Homer Alaska - Opinion

When the Alaska School Activities Association board of directors meets in April, it should give unanimous approval to a change in the rules that would allow smaller schools to co-op with larger area schools for team activities not offered in the small schools.

The change would allow those hockey players from Voznesenka who have had to sit on the sidelines while the Homer High School hockey team struggled with too few players the opportunity to join the Mariners team.

That would be a win for everybody, particularly those area hockey supporters and players who have worked so hard for a change but have been blocked by what often has seemed like a senseless bureaucracy.

It's understandable that ASAA, the statewide nonprofit that writes the rules and regulations for Alaska's high school interscholastic sports, academic and fine arts activities, needs to keep a statewide perspective. Things could get messy if the board set a precedent by granting waivers to accommodate one or two schools — possibly opening the proverbial floodgate with requests from other schools.

The change before the ASAA board, however, is something that can be applied on a statewide basis. And it's no small change since it will open up opportunities that students didn't have before.

Study after study shows participation in school activities increases the likelihood that students will stay in school and graduate. If approving this change leads to even just one more graduate, it would be well worth it.

If decreasing the dropout rate isn't reason enough for the change, officials should consider the bridge it builds in the southern Kenai Peninsula between Russian Old Believer villages and the larger Homer community. Does anything bring people together quite like kids and sports do?

There are other reasons to support the change, however, including the Homer High School hockey players themselves. Recently their coach, Buck Laukitis, was named Region 3 Coach of the Year. It doesn't seem quite a logical choice at first blush because the team had only two wins this season and a bench about half the size of the competition.

What sets Laukitis and his team apart, however, is their attitude. It's easy to hold your head up and be a good sport when you're winning all the time. It's a lot harder to do when the odds are against you — but that's what the Mariner hockey team did.

Laukitis' team demonstrated what sports should be about — building character, in good times and bad. That's the kind of life lesson that's hard to learn in an academic setting.

Ultimately, the ASAA board's decision needs to be based on what creates the most opportunity for the most number of students. The proposed change fits the bill.

Seeing its approval will provide the students it affects with a perfect life-as-sports metaphor: You've got to persevere. You can't win if you quit trying.

Kudos to those who haven't given up on seeing Old Believer students join the Mariner hockey team.

We can't wait until next year's hockey season.