Sunday, August 26, 2001
High School Insider
Prep sports a strong presence in Cincinnati
John McTernan is from Long Island, N.Y., and he's never seen anything like this.
Cincinnati's love affair with prep sports, that is.
McTernan, girls golf coach at Anderson High School, isn't involved in the high-profile sports such as football and basketball. But after living the past seven years in Cincinnati, he's still excited to see the voluminous high school coverage by local TV and newspapers.
“My family is from the Bronx and Queens,” McTer nan said. “I tell people up there about the coverage of games here, especially the Friday night football, and they just don't believe it. Up there, the papers don't give near this much coverage.”
Of course, New York City and Cincinnati are poles apart in lifestyle. Professional sports dominate the big-city NYC landscape. In Cincinnati, high school sports are a matter of community pride and often inspire more passion than do the Reds or Bengals. That is especially true these days, considering the state of our pro teams.
“Take my word for it,” McTernan said of the NYC-Cincy differences in prep coverage. “It's not even close.”
BY THE WAY: McTernan's Anderson girls are one of the big surprises of the golf season. The team had an 8-0 start, led by junior Alexis Coy (42.5 scoring average), freshman Marianne Erb (42.75) and McTernan's daughter, junior Kaitlin McTernan (43.75).
CLARIFICATION: It was reported recently that Taft High School has dropped its football program, but that is only partially true. The school will not play a varsity schedule this year but will have a freshman team, Taft activities coordinator Eric Martin said.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association, in a news release last week, stated, “Cincinnati Taft and Cincinnati Hillcrest have dropped football.”
“We don't want kids thinking there is no football,” Martin said. “We hope to have a freshman team this year, then a reserve season next year, then hopefully rebuild back up to varsity by the third year.”
NEW COACH: Monroe High School boys basketball coach Mark Gaffney has resigned and will become coach at Lima Senior High School. Monroe athletics director Jon Payne said he will look through the school's contracts and possibly name an interim coach for this season, then look for a full-time coach next season. Gaffney was a former assistant to Skip Prosser at Xavier University.
ON THE MAP: Franklin County High School, located in Brookville, Ind., just west of Cincinnati, quietly has assembled a strong girls volleyball program. Coach Gene Williams' team set a school record for victories last season at 27-5 and started quickly this year with a win over rival Greensburg.
SMALL IN NUMBER: The Colerains of the football world will get the lion's share of attention this season. Coaches such as Landmark Christian's Mark Ellis don't have as many fans to please, but their jobs can be just as difficult.
“We've got 22 kids on the roster, and because of vacations I've had only 19 at practice,” Ellis said. “We can't even hold a full 11-on-11 practice.”
Ellis and some of his brethren in the small-school Miami Valley Conference struggle just to field teams. Lockland has 18 players, and New Miami has 22.
Ellis, whose team went 1-9 last year, isn't complaining. He's just stating facts.
“When you're a Division I team with 80 players in the program, you don't have to worry about practice,” Ellis said. “That's our toughest thing. We can't simulate game situations.”
Ellis is trying to convince the state to let teams such as his practice with other small schools, so both can have enough bodies to simulate game conditions.
“I'll keep working on it,” he said.
E-mail tgroeschen@enquirer.com
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