We are all told from day one that practice makes perfect, and we have to work hard if we want to do well at something.

So why should students’ ability to play high school sports depend on their parents and their parents’ reputation? Why all is it OK for parents to complain about their child’s playing time?

Just because a parent is the boosters’ president or involved in every sport in the community, their child shouldn’t get more playing time than the girl or boy sitting on the bench beside the coach.

After I played four years of varsity sports, this particular issue got to me, and I do not want other individuals to feel the same way I did.

Even though I was a starter, and playing time did not specifically affect me, I knew which girls deserved more playing time.

Being a team captain, I obviously wanted the best for my team and for my girls and winning was a common goal that each and every single one of us had.

When you are on a sports team, the goal is to win, and when parents get in the way of that the goal cannot be met. Playing time should be based on pure skill, work ethic and determination, not the status of the individual’s parents.

Mariah Chenard, freshman

University of New England

Winslow

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