Vigo County sports - it’s time to get involved

It’s hard to imagine a thriving community without sport. We all know there is a tremendous source of pride that comes with sports. We want to cheer on our teams and feel a rush of emotion with each turn a game can take. Sports contribute to a sense of belonging for a community.

We all want successful sports programs and there are some isolated bright spots. THN boys’ basketball, THS wrestling and WV baseball can compete statewide, however, most of our teams operate at less than a 50 percent win rate. If you only look at comparable sized schools, the win rates are significantly less. Our last football season saw the high school teams record a combined 6 wins and 21 losses for the regular season. Once a very strong THS basketball program just won their first conference game in the last 3 years and the list goes on. Although there are always some talented individual athletes, for the most part, our teams are not able to compete at a high level.

One thing is for sure, we have not taken accountability

for the failures within the current framework of athletics. We have not pursued a change in direction. Obviously, something different is required. We need to develop a consistent pipeline of athletes that are prepared to compete at each level.

Unfortunately, we currently have our youth sports organizations and school corporation athletic programs living in their own silos with very little coordinated planning with each other. Within their individual sport, each of these groups must be aligned and absolutely depend on each other to succeed.

That said, I am asking for your help and support for an organization whose main goal is to provide support to our children and young adults by identifying areas of deficiency within existing athletic programs and then organizing, aligning, and/or supporting these programs. In short, this organization would bring together the youth sports clubs, school corporation coaches and other major stakeholders and sit them around the same table to figure it out together.

If executed correctly, this would provide a plan moving forward to help our children develop athletically and provide a pipeline of prepared athletes. This would also aid in keeping our kids together and not losing them to other teams/ school corporations. The name of this all-volunteer organization is the Wabash Valley Athletic Association, Inc. In the coming months you may hear about meetings, fundraisers, etc., please take the time to listen and support this effort.

I hope that we all can see the value of this opportunity and take the time to significantly make a difference.

— John Collett Wabash Valley Athletic Association Inc.