High school sports is absolute theater, in my opinion. And it’s a huge passion of mine.
I cover everything – football, basketball, soccer, tennis, golf, swimming, track and field, and in the spring, lacrosse (see image). There’s something about being out there and being around kids and coaches who actually care about winning a conference title and getting to state, and cry when their seasons eventually end.
They energize me. It’s not only a paycheck, which I like, of course, but it gives me a lot of story ideas. After I get The Valley of American Shadow published, I’ll be writing a high school sports-related novel that is loosely based on several teams and players I’ve covered over the years — a composite of a full experience, you might say.
That’s to come. For now, I’m jazzed about lacrosse, which I knew nothing about three years ago, but have managed to dive in and learn and become part of a really nice community of players, parents, administrators and fans. Obviously, I’m neutral as far as my writing goes, but I do have a soft spot in my heart for all those people.
That’s the whole point. The people make it worthwhile. They energize me.
Case in point: Mike Thuma was the boys lacrosse coach at Montini Catholic here in the Chicago area. One day, I show up to cover his team and there he was, on crutches and missing one leg. Turns out he had cancer and had to have his leg amputated. I wrote a feature about him, and as the summer and fall rolled on, we kept in touch, but then lost touch.
As I was prepping my lacrosse previews for this season, I found out Mike had died in December. And it made me sad. Really sad.
Last night, Montini held a memorial game for Mike, and I covered it. It was one of the most gratifying stories I’ve ever written.
High school sports. It’s tension, sometimes comedy and one in awhile, tragedy.
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