BY JACK COYLE, Reporter
It’s not news to anyone that sports have intensified over the years. The problem with that is that coaches must also intensify their actions to keep pushing athletes forward, and this can often cause overlapping problems with morals.
Coaches have been pushing harder and in hotter weather for years, and their intentions are something up for interpretation, but something not up for debate is that there have been casualties.
Max Gilpin, a 15-year-old football player in Ridge Park, KY, passed away five years ago after an intense session of conditioning in 94 degree weather.
Sophomore Adam James received national attention after he was locked in a dark shed at Texas Tech University. James, wide receiver, was put into the athletic shed with no lock because of his poor practice performance. In Maple Park ,students don’t experience as intense heat as in other southern states and have not had a coaching scandal such as the one at Texas Tech, but athletes do still feel pressure, although many do not feel negatively about it at all.
“I get yelled at when I need to be yelled at. If I keep making the same mistake or if I’m screwing around I’ll get yelled at; getting yelled at is a part of sports. It’s going to happen”, junior Dylan Nauert said.
Nauert plays football and runs track for Kaneland.
“The coaches have impacted my life very positively, they’ve taught me to succeed in life more than just sports.” Nauret said.
“Coaches act the way they do because their job is to make you the best man you can be,” Nauert said.
Junior Gary Koehring, led the team in tackles. Last year Koehring felt the pressure of varsity football since he was a sophomore.
“Coaches shouldn’t have to push you. You should have self motivation to be the best, the players and the coaches have the same goal to win,” Koehring said. “Coaches can never push you hard enough,”
Both Koehring and Nauert are considered to be elite performers for the Knights and believe that being pushed is a good thing, but freshman tri-sport athlete Tanner Robertsen thinks differently.
“The last thing you want to hear when you aren’t performing to your abilities is getting more negative feedback about your play that brings everyone down even more, when coaches give you negative feedback it makes you feel like you’re the reason for the problems going on with your team and no kid in high school can take that kind of pressure,” Robertsen said. “Sometimes them pushing you as hard as they can, can only make you a better player.”
Scott Parillo is in charge of the soccer program at Kaneland High School.
“I want all students and athletes to do their very best all the time. I get to know my players and students and I know when to push them and when to step back,” Parillo said.
Parillo recently had the best season of boys varsity soccer in Kaneland history.
“It was successful because we all had the same goals-have fun and be there for your teammates and beat the teams we had never beaten. We did that and it was fun”, Parillo said.
People are believing that pressure applied to student athletes is handled differently by everyone, “Success starts with both athlete and coach. You both have to want to be successful. The player(s) may need a little nudge or maybe they don’t know how to be successful, but if you push enough it can happen.”
