Sports seasons are meant to be enjoyed by everyone

The fall sports season is fast approaching, as I’m sure many of you know or have noticed.

So what does this mean, exactly? For starters, it means the annual Cheney Free Press Fall Sports Preview is coming Sept. 12 with in-depth pieces on your favorite Cheney and Medical Lake high school teams.

It means the excitement of sitting in the stands during a crisp, fall evening watching your favorite football team while reveling in another excellent halftime show by a dedicated and talented marching band.

It means the reverberating enthusiasm of cheering at a volleyball match or swimming meet, the thrill of dashing across the wet grass to encourage and cheer on cross country runners and the exhilarating release of energy when we celebrate our soccer team’s goal.

It also means it’s a time to remember just what goes into the sports and activities we attend and support. Because when we cheer, it shouldn’t just be the cheer of triumph, but the cheer of acknowledgement and thank you.

Let’s remember those students have put in a lot of hours staying on top of their homework, riding buses, marching, rehearsing, practicing drill after drill after drill, running miles and swimming laps.

Let’s remember those coaches have spent hours at those practices and afterwards watching film, going over lineups and times, working on choreography and coming up with new cheers.

Let’s remember those individuals who work year round to create the competition schedules, accommodate practicing needs, provide equipment, take care of athletes aches and pains and get them safely to and from competitions and home from practice.

Let’s remember those officials, who choose to sacrifice their free time to make sure the games are played correctly and safely.

Let’s remember to show sportsmanship to our opponents and their fans – win or lose.

Let’s remember it takes a lot of pieces to come together and work correctly in order to provide the quality sports or activities we choose to sit back and enjoy.

Let’s remember all this and remember to express our thanks. Sometimes, in the heat of battle and confrontation, all this can be forgotten.

As your local newspaper we promise to provide the best coverage possible – and then some. We try to be at as many games, meets and competitions as humanly possible, not always easy with a small staff.

We strive to provide the best most informative write-ups with the limited space at our disposal, and high demand for exposure thrust at us. Sometimes we will make mistakes, in which case we ask you to quickly and politely point those out to us so that we don’t make them again while also understanding that the mistake was simply made and carried no ulterior motive.

Why we would have the latter is beyond me, but we have been accused of such in the past.

Lastly, we would ask that we all remember that sports and extracurricular activities are about having fun, building community spirit and creating lasting camaraderie. It’s a positive thing for everyone involved.

Now let’s go out there and have some fun – after all, it’s fall sports season.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].