Advice to parents: Take a chill pill
Doug Robinson
Parents.
After observing high school sports for 42 years — 28 as a coach and 14 as executive director of the Utah High School Activities Association — he thinks parents should just, well, chill.
The 64-year-old Excell will retire this summer, so this seemed like a good time to ask him what's wrong and what's right with prep sports.
He doesn't hesitate with the answer the first question. "Parents try to live through their kids," he says. "They will do anything — and I mean anything — to get their kids where they want them."
And where they want them is often at a high school outside their home boundary, so their kid can play for the best team and the best coach. Excell accomplished much during his watch — the UHSAA's new headquarters, a good staff, consolidated state tournaments, the continued proliferation of girls sports — but he never could figure out how to beat parents at the transfer game.
Nobody has.
Every state wrestles with the problem of kids playing for schools outside their home boundaries. It's difficult to stop them when they are aided and abetted by parents. They're always one step ahead of the law — the parents, not the kids. When Excell and the UHSAA created a rule that required prep athletes to establish residency within a school's boundary before playing for that school, parents rented an apartment in that area to circumvent the rule.
Parents file for divorce or legal separation, allowing Johnny to move with one of the parents to a new school boundary and play for that school. Once that has been established, the parents remarry.
"We've seen that happen several times," says Excell.
The play-where-you-live rule has been the bane of Excell's existence. He never could figure out how to enforce that one. New York and Colorado actually gave up and allowed prep athletes to play wherever they wanted. After a couple of years, the situation grew intolerable and both states reinstituted a play-where-you-live rule.
"Dynasties develop very quickly," says Excell.
Excell's job has changed over the years. Early in his career, he spent much of his time simply planning activities. Now he spends almost all of his time enforcing the transfer rule, in hearings and appeals and in and out of courtrooms, and lobbying state legislators. Sign of the times: This year Excell hired a full-time lobbyist to represent UHSAA.
Recent comments
Obviously, you should print your name so we can know what school...
Re: School Administrator | April 1, 2008 at 12:56 p.m.
I can't print my name for obvious reasons, but I think I can...
School Administrator | April 1, 2008 at 10:13 a.m.
a look at who is coaching...if that person is double standard and...
I just take | March 29, 2008 at 10:38 a.m.
