Sports? Important? That's a joke. We can't waste our time.
We need to focus on academics. We can't waste our money on games. This
is probably the school board's and most parent's reaction when reading
this column's headline. For whatever reason, Muslims in general have never
taken sports seriously. They have no appreciation for it. Muslims in Toledo
are no exception. They see it as a waste of time and money.
I see it as a wasted opportunity. For our community to
continue to advance, we need to develop not only an appreciation, but
a commitment to excellence in all fields. Sports is one of these fields,
but it is the one that I see as most neglected in this community and more
specifically at Toledo Islamic Academy.
Currently, the sports "program" consists of busing the
upper grade students over to a gym on Fridays. Without a bona fide and
organized Athletic Department, we are depriving our youth of an opportunity
to compete, excel, learn discipline, and enjoy physical fitness and training
(which also seems to be lacking in our community, but that's another topic
for another day). Think about it. Almost every school, and certainly every
successful school, has a successful athletics department. A basketball
team, football team, soccer team, etc. Our school has none.
Last year there was a meager attempt at starting a basketball
team, but without support (both monetary and administrative) it collapsed
this year. It was a step in the right direction, but a paltry one. I was
the coach of the basketball team. How many parents came out to watch your
children? None. What kind of support is that? That is ridiculous. Not
coming out to watch your own children? Who by the way did not lose in
5 games? Did parents even know that? Did they ask their children about
it? And then there are complaints about there not being any communication
between parents and children. Complaints that parents can't relate to
their children. Complaints that children do not listen to parents.
Here's a thought: Have you ever listened to them? Here's
another suggestion: If you do not like your child's interests, act like
you do. It's surprising how receptive a child is when his own interests
are pursued. I can't begin to express how embarrassing and hurtful to
our kids it was to see the other schools with nearly a hundred parents
and family cheering for them, and us with ZERO. That's right, a big fat
ZERO!
What great support you were. Work is not an excuse because
the other schools' parents have jobs as well. Why should we rob our children
of an opportunity that comes only once in a person's life? You can never
be young again. You can never go back to elementary school, middle school,
or high school and regain that energy. Those years come only once. So
a person has only a certain amount of years in which he/she can compete
athletically, and the children at TIA are having their years go to waste
in that regard.
My such years were athletically wasted when I went to Islamic
schools in the late 80s and early 90s. By the time I got to high school,
I was far behind on technique and discipline and that put me at a huge
disadvantage in the classroom and in the sports realm. I saw sports being
neglected at my old Islamic school. Nobody caring, not the board, not
the principle, not the teachers. It hurt me that no one cared. It made
me not care about them.
Most people with the old world attitude will say sports
is a waste of time, that it is not important, that I'm complaining about
a minor thing that others should not waste their time with. Team sports
does not only benefit you physically, it teaches youngsters discipline,
team work, courage, and commitment. Characteristics that uncoincidentally
seem to be lacking in our youth. I know of many potential TIA students
that decide against attending the school because there is no sports program.
They decide to go to other schools and play sports, and we all know what
kind of an atmosphere that is.
So this is a plea to the school's administration and board,
do not neglect this generation of youth as you neglected previous ones.
Give them what they deserve. A real sports program. Besides, you never
know, the next Hakeem Olajuwon might be in the TIA kindergarten class
right now.
Note: The views expressed in these articles does not necessarily represent the views of Muslims in Toledo, Ohio nor the views of ToledoMuslims.com, it's staff, owners, editors, webmaster, or writers. The views expressed represent the views of the writer only. ToledoMuslims.com is not responsible for any of the expressed views. Please feel free to comment on our articles in the article discussion area provided.
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