Some kids like the excitement of competition.

Some kids like the camaraderie. Other kids might do it just for the love of whatever it is. But few of them probably do it because it’s good for them.

But it is.

“It” is organized sports, either team sports like football or basketball, or more individual sports like track or wrestling.

In this time of worsening physical fitness for American kids, sports are under attack from all sides. Local high schools have gone to “pay to play,” and with yearly testing and a high school exit exam to prepare for, students have less free time than ever.

But local kids who participate in sports say it’s worth it.

Taylor Kientzel is on the basketball and track teams at Santa Cruz High School, and he says it was the social aspect that drew him into sports at first.

“I don’t know exactly why I started doing sports, probably because my friends were and the competitive part of it,” he says. “But also it’s an easy way to have a steady group of friends, and you can make new friends from different schools.”

Marty Rayburn, a wrestler and football player at Aptos High, agrees. “Sporting has been a great way to meet new people and it gives you a set of friends that’s different than the people you hang out with at school. It helps you learn because you get to be around a whole bunch of different people all the time. “

Kientzel’s mom, Bethany, also cites friendships and community as a benefit of her son’s involvement in sports. “The parents getting to know each other in the stands, there’s rides back and forth, to games, to practices. It creates a community where you really get to know the other families and the other kids.”

Marty’s coach at Aptos High is Reggie Roberts, recent recipient of Region 5 California League of High Schools Educator of the Year as well as a passionate booster of wrestling and Judo as a way for kids to learn much more than technique.

“Consequence is the result of action,” Roberts explains. “Our guidelines say you are in control of managing your choices. Which ones are you going to choose? Would you like this one or would you like that one? Make the choice that’s going to serve in your best interest.”

“The structure of being involved—you can find this in other things like Scouting—the structure of the practices and the games and having a schedule,” Bethany Kientzel cites as another important aspect of sports. “I think it’s important for kids to be involved with something that has that commitment.”

Her son agrees. “It definitely helps time management-wise. It affects when I have to do my schoolwork, and when I have to practice.”

Rayburn has a complicated schedule that he created so he could fit everything in. “There was a lot less time to do hang out with friends but it helped me manage my time well. I always have a pretty good schedule, that’s what sports helped me out with.”

Another sport Rayburn is involved in at Aptos High is the Aptos Judo Club, run by Roberts and Judo master Sidharth Seth. Roberts and Seth got connected when they realized that they had similar goals in teaching their disciplines, so they started a low-cost club that welcomes kids of any age and from any school.

“Physically, Judo improves flexibility, coordination, balance and reflexes. It is a means of self-defense that requires skill rather than just size or strength,” Seth explains. But he focuses on the other benefits. “Mentally, it promotes concentration, self-confidence and leadership.”

Roberts lists the personal development that students on his team work on: “Self-discipline, integrity, humility, perseverance, accountability, adaptability, fortitude.”

It’s not just the coaches who see the benefits.

“He’s a very athletic person naturally which is why I think I could sue Dominican for switching him at birth without a blood test!” Bethany Kientzel jokes. But she’s pleased at the path he’s taken. “There’s all sorts of things that can be learned from sports that have nothing to do with sports.”

“It also helps you feel good about yourself when hard work pays off,” Taylor agrees.

“My coaches have been amazing,” Rayburn says, pointing out the importance of the adults who have helped him. “When I was younger, I didn’t really realize what they were trying to do—I thought they were giving me a hard time. But they were trying to figure out what is best for me.”

Roberts says that pay to play isn’t going to scare away the coaches. “If you figure it out, you see that no coach does it for the money. If [my last year’s stipend] was cut down to an hourly wage, it would be 80 cents per hour!”

Though sports programs are considered extra-curricular, the kids who benefit from them say it’s a central part of their education.

“Without sports my life would be completely different,” Taylor Kientzel says.


Suki Wessling is a local writer and the mother of two children. www.SukiWessling.com