Sports

Here we go again. In less than two weeks a new sports year for the high schools will begin. In reality, high school sports are all yearround nowadays as they mimic colleges. They have their formal UIL seasons but from then on, the athletes continue to play or practice as expected by their coaches. Even though the UIL has specific rules concerning practices and prohibits certain practices it is understood if one does not carry through with stated expectations, they will not be considered when the season begins. Most expected practices are usually expensive for the parents. They are either hiring private coaches or getting on the travel teams and spending big bucks there, whether they can afford it or not. Many have purported to have spent 20% of their income on a child each year. All of this to just have a chance for their child to make a team. Hard to have empathy for those who complain it is putting a financial hardship on them when they have a choice in that decision.

It looks as though the Lone Star State will be well represented in this year’s Olympic Games.

The last athletic sport added to Dripping Springs High School’s list was that of wrestling. It, like most of the others, had to go through the process to get accepted. It began in 2009 when Richard McLemore appealed to the school to add wrestling. It met the same resistance as other sports in the beginning mainly because of budgetary concerns and they needed proof of enough interest to make it a viable choice. The decision was made to allow the group to use the school facilities as a school club. It was called Team Elite and was headed up by Mark Ribera for several years.