Stafford: Bill No. 317 could help swim career

By Rick Peterson
The Capital-Journal
After just one year of high school swimming, Topeka High sophomore Shara Stafford is a state record-holder and holds all eight of High's school individual event records.

But Stafford still thinks she would benefit from the passage of Kansas Senate Bill No. 317, which would allow her to train with her club team (Topeka Swim Association) during the high school season.

"I personally am for it because for me to go on to college, I'm not going to get the training that I need just from high school," Stafford said. "High school is more for getting me ready I think for college, but the training aspect, I need from my club team.

"If I completely stop training with my club to go train with the high school, I don't feel like I'm going to be where I need to be."

In fact, Stafford had to decide if she wanted to swim in high school prior to her freshman year.

"It was a hard choice because I knew that I was going to get behind in my training," she said. "I came back in the summer and I wasn't where I wanted to be, but I got back there."

Stafford has no regrets about choosing to be part of Gunner Kelley's Topeka High squad.

"I think it's a good experience," she said. "There's nothing like the feel at state where all the adrenaline is rushing through you. There's not another feeling like that.

"It's a change (from club swimming) and a fun thing to do. It gives me a break from club swimming because swimming year-around gets kind of old sometimes. It's nice to go to something fun and different."



Shara Stafford, seen placing her records on the board at Topeka High, says Bill No. 317 could help her career.
Having said that, Stafford thinks she may have to skip a year of high school swimming if the Kansas State High School Activities Association rules prohibiting dual participation remain in effect.
"I probably won't swim my junior year because I think that's the most important (year) because that's when colleges are really starting to look at you," she said.

Stafford hopes that by that time she won't have to make that choice.

"(High school swimming) has just been so much fun," she said. "I think I would (miss it) because there's nothing like it.

"It would be hard not to do it."

The full bill is listed at this url
http://www.kslegislature.org/bills/2006/317.pdf

I tried to find the article I read the other day with a quote by a KSHAA representative and couldn't find it. It stated something to the affect that its KSHAA schools would not want this bill to pass. Did anyone else read this?

I hope everyone understands how important to wrestling this could be. In fact, for years our kids organization should have been supporting a lobby similar to this. It is not fair to our wrestlers that the KSKSAA restricts participation outside of jr. high programs. Jr High or middle school wrestling is needed to feed many high school programs because it gives an entirely free opportunity for kids in the 6th, 7th, or 8th grades to try wrestling. Lets face it the quality of this wrestling is far below what our USA programs have to offer. What would be wrong with allowing kids to compete in both? Almost every other state in the country allows their athletes to suplement their school program with club participation and unattached meet participation. It is time we push Kansas to do the same. Lets get something started!!

I wish everyone who is debating the high school participation in Kids state subject would read this topic. If we could get KSHSAA to adapt rules that are more in line with other states that would help all of our wrestlers, high school and kids.

I'll feature this for a few days because I think the topic is worthy of discussion. Will be interesting to see the response.

Jr High has it place and needs to be dealt with alone and not with the Kids Wrestling. I say this because of the amount of wrestlers smaller communities get from their junior high program. Not all kids are introduce to wrestling through local kids club- I wish they were but in our town it just isn't that way yet.

Our Jr High program has 14 kids out and of those 3 have had any experience from kids and only 2 of them had more then a couple years. You would leave out alot fo kids.

Add that to the trying to wrestle both kids and jr high and that is alot of pressure on kids which doesn't need to happen. Kids are being pushed hard the way it is and I understand in some cases that being able to attend more competitions seems good- sometimes it could hurt more then it helps. jr High is only 5 weeks for us so I think leave it as is. I would liek to have it right after football and before basketball but I think trying to get everyone on the same page in Kids and Jr high is something that would be a headache

Scooby,
You must misunderstand the point. It isn't about getting rid of jr high or kids. It is about giving kids and parents the choice. Not all jr high programs are the same as yours. They are all different. If your kid wants to wrestle for his school during the week and go to Tulsa Nationals on Friday and Saturday he should have the right to choose. No governmental agency should dictate the options. An athelete should be permitted to do as much or as little as he sees fit. There is room for both programs and there should be an opportunity to compete in both. Check out the other, surrounding states rules on this topic. You might better understand why Kansas gets handled in the metro classic. We need to make some changes to enhance our kids opportunities to compete.

i agree cokeley i have some kids that are in situations such as the above mentioned 5 week programs and they would have rather wrestled with the little league rather than thier own school. but do to the school already low turnout i advised them to compete with their middle school program. since they have called a complained that they are having to wait on the kids that have no experience to catch up so that they have an effective workout and workout partner and would have liked to be able to attend a practice or two with the program so that they could stay current with their own progress

I am all for this Bill! However, it will be tough to pass. Others have tried this and failed. I think about 10 years ago there was a law suite around basketball and the suite by the basketball parents failed. Never the less, if we could get all sports behind this bill for swiming maybe it could be amended for wrestling and other sports.

Please keep us informed at let us know about a lobbying effort if needed.

Pretty sure that this would eventually be admended to include all sports, not just wrestling.

The Legislature is opening a big can of worms with this. If the bill isn't admended to include all sports, someone will sue and surely the courts would find that by allowing swimmers only to do this, it would be discriminatory to other athletes.

That's my guess on why the KSHSAA isn't too keen on allowing it to pass.

Could you imagine: freestyle/greco practices during high school season (HS coaches wouldn't be very happy, but people will do it, I would have); Kids on all sports choosing whether to help their club team or school one week to the next, all while trying to do what's best for them.

Personally, I'd love the passage because it would mean that there would really not be too much of a down time for freestyle and greco. But I can surely see the other side of the fence too.

Be careful for what you wish for....from a HS perspective, I can see the added benefit of allowing JH kids compete in the larger tournaments when they are not committed on that weekend with their school team. It simply makes sense. We all know of younger wrestlers that have to choose between getting 10 matches in JH and 60 with their club teams. However, I can not see high school kids being allowed by their coaches to compete with their club team during their HS season. Most HS kids are busy every weekend anyway, so that becomes a moot point. Also, until clubs have an eligibility requirement for participation, I have a problem with dual participation. We have had kids wrestle with their clubs, missing school to travel, because they are academically ineligible to wrestle on their school teams. They have had their glory days before they ever reach high school. I realize that is a parental issue, but one that will need to be addressed.

Look for your tax dollars to work hard against you. KSHSAA is funded by our tax dollars through membership dollars from schools (from our taxes) and other entities.

I'm reminded of an incident a few years back when Washington's Coaches Association (I think it was Washington) sued on the issue of FS/GR as not being the same as folkstyle so they can't limit coach contact on these different styles. It cost a lot of money, but they won.

It's been some time since serving on the board, but we approached KSHSAA on the issue and they told us, in a nutshell, the decision was a state issue and the ruling does not apply to Kansas (which is true). The underlying current was that we would have to sue, thus depleting our resources, in order for KSHSAA to change it's ruling.

Now that's an organization working hard against (err, I mean for) you.

Look for KSHSAA to use lots of our tax dollars to limit our opportunities as they pursue to thwart this bill's growth through the legislature.

Gibby

Update..
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/14232951.htm

Thanks alot Ed Trimmer from Winfield. We now have a reason to vote you out.

Keep Carter! Maybe he is the guy to go after for adding wrestling at 4 year colleges in the state.

Carter's information: http://www.kslegislature.org/legsrv-house/searchHouse.do?rep=2554

leave it to a Democrat to thwart a single person's goals for the "good" of the community (socialistic view)