Evans should quit 'whining' about travel woes

Editor:

Is anyone else tired of listening to Evans High Schools crying and whining? Even though I am a graduate of Evans, I certainly am.

Columbia County built one of the largest schools in the Georgia Southeast. Yes, it was state of the art. Look at our new school. Look at our campus, our media center, our sports facilities, our student body, our teachers, etc.

The enrollment was well over 2,000 students. Evans High School was the Cadillac of the area. They became the dominant force in sports, football, baseball, basketball, etc.

That was great until just recently. Due to their size, they were pushed upward into a higher classification group. You know, with the other schools of the same size student body. That is when the whining started.

Have you ever been to a football game in Evans? They dressed out 75-100 players, the band would fill up the entire area of the football field, and several thousand fans would fill the stadium. Their rivals would be Lucy Laney High School, or Westside, or Glenn Hills - you know, the schools with a student body of less than 800, the schools that have football teams that only number about 30-40, and that sometimes includes the junior varsity.

I do agree to the fact that they have to travel long distances and it interferes with classes, especially if you need to leave school before lunch to travel to a game. The travel costs are high, but that is the price for wanting and having the largest school in the area.

What will they decide? Will they keep playing against schools of the similar size or do you let them play here in town against the small schools?

I say, Keep them in the higher classification and let them compete with equal opponents and let our smaller area schools battle their equals.

Yes, this area (Columbia County) is the financially and politically affluent district, and Little Johnny isnt getting the attention any more since they have been playing with the big boys. I wonder how this situation will turn out with their political power and wealth?

It has been somewhat nice to not have to read or hear about Evans High School sports and athletes. You would think that it was the only school in the area. Hasnt it been good to read about Westsides, the Lazotte family, or the fact that Laney was undefeated in football for half of this year? So take the time to publish all schools not just the biggest or richest. There are other schools with great athletes but they get overlooked or forgotten, if only the big school has the headlines. When Evans advances to the top of their classification now, then lets talk about them; they will have earned it. Let Evans play with the big boys and stop whining.

T. Freemon

Augusta