Development program proposed

As detailed in this article from the Roanoke Times on January 15th, a proposal was brought forth to the Botetourt County School Board last week in hopes of not only improving both the physical and mental health of their athletes but also to enhance their leadership skills.

Presented by Paul Hanson and backed by others, the program looks to educate athletes on weight training, nutrition and leadership among other traits.

On paper, it's difficult to argue against any portion of the plan. How could one opine that developing physical strength and stamina through weight training, enhancing that training with information about proper nutrition and topping it off with leadership skills training is a bad thing.

You won't hear any negatives from me, that's for sure.

Coaches from around Virginia who have come from other states have lamented to me through the years about how far behind the Commonwealth is when it comes to training athletes.

A few years back, the VHSL altered their rules to allow participation in single sports on a year-round basis which was seen as a gigantic leap forward for the state by the coaches as players now could receive training from the men who would be leading them during their sport's season rather than training with outsiders. To date, it does not appear to have negatively impacted athletes playing multiple sports as some feared that it would as most coaches, looking at the data from pro athletes, see the advantages in having players actively compete in other sports.

This proposal, in my opinion, represents another step forward for Virginia athletics. Some areas/schools in the state already have programs like this in place. Go to a game and perform a quick eye test on both teams, it's not difficult to see which programs are dedicated weight trainers and which are not. Coincidentally, the results often show up on the scoreboard as well.

Competing isn't something that just happens during the games, it happens every day and all day in life.

Why not give people the tools to compete in the same place where they are given the other tools that we use to make it through life: adding, subtracting, reading, thinking, speaking and learning?