By JOHN McCALLUM
Editor
Somewhere on this sports page you will find our third-annual installment of the Cheney Free Press Male and Female Senior Athletes of the Year for Cheney and Medical Lake.
We actually started doing this in 2002, but skipped a couple years for various reasons, mainly staffing. This year we again had a staffing issue (thanks a lot Neil) but chose to keep up the tradition of honoring two athletes from each school who in our opinion have made positive contributions to sports throughout the year.
Emphasis here on the “we,” and on “the year.” Each year we've done this we've received feedback on our picks. Mostly it's positive, but there has been one or two who disagree with the selections, often heaping up negative connotations about motive (ours) and insinuating that those picked aren't as deserving as somebody else – usually the caller or writer's son or daughter.
That's fine.
Everyone has his or her own opinion based on varied backgrounds, experiences and observations.
As a small newspaper, we can't be at every practice, every game (although we often try), every instance of the team's gathering to help us get a truly full picture of every athlete and the roles they play. Heck, even larger papers can't do that, so we compensate by using our observations in conjunction with discussions with the various coaches throughout the year, and at times with other school officials.
That's not to say these good folks make the selections. Again, let's get back to the emphasis's listed above – firstly, we.
The Free Press sports staff makes the selections for Male and Female Senior Athletes of the Year – nobody else. In that regards, each year we are usually asked what criteria was used to make our decision. That's the family-friendly way of putting it, but it's a fair question, so hopefully I can provide a fair answer.
Which brings me to the other emphasis – the year. This is an award for athletic endeavors over the course of the year, which means that our second consideration is for athletes who participated in three sports.
The first of course is they must be a senior.
The three-sport rule doesn't eliminate two- or even single-sport athletes. If their impact is significant enough, they are considered.
We also base our decision, as I said above, on our observations as well as the athletes' performances. Stats and awards play a part, definitely.
But so do things like the athlete's demeanor on the field and on the bench. Are they into the game, cheering their teammates on? Are they offering encouragement? Do they keep playing hard when they're on the short end of a 48-10, or 60-30 score?
These observations and discussions with coaches help narrow the field, and often we are able to pick the athletes easily. Sometimes, we get two, maybe three, and in which case, we bounce our picks off of school officials to get their input. In the end though, it is the Free Press staff with the final say. After all, it is our award.
One additional note, and that is this is an athletic award. We have received comments in the past about some athlete not being as good in the classroom as another one we should have picked.
This is an athletic award.
I don't anticipate this will eliminate the phone calls, but I do hope it will make our readers more aware of the process. It's not easy, never has been, and I hope it never will be.
If all Cheney and Medical Lake athletes are playing to the best of their abilities and pursuing the criteria listed above, then our coaches are turning out some fine teams, and some solid individuals. I see evidence of that every day.
For my money, they're all Cheney Free Press Male and Female Athletes (not just seniors) of the Year.
John McCallum can be reached at [email protected]
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