Nov 21, 2015 4 min read

My name is Jordan Fowler, and I am a 2008 graduate of Ringgold High School. I played quarterback on the football team at Ringgold, and then at Allegheny College. My cousin, George Martin, is currently the starting quarterback at Ringgold. George approached me to practice with him privately because he has aspirations of playing in college. We both believed that supplemental quarterback workouts would boost his chances to make it to the next level without hurting his performance in season. Alums returning to work out with current players is a common practice across America, but apparently not at Ringgold.

The story of my futile attempts to mentor George’s quarterbacking serves as a perfect metaphor for a unique brand of ineptitude that has plagued a season that could have possibly brought home a WPIAL championship. So while this might ostensibly seem like an indictment of the Ringgold coaches, it’s actually an urgent plea on the behalf of the students to get them a fair situation in which their efforts will be rewarded.

In August, I suggested that George’s parents see if the coaches/school district would allow us to use the high school gym at 5:30 a.m. prior to school. It made little sense to do it after practice, only to have George home late and exhausted after a long day of academics and sports. Certainly, we could have gone somewhere else but elected to keep the coaches and school in the loop. Given the proximity of Ringgold to George’s house, the logistics made the Ringgold gym the best setting. Over the past few months, we have gone back and forth with administrators who have given us every reason in the world as to why it cannot happen. Would a teacher discourage a biology student from getting tutored in that subject? Moreover, would this happen at another school? A close friend is a football coach at North Allegheny, and he was dumbfounded at all of the aforementioned given the straightforward nature of the situation.

I respect the litigious nature of contemporary America and certainly do not want to add to Ringgold’s liabilities. Still, at no point did either the coach or athletic director confer even the smallest amount of helpfulness or constructive input regarding how we could facilitate the practices. Three prohibitive reasons were given as to why we could not use the gymnasium. The first reason was liability. I offered to get any required clearances, to be named a volunteer assistant and our family even offered to rent the gymnasium to transfer any liability to us. The second reason was accessing the building outside of normal hours. At first, this was not an issue as the AD indicated that janitors were present at the requested time. That was simply added later as an extra excuse. The last reason was not wanting George “training while he is in season with other sports.” To that I ask, what is the difference between a player lifting weights or working on fundamentals outside of practice time?

Wins and losses mean little in the grand scheme of life. At the end of the day, the primary goal of any program should be to use the sport as a prism to reflect life’s most valuable lessons (sportsmanship, courage, accountability, poise under pressure, etc.) to build character and prepare the athletes for life beyond football. I simply cannot endorse the current coaching staff, and I think this frustrating anecdote about wanting to help my cousin is a perfect metaphor for the woefully misguided leadership of the district. People forget that football is about the kids and their futures.

Jordan Fowler

Monongahela