Who Cares?!

    High school football season will be here in a little over a month.  Who Cares?!  (And what does that have to do with coaches?)
    Who Cares?  Let’s start with the hundreds of students directly involved on Friday nights.  Between CHS and Central Private there will be well over 125 football players, the bands approaching 100 members, and Silks, cheerleaders and dancers probably accounting for another 75.  Who Cares?!  About 300 Central students.
    Who else?  Take those same 300 students and add in about a half dozen parents, grandparents, brothers, and sisters and you can add another 1,700 Central residents that care, even if they are not actually in the stands.  Who Cares?! My math says we are at 2,000 who care.
    Any more? Yes, I venture to say that there are hundreds of Central High and Central Private graduates from each graduating class over the last 25 years that care.  Who cares?! I’m going to estimate the alumni number at another 5,000, for a running total of some 7,000.
    Do 7,000 people in Central actually care about high school football?  I would say that the thousands of participants and fans that show up every Friday night indicate that 7,000 who care might be estimating on the low side.
    So what about the coaches and sponsors?  I say coaching is a calling.  It would have to be because no one coaches for the money.  I did the math as my daughter, who is a teacher and color guard coach, spent weekday afternoons and Friday nights with her squad and noted that her modest stipend each semester amounted to less than minimum wage.  I dare say that is how the math works out for most coaches.
    To sum it up, there may be 7,000 of us who care in some way about high school football.  As one of that 7,000 I’d like to thank the coaches and sponsors who mentor and teach our kids day-in and day-out all year long so that the students can make memories on Friday nights and the rest of us can enjoy watching that happen.
    Who Cares?!  I say the coaches and sponsors of the Central community care as much as anyone, and that is Good News for a Great City!