Pride and recognition

in question looked good. Those students’ life trajectories rarely take them to a good place.

The “good” kind of pride is gained by athletes knowing that they did everything possible to be as good as he/she could be. The right kind of pride seeks to help teammates play better, and proper pride will prevent said athletes from doing or saying things that shine a negative light on their team or community. School teams from small towns can color what folks from other places think about their community, be it good or bad.

Everyone likes recognition when they do well, and recognition is a major factor in continued improvement in whatever humans endeavor to do. No matter how young or how old, having ones’ name in the newspaper for reasons of achievement is always a great motivator.

It is incumbent on us as a community, whether as a school or town, to recognize and encourage our students for the efforts they make in whatever activity they choose to do. It is not just coincidental that most of the leaders of our country in any venue you can name, came from small schools. It is also not just coincidental that most of folks locked away in our nations’ prisons attended large or city schools.

Forty years ago, when federal law Title IX began, only a scant small percentage of our nation’s business, economic or educational leaders were women. Today, about half the folks earning higher degrees are females with a large and growing percentage of women taking leadership roles in about every area. This fall, over 40 women are vying for election to state offices. That is a huge leap from not that long ago.

For the uninitiated, Title IX meant that girls had to have the same opportunities for athletics and similar activities as did boys in the public schools. Athletics, properly administered, helps those participating develop character, leadership, physical fitness and a knowledge of the need for and importance of team work. These are all traits of a successful person no matter what the career the individual may embark on post schooling.

Unheralded ’Hawks Heralded

With Dayton Winn the only back from the 4A-1 Conference to be named a pre-season All-State player, there were four other Blackhawks to receive mention in Hooten’s 2012 Arkansas Football guide.

In an article heralding several “unheralded” players, quarterback Austin Easterling, lineman Blake Roughton, and linebackers Braxton Caudill and Dalton Morgan were all mentioned. Counting Winn, the ’Hawks have five players mentioned for pre-season honors, the most of any team in the district. Ozark had four players mentioned in the list with Prairie Grove coming up with three.

Using this as a yardstick for measuring, maybe this will portend the final order of finish for the season looming ahead.

••• Editor’s note: John McGee is an award-winning columnist and sports writer. He is the art teacher at Pea Ridge elementary schools, coaches elementary track and writes a regular sports column for The Times. He can be contacted through The Times at prtnews@nwaonline.com.