As Christmas draws near, it’s imperative to make sure to get in your wish list. Santa only comes around once a year and he’s not a mind reader – or, at least I’ve never been told he was – so you have to ask for what you want and hope it’s waiting under the tree next week.
Personally, I hate doing Christmas lists. Anybody who knows me, including Santa, knows I don’t ask for anything. I haven’t wanted anything for years and that hasn’t changed in 2023, aside from asking Santa to bring the girls I coach some more wins this season. Fortunately, I think we can get plenty of those, so I don’t really need anything else.
That doesn’t mean it’s useless to make a list, though. Instead of making one for myself, I’d rather ask for stuff for Warren County and hope it comes soon. Here’s my Christmas list for Warren County:
Reshaping youth sports
I’m the sports guy, so of course I’m going to be thinking about sports. And trust me when I say this, we have to start thinking about reshaping youth sports (at pretty much every level below high school) to improve our overall product.
To do it, I think it will take a giant influx of volunteers who are like-minded in building up the whole county. Year-in and year-out I see our county produce solid athletes, but it’s becoming a trend where we tend to gravitate to individual success over team success.
Molding kids to work together and get everybody striving for the same goal at a young age will pay dividends down the road. If you think you can promote that mindset, please get into coaching at any level (and in any sport).
A new high school
Over the last 10-15 years, our community has spent resources to upgrade all the county schools, including building two new ones. That was fantastic. Now it’s time to think about getting a new high school.
It was mind blowing when Matt Turner pointed out to me a few months ago that the “new” high school currently holding close to 2,000 students is as old now as Warren County Senior High was when the decision was made to build a new school back in the 1990s.
Trust me, I don’t want to be the one to find the funding for that kind of project, but it’s past due for at least having the discussion.
Funding for Special Games
It was disappointing to see that McMinnville Special Games – a tremendous program doing great things for many families in our community – did not get more grant funding this year. I don’t think this is necessarily a local issue (it feels like Warren County – people or government – have been willing to support), but hopefully those outside our community will aid this more in the future. Grants are never easy to come by in any walk of life, but I don’t know if there’s ever been an organization I’ve been around locally that deserved funding and support more than McMinnville Special Games.
If you’re interested in helping McMinnville Special Games, you can reach out to their Facebook page.
That’s my list and I don’t need to check it twice. Merry Christmas Warren County!
Standard Sports Editor Jeffery Simmons can be contacted at (931) 473-2191 or sports@southernstandard.com
