Dabblin' With the Cockspur: Filling In the Generation Gap
posted by Roger Olivieri, 12/02/2009 03:33:00 PM
So much has been made lately of the disconnect between sport and children. Sure you’ve heard the arguments why soccer has become so popular with American children in recent years.
Baseball has gotten rid of day games and/or the day-night double-header. World Series games go deep into the night beyond bedtimes. The Super Bowl has become about the commercials more than the game. The NBA has become a league full of tattoos and dunks – a product no child can relate to (as if parents would even want them to).
The argument spans further with so many overweight children sprawled across the living room floor, video game controller in hands and eyes fixated on the television.
Point the fingers at cash registers run by money hungry, white collar America. Point it at the NCAA. Point it in a multitude of directions; just don’t point it at Dawn Staley.
What better than a fieldtrip? No, not to some museum or even Ed Venture… Somewhere where the younger generation can scream, shout, cheer and let loose.
With nearly 2,000 children packing into the Colonial Life Arena, all guests of Staley, the South Carolina Lady Gamecocks along with Jerri Spurrier did an outstanding job extending a high five to all. Welcomed onto the floor at halftime, the kids were entertained by Jerri Spurrier who spoke about exercise, basketball, football (of course) and schoolwork.
Encouraged to cheer, and given good reason with a Gamecock 70-52 victory over the High Point Lady Panthers, there wasn’t a child in the building who’ll be less of a Gamecock fan or basketball fan for that matter when the day ends.
It’s estimated that approximately 19% of children (ages 6–11) and 17% of adolescents (ages 12–19) were overweight in 2000. An additional 15% of children and adolescents were at risk.
Adding to this dilemma is a state-wide educational concern – something even more important to Staley than simply athletics.
“It’s always a special thing to have kids come on to your college campus and see just what it is to be a part of this atmosphere - to see that there are sports being played at this level,” she said. “Hopefully they’ll be encouraged enough to know more about South Carolina not just from an athletic stand point, but from an academic stand point because I think every kid should be exposed to higher education.”
With the usual in-game entertainment altered slightly, kids were chosen out of the crowd to answer trivia questions about health and exercise and some cases, made to exercise.
Also altered for sake of the audience was music. Rather than Sandstorm and Thunderstruck, the pre-teen patrons were hyped up with classics of their own: The Sponge Bob Square Pants Theme to name one. I couldn’t name the others, but that’s the idea. They could.
If your kids are like mine (one of whom was in attendance), they probably have similar classrooms. All conditioned by their parents to pull for one of the two in-state schools. All, however, encouraged to use this time in their lives to absorb, learn and better themselves for the future.
Staley, like Coach Horn and Coach Spurrier in similar instances, seemed to extend the invitation to local children vivaciously. After all, these are our future citizens, scholars and most importantly future Gamecocks.
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So much has been made lately of the disconnect between sport and children. Sure you’ve heard the arguments why soccer has become so popular with American children in recent years.
Baseball has gotten rid of day games and/or the day-night double-header. World Series games go deep into the night beyond bedtimes. The Super Bowl has become about the commercials more than the game. The NBA has become a league full of tattoos and dunks – a product no child can relate to (as if parents would even want them to).
The argument spans further with so many overweight children sprawled across the living room floor, video game controller in hands and eyes fixated on the television.
Point the fingers at cash registers run by money hungry, white collar America. Point it at the NCAA. Point it in a multitude of directions; just don’t point it at Dawn Staley.
What better than a fieldtrip? No, not to some museum or even Ed Venture… Somewhere where the younger generation can scream, shout, cheer and let loose.
With nearly 2,000 children packing into the Colonial Life Arena, all guests of Staley, the South Carolina Lady Gamecocks along with Jerri Spurrier did an outstanding job extending a high five to all. Welcomed onto the floor at halftime, the kids were entertained by Jerri Spurrier who spoke about exercise, basketball, football (of course) and schoolwork.
Encouraged to cheer, and given good reason with a Gamecock 70-52 victory over the High Point Lady Panthers, there wasn’t a child in the building who’ll be less of a Gamecock fan or basketball fan for that matter when the day ends.
It’s estimated that approximately 19% of children (ages 6–11) and 17% of adolescents (ages 12–19) were overweight in 2000. An additional 15% of children and adolescents were at risk.
Adding to this dilemma is a state-wide educational concern – something even more important to Staley than simply athletics.
“It’s always a special thing to have kids come on to your college campus and see just what it is to be a part of this atmosphere - to see that there are sports being played at this level,” she said. “Hopefully they’ll be encouraged enough to know more about South Carolina not just from an athletic stand point, but from an academic stand point because I think every kid should be exposed to higher education.”
With the usual in-game entertainment altered slightly, kids were chosen out of the crowd to answer trivia questions about health and exercise and some cases, made to exercise.
Also altered for sake of the audience was music. Rather than Sandstorm and Thunderstruck, the pre-teen patrons were hyped up with classics of their own: The Sponge Bob Square Pants Theme to name one. I couldn’t name the others, but that’s the idea. They could.
If your kids are like mine (one of whom was in attendance), they probably have similar classrooms. All conditioned by their parents to pull for one of the two in-state schools. All, however, encouraged to use this time in their lives to absorb, learn and better themselves for the future.
Staley, like Coach Horn and Coach Spurrier in similar instances, seemed to extend the invitation to local children vivaciously. After all, these are our future citizens, scholars and most importantly future Gamecocks.
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Roger Olivieri. Roger began working with GamecockCentral in December of 2007. He currently serves as the site's chief videographer. He may be reached by email at roger(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.