Opinion
Sports are a great for students to learn life lessons
By Holli Hopper
Sports is seen as a place where life lessons are taught in many people's eyes. Sports are there to provide opportunities for children of many ages. They also teach kids, young adults, and even some older adults how to handle adversity. Colby High School Athletic Director Travis Betz says, “sports teaches people how to grow and become responsible adults.”
When asked what they think their sport represents, most of the CHS coaches feel the same as Betz. Coach Yancey Walker, who coaches girls basketball, says that it shows people how to face success and failure.
I personally believe in this statement because nobody wins every day or every game. Some people can't stand the idea of losing and it's good to show people that losing can have a lesson.
Coach Ryan Mosier, an assistant football coach, says he believes his sport is a microcosm of life. “There is nowhere else you'll be tested mentally and physically as in football,” Mosier says, “Show me a good football player and I'll show you a successful adult.” Football is a rough sport but it can help you succeed in life a lot better than some classes people take in high school.
Many sports can help a person succeed in life. Basketball helps people understand how to fail forward and succeed neutrally without getting too excited or angry. Football helps people understand the importance of hygiene and getting their anger out in a healthy manner.
Matt Sims, the wrestling coach, says, “Wrestling represents toughness, dedication, and hard work.” In wrestling, the participants work to take people down and control them. Out on the mat, the wrestler is by himself or herself, meaning that the participants either experience success or they don’t on their own.
Sports, in my eyes, represent strength in body and mind. It is the most important extracurricular activity out of all activities. Football, wrestling, and basketball are good sports that 19.3% of students love because of the responsibility and toughness that it teaches.
Girls golf has enjoyed sustained success under Coach Rick Williams
By Clayton Barton
Colby High School Girls Golf Head Coach Rick Williams has had tremendous success throughout the past five years. Winning the Great Western Athletic Conference three of those years and finishing runner up in the other two. They have also placed 2nd at the State Tournament for four consecutive years.
Williams is quick to give the credit to his girls. “The key to this program's success has been the girls,” he explained. “They are motivated, supportive of each other, and competitive. They want to and expect to get better and have success. They are a blessing to me and the success is a result of their efforts.”
Success has taken time to build. It might be hard to imagine now, but it took some time to get young ladies to come out and be part of the program, but that has been a key to sustaining the success that the program has enjoyed.
“Our team success started when we started getting more girls out for golf,” said Williams. “In my early years, we did not have very many girls out for golf and it made it difficult to get anything sustainable going. Once we started steadily growing our participation, golf started to impact more girls in a positive way.”
Williams’ teams have been self motivated. He feels that girls golfers in Colby are very competitive and self driven. That allows each golfer and the team itself to compete against the “previous version of ourselves” as they focus on improving. Motivation is never a problem in the girls golf program at CHS.
“The girls in this program want to work, want to improve, and want to compete,” he said. “Motivation is never an issue.”
As with success in many aspects of life, having a successful girls golf team is no different. Coaches have to make sacrifices in their personal life and Williams is no stranger to that.
”Obviously, it is a lot of time away from my family. I help with the junior golf program in the summer at Meadow Lake to continue to build the future of golf in Colby.”
However, the time he puts in feels valuable and worth it and he will continue to coach as long as he feels that way. “Once I see it (giving of his personal time) as a burden, I will step down.”
The sacrifice also comes from the athletes. These young ladies practice longer than most teams they compete against along with playing more in the offseason. Williams simply sees that as part of the process of success.
“Everything worth having takes work, time, and effort. These girls have worked and sacrificed to be successful and so have I. It is what successful people do.”
This year is the perfect example of constant success in the program. The team has been to three varsity tournaments Goodland, Cimarron, and Hugoton, along with a trip to Oakley for the JV team. All of those tournaments have had the same result, a 1st place finish for the team.
As for the future, Williams feels that the answer is relatively simple.
“We just need to continue to get a few people out in each class and we will continue to see success,” he said. “If we continue to get a decent number (of girls) out in high school, we will be competitive.”
Colby High School Head Girls Golf Coach Rick Williams
Goodland Varsity Champions
Oakley JV Champions
Cimarron Varsity Champions
Ulysses Varsity and JV Champions