Staffer Frustrated with “Country Club” Stereotype for Athletics

The Lancer football program had never won eight games in a season – until this year. It hadn’t won a Sunflower League title since 1966 – until this year. For seventeen straight years, the East football team was pummeled by the SM West Vikings – until this year.

On Oct. 22, a program with limited football success took a huge step toward ending each of those streaks by dominating the Vikings the entire game. With 1:16 left in the fourth quarter, senior Robby Moriarty kneeled the ball for the third straight play. As the final seconds ticked away, the Lancers finished off the biggest win in school history, tying a school record for wins in a season with seven. It was a 21-10 masterpiece in which the Lancers never trailed, and the Nut Cup – the one we compete with West for, anyway – was returned to East for the first time since 1993.

It was a victory that made a huge statement, one that said the East football program, often cast aside due to a lack of success, could be a major player in the Sunflower League under the direction of head coach Chip Sherman.

While I watched the replay of the game on Metro Sports, one thing stuck with me. It wasn’t the steady leadership of Sherman and quarterback John Schrock. It wasn’t the impenetrable effort on the defensive side of the ball, led by coordinator Chip Ufford. Actually, it didn’t have anything to do with the onfield action. During the celebration after Moriarty’s kneel, play-by-play announcer Kevin Wike made the comment that left me speechless.

“Everybody has this idea that it’s a bunch of country club kids living in rich neighborhoods,” Wike said. “But I tell you what, they’re some hardworking kids that really put in the time, and good coaches, and they were able to turn this program around.”

I couldn’t believe what I heard. During the biggest win in program history, the economic background of the players was being discussed on local television. Rather than complimenting the preparation or the discipline or the execution of the Lancers, Wike chose to comment on perceived stereotypes of Shawnee Mission East athletes.

While Wike appeared to be trying to squash the stereotype, he ends his comment by pointing out that Lancer athletes do, in fact, work hard. This was the part that truly bothered me. The comment implied that there is a perception that SME student-athletes don’t put in the necessary effort to succeed in athletics. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I’ve played four sports at East, yet never attained a varsity letter. I’ve seen first hand in all these sports just how hard my fellow classmates and teammates have worked to reach the success that they have experienced. Senior Ross Guignon has been playing multiple hours of tennis a day for more than a decade. The seniors on the boys’ soccer team have competed in premiere soccer leagues and tournaments year-round for as long as I’ve known them.

I’ve seen Shawn Hair’s basketball team attain second and third place finishes in the state basketball tournament despite facing off against teams that boast far superior athletic ability. It is the fitness, desire and intensity displayed by Hair’s teams that keep them in the game, and these traits directly correlate with a work ethic that apparently comes as a surprise to those outside the East community. Anyone that is surprised when they see a hard working Lancer athletic team simply hasn’t been paying attention.

This work ethic has led to eight combined state titles in boys’ and girls’ cross country, three in girls’ soccer, two in baseball and one in girls’ basketball. None of these are considered “country club” sports, yet East athletes have proven that they are able to succeed in these as well. Labeling East as a “country club school” affects both sides in a negative way. State championships for golf, swimming and tennis are greeted with a yawn, and success in other sports is overlooked by those determined to prove that East’s only athletic achievements come from elsewhere.

Wike’s comment is not only inaccurate, but it also helps perpetuate popular stereotypes about East athletics that are far from true. For years, East has been labeled a country club school, and the success of our golf, tennis and swim and dive teams does little to dispel that notion. However, this also implies that there is a lack of success in other sports, which is simply not the case.

Despite a lack of state championships in any sport other than golf, swimming and tennis since 2000, there certainly hasn’t been a lack of success in other sports. This fall sports season alone, the soccer and football teams both captured Sunflower League titles to go along with those earned by the girls’ golf and tennis squads. This marked the first time since 1966 that the Lancer athletic department could boast four league titles in a single season. Those that heard Wike’s comment probably had no idea that Shawnee Mission East has found success in a variety of sports.

Money can buy advantages in any sport – soccer, golf, basketball, track, you name it. There are pricey baseball bats. There are pairs of basketball shoes that cost a small fortune. There are soccer cleats that are significantly more expensive than others, but no shoe is going to put the ball in the back of the net for you. No shoe I know of, at least.

No matter what perceived advantages money can purchase, it still boils down to which team puts in more hours in the offseason and executes more sharply on gameday. This year’s Lancer football team was an example of a team that was well-coached (they did have the winningest coach in Missouri high school football on the sidelines) and was so consistent that they rarely beat themselves with costly penalties and turnovers. Money can’t buy ball security. It can’t teach George Brophy and Josh Mais to properly follow the defensive scouting report. These guys learned these things the hard way, with no help from neighborhood they returned to after practice.