One of the great qualities sports participation teaches us in life is how to prepare to win. It also humbles us and encourages us to try our best — even against all odds — and lose with dignity. Sports participation also exposes perseverance as we get up, dust ourselves off and prepare to try again.
At the end of the day, when all the hyperbole is stripped away from a game, how much different is winning from losing? Great teams lose. Not-so-great teams win. Could it be that what you learn in between is most important?
On Monday, Goshen News sports reporter Greg Keim told us the story of the “Northridge Football Mamas.” Like most mothers, they are proud of their sons. Obviously the “Mamas’” sons play football for the Northridge Raiders. The “Mamas” consist of about 35 mothers who wish to infuse the Raider program with a renewed energy and optimism.
“We just want the season to be a positive experience and one with no negatives,” Rachel Scroggins told The Goshen News. “We want them to hold their heads up high whenever they run out on the field regardless of what the team’s record is.”
That is an admirable objective, especially since wins at Northridge have been few and far between throughout the decades. The Raiders didn’t win a single football game last season, finishing 0-10, the third winless season for the Raiders in the past decade. The last win for Northridge was a 28-27 three overtime thriller against Elkhart Memorial back in October 2010.
In 2009 Northridge finished the season 6-5 and won a sectional game. It was the first winning season for the Raiders since a 6-4 campaign back in 1991. Head football coach Jonathan Kirkton has come under scrutiny during his nine years leading the program. The “Northridge Football Mamas” don’t think that scrutiny is fair and wish to support their coach. Kirkton also seems to have the support of school administrators who know what kind of person he is and the type of impact he has on the lives of young men.
Kirkton replaced Frank Amato as coach in 2003. Amato was a coaching legend in northern Indiana, having led the South Bend St. Joseph’s Indians to the 3-A state title in 1995. The man knew how to coach, yet in six seasons in Middlebury accumulated an 11-51 record. Northridge has never been a consistent football powerhouse (although there were some pretty good years in the mid-1970s). Is that so bad? Great kids have rotated through that school and that football program and gone on to do great things in life as adults.
So, we’d like to encourage all of those in Middlebury Community Schools to follow the lead of the “Northridge Football Mamas” and positively support your team in 2012. While victory should always be a goal, we’re thankful to the “Mamas” for reminding us that winning isn’t everything. Good luck, Raiders.
Opinion
Related Photos
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A volunteer works on a mural on the Northridge football team's block house Sunday night. A group of moms is pushing school spirit for team this year. GREG KEIM
Northridge ‘mamas’ have the right idea
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