Things are looking up

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COMMENTARY

After news broke Friday that two Public League boys basketball coaches would have to sit out their team’s first six games because of recruiting violations, the league redeemed itself in force on Saturday.

Lake View became the first Public League boys soccer team to bring home a state trophy since Harrison defeated Morton East in 1973 for the state championship. And the Wildcats were the first city team to advance to the state finals since the Public League gave up its automatic bid in 2002-03. Lake View finished fourth in the Class 2A state finals at North Central College in Naperville and ended the season 18-9-1.

Then Payton’s girls volleyball team added another first for the Public League. The Grizzlies won the Grayslake Central Supersectional with a 21-25, 25-20, 27-25 win over Marian Central. Payton advances to this weekend’s Class 3A state finals at Redbird Arena in Normal and becomes the first Public League girls volleyball team to head Downstate since the automatic bid was abolished. The Grizzlies go to Redbird with a 37-1 record.

Payton made even more history this year when 6-2 senior Courtney Cunningham became the first athlete in school history to land a Division I scholarship. Cunningham will play volleyball at Mississippi. She had 16 kills and five blocks in the supersectional.

Six pillars of character

To combat some of the negative things that are going on in the Public League lately — poor sportsmanship, recruiting, allegations of coaches paddling their athletes — the director of sports administration, Calvin Davis, has gotten involved in a program called Character Counts. It focuses on academics and sports. The sports portion of Character Counts is called Pursuing Victory with Honor. Hopefully, it will squelch the recent poor publicity sooner rather than later.

‘‘It helps administrators, coaches, officials, parents and athletes with their decision-making,’’ Davis said. ‘‘We don’t have a sportsmanship curriculum, and in the long term, participation will be a requirement for all coaches.’’

Right now, about 40 coaches and athletic directors have been selected for training in the Character Counts program. They will be certified to teach all Public League coaches about the program, which is based on six pillars of character: respect, responsibility, trustworthiness, citizenship, caring and fairness.

Student-athletes will learn about the six pillars during practice. All a coach has to do is take some time after practice a few times a week to give examples of ethical dilemmas involving cheating, recruiting or other types of unethical behavior and ask the athletes how they’d respond. ‘‘Times have changed so much,’’ Davis said. ‘‘Coaches always think about winning, but we need to think more about developing these kids.’’

Davis also mentioned another program he wants the Public League to be involved in, Girls Empowered through Mentorship and Service (GEMS). It is for junior and senior girls who are interested in careers in sports. The girls selected for the program can shadow women who already work in sports and look to these women as mentors.

Initially, 15 girls will be selected from a pool of applicants, then the number will be narrowed down to 10. Girls who apply have to either play a sport or be involved in a sport at their high school, whether it be as a student manager or equipment manager; they also have to carry a 3.0 GPA and want to pursue a career in sports as a professional athlete, journalist or agent.

No worries about making cut

Girls tennis season may be over and the boys may not start until the spring, but there are 18 schools in the area that have a no-cut policy endorsed by the USTA. It encourages kids who may never have picked up a racket to get involved in a sport where they don’t have to worry about not making the cut. It gives more kids a chance to do something positive.

‘‘The rapid growth of our no-cut program is a testament to incredible coaches like [Morton’s] Phil Stowers and [Lake View’s] Peter Choi, who see the bigger picture of allowing students to play who normally would not have that opportunity,’’ said Jason Jamison, USTA National Manager of School Tennis.

That’s how Morton senior Daisy Burke feels. Burke didn’t even know how to hold a racket when she went out for Morton’s team her sophomore year. This fall she ended her high school career as the team’s No. 2 singles player.

‘‘If it wasn’t for this policy, I wouldn’t have been at No. 2 singles,’’ Burke said. ‘‘It’s still competitive. I started my sophomore year as the No. 1 singles player on the frosh-soph team, and the next summer I knew they would expect that much more of me.’’

Because of the program, Burke is looking into playing tennis at Moraine Valley Community College.

Lake View freshman Jasmine Madrid has been playing tennis since she was 3. She finished her season with a 16-2 record and a sectional appearance.

‘‘It’s a good idea because there is no pressure on you if you don’t do well [at tryouts],’’ Madrid said. ‘‘We have some players that had experience and some that had none. They ask me for help if they’re doing anything good or bad.’’