Despite past successes, both programs have come to a halt, due according to their veteran athletic directors to a combination of low enrollment and specialization in one sport by the student-athletes who do compete.
Such is the plight of small private schools that strive to provide a well-rounded athletic experience to go with a strong academic training.
Take Emmanuel for example. For the second straight season, there will be no girls basketball team representing the school. Despite advancing to the state semifinals of the Ohio Christian School Association in 2014-15, there hasn’t been enough interest since then to fill a roster.
At Central, six of last year’s seven wrestlers graduated and there is no one to replace them. So despite notable individual success the past few seasons, including one graduate who is wrestling at Ohio State University, and considerable effort that has kept the program going for nearly a decade, there will be no Fighting Irish on local prep mats this winter.
So what gives?
“It’s an ongoing thing for smaller schools,” said Dan Shay, in his 10th year as Central’s AD. “A lot of the problem is a lot of these kids are dedicating themselves to one sport. With all the club teams and AAU (Amateur Athletic Association), their coaches tell them they should be concentrating on that sport if they want to get a college scholarship.”
Danny Moore, in his second stint as AD at Emmanuel, is seeing the same thing.
“Part of it is for last 4-5 years, we’ve had a pretty strong volleyball culture here,” he said. “So when we get to the winter, we just can’t pull the numbers together (for basketball), even for a team that requires just five girls, and of course a few bench players. A lot of these girls just don’t want to be three-sport athletes.”
That is a departure from the past.
“It seemed like back in the day, you had a lot of girls who were willing to play to try to make a program work,” said Moore. “They still see the value in playing sports, but only in the sports that they are really interested in. They are less likely to try something new.”
Specialization can be harmful, according to Shay.
“Every college coach will tell you they want a kid who has played multiple sports,” he said. “They don’t want the kids to get burned out, and if they play the same sport they use the same muscles for that particular sport all the time. Then you get overuse injuries and stuff like that. These college coaches know that and don‘t want that.”
In fact, a University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health study released earlier this month concluded that high school athletes who specialize in a single sport sustain lower-body injuries at much higher rates than athletes who compete in multiple sports.
Emmanuel has 48 girls in grades 9-12 this year, and 40 of them played fall sports. But only a few will bowl this winter and that is it for female winter participation. However, so many are expected to go out for track and field this coming spring that the Lions may not be able to field a softball team.
“It’s tough,” Moore admitted. “We can spend a ton of time trying to figure out the why. The thing we were very pleased about was kicking off girls soccer this fall. That was big for us.
“The only way to get basketball back is to build interest at the elementary level.” he said. “So we have chosen to be thankful for the opportunities we are able to provide.”
The number of Catholic Central’s interscholastic sports offerings rival that of a Division I school, and a whopping 88 percent of its students participate in at least one sport.
“It’s a good number,” said Shay proudly. “But there’s just so many things out there that kids have to do. Some work and play sports, too. It’s amazing.
“We are very happy with our participation numbers overall,” he continued. “Us being small, this winter we still have 20 kids swimming, 20 boys and 12 girls playing basketball, 12-15 will be cheerleading and bowling has two teams.”
Still the challenges can be staggering. A perfect example of how a decline in numbers can threaten a program is Irish football. The team with a steeped history rebounded this season from several losing seasons with a 6-4 record, but did it with less than 20 players.
“We’ve seen this coming; it hasn’t been a surprise,” Shay said. “It’s a big deal that we don’t want to lose it. Our coaches are making sure they are talking to the younger kids. And our kids who do play try to help recruit their friends.”
Irish coach Mike McKenna says that makes it hard to run practices, keep interest up and even compete.
“It is difficult. I wouldn’t wish it on anybody,” he said. “(Losing the program) is always in the back of your mind. You just try to work things the best that you can.
“It makes it difficult for these kids to compete,” McKenna continued. “It would be all right if you had 10 games of jayvee ball under your belt and then play varsity. But playing the younger kids against 17, 18 year olds, it is hard for them to feel successful. There‘s enough heart out there, but numbers are numbers.”
Catholic Central has addressed its numbers problem in a unique way.
“We have a lot of kids who are playing two sports in one season,” said Shay. “We ask them to declare their primary sport and secondary sport, and primary always gets the priority.
“We don’t want to overload them, so we make sure they are balancing their time with athletics and academics, and making sure they are utilizing the tutors we have available for them.”
Shay oversees all Catholic Central sports, grades 1-12, and does see help on the way.
“I have seen an increase in numbers of kids participating in our youth sports,” he said. “You are always competing (with other activities) to keep your kids in-house, because there are always things competing for their attention.”
He agrees with Moore that building a program by stressing youth sports is the only way to solve the numbers problem they and other smaller public schools in the area like Southeastern and Cedarville are experiencing.
“The key is to make sure we have enough kids at the youth program level so it starts feeding into the junior high and then the high school,” said Shay.
“It does get frustrating at times, but being here so long, you kind of know it and expect it,” he continued. “I don’t get as frustrated as I used to. We are very happy with the number of teams we can field, and the success that the kids are achieving.”
About the Author