The facts:
A junior varsity and varsity basketball team in the east bay area is discovered to have players who are not meeting adequate grade levels as specified in a pre-arranged agreement between players, parents, and school officials. A team where some players were missing classes, turning in poor quality homework, and turning it in late if at all. A team that has the reputation of being a championship team in high school playoffs.
The coach suspends not only the players who aren’t meeting the standard, but the entire teams! This brings heat on the coach from the community, the parents, and the media. But that can’t dampen what the coach is so filled with. And Coach Ken Carter of Richmond high school is filled with nothing but class!
When this story first came out it filled the airwaves of talk radio in the bay area with controversy. Many people siding with the coach, many people siding with the players, and many people undecided.
Coach Carter’s stand was that “We play as a team, we support each other as a team, and we’ll learn as a team.” The bottom line to Coach Carter is that education is by far more valuable to these young players, as compared to the small remote chance of ever advancing into professional athletics. Shoot hoops and become a pro? That’s great, but have the education to go a long with it or you have nothing.
The team proudly held a record of 13-0. The team had a choice to rebel against Coach Carter, or to pull together and get the job done. The team showed a class equal to Carter’s and although they probably weren’t happy about it, they studied in the library everyday for 2-hours in lieu of practice.
Progress reports a week later showed a remarkable improvement and from what I’m told, the team was put back on playing status in plenty of time for their season opener. If any team deserves another undefeated season, it’s the Richmond high school “Oilers”, California’s 3rd ranked high school basketball team.
When I first heard the story, my first thought was “uh-oh, there’s some heat.” Why punish all the players when only a few are the problem? That was some of the argument presented by some parents. My kid studies hard and plays hard, why is he being punished for doing everything right.
It would be easy to write off the kids doing poorly. Then you have two groups. The group doing well, and the outcast group doing poorly. The outcast group develops the expected attitude of “I don’t care” and rebels even further against the other group to show that “It ain’t no big deal”.
But it is a big deal. These kids were a team. They made accomplishments together as a team that not many schools can boast of. They weren’t two different groups. They were ONE!
I’m reminded of the movie “Back Draft” where one of the firefighters was slipping into eminent death below from the second story walkway in a raging structure fire. A second firefighter was desperately trying to hold onto the first, but the weight was pulling him down as well. The first firefighter pleaded with the second for him to save himself and to let go. The second firefighter looked into the eyes of the first and told him….
“You go, We go.”
That kind of attitude is what makes police work and fire fighting unique from any other profession that I know of. That kind of attitude is what makes Coach Ken Carter unique from any other coach I’ve ever heard of. That kind of attitude is what makes the Richmond high school “Oilers” basketball team true champions whether or not they have a 13-0 record. They pulled together as one group and prevailed.
What this issue came down to, was not doing the popular thing, or doing what was politically correct so to say. It came down to doing the “right thing” and that is something that we can all do better.
Coach Carter and the Richmond Oilers, you get 5 stars from us! * * * * * You’ve got style, class, and heart, all rolled into one and you are all true champions. Each and every one of you!
And Coach, I know you already know this, but those kids will never forget you for what you taught them. And neither will we. We thank you!
Jim Lambert
Netcops P.S.I.
