports have a major impact in that regard.

They may not say it. But there isn’t a high school student-athlete who doesn’t, at least deep down, acknowledge the value of the school name on their uniform. The duty isn’t just to themselves, but to their teammates, coaches, families, neighbors, supporters in the stands and community pride. No, of course that doesn’t pay your property taxes. But it does pay off for your community.

When I think of North and South swimming and diving, so many positive memories come to mind.

There are North’s Jared Stergar and South’s Dino Jajcanin and James Godshall, among more, and their respective quests for state. There’s other names from years gone by, such as Brian Regovich, Jimmy Walllace, Jeff Scavnicky and Reagan Meyers for the Rangers, or Mike Bixel, William Golnick, Jeremy Mason and Michelle Shimrock for the Rebels, among many more.

There was being there in 2015 when Stergar won his Division I 100-yard breaststroke ‘B’ final and took second in his 200 IM ‘B’ final at state.

“I’d like to think that I did set a good example and paved the way for people after me,” Stergar told me at the time after that 100 breast heat win in Canton. “I’d like to think that, and I hope I’m right on that. And there are some people coming up after me that are going to follow and be here on Saturdays in the future.”

There was Jack Misny and his inspiring story of competing for the Rangers in the pool. Misny’s right leg was amputated when he was 9 after he was diagnosed with cancer, he found his way to swimming and amazed a generation in his community and beyond.

There were the stories of North and South swimmers doing their utmost in recent memory to get to Cleveland State through rush-hour traffic and maximize their 7:30-9:30 p.m. practice slot at Busbey Natatorium on school nights.

There are the coaches, including today with head coaches Matt Starkey at South, Justin Ramey and Patricia O’Donnell at North and their staffs, as well as those who preceded as those programs’ head coach, such as North’s Mark Munnings and South’s Matt Trem.

There is observing, as a bystander, the joy of Rangers and Rebels as they watch their teammates compete in final heats at the Western Reserve Conference meet, sectional and district and the exultation that comes from seeing a job well done.

In general, there are the swimmers and divers for those schools who may peak by scoring at district by the end of their high school career, but are working diligently to hone their craft and make the sport better for the next generation that comes along.

And you can’t help but think of the possibilities going forward for North and South swimming and diving with that beautiful new competition pool at Union Village.

It’s such a challenge to establish this corner of Ohio in Division I high school swimming and diving as it is. It’s going to require a massive undertaking to be as generally fast as it is elsewhere and capitalize on the progress that’s been made to date.

That challenge is much more difficult without North and South, with a new pool and the potential that comes from it not part of that mix.

When you look at that list of potential cuts, there are certainly more important considerations: Jobs, equipment, classes and extra-curriculars all, in some form, hang in the balance.

But the value of sports, in formative years and later in life, should be down somewhere on that list, too.

Hard-earned money is on the line, and you won’t hear me tell anyone how to vote. When votes are eventually counted, though, it won’t hurt to hope for the best for programs that mean so much to so many.

A future with those programs — North and South swimming and diving included — is a lot more ideal than one without it.