A couple of years back I wrote about the evils of social media as it pertains to potential college athletes.
It turns out that perhaps it’s a topic I should write about every year – and should be required reading to both the youth athletes and their parents.
This is not just high school athletes, but it should start with middle school students as well.
It was just last week a couple of middle school students I know very well were involved in a social media video that on the surface, the two of them viewed as not a big deal.
It turned out it was.
The two, along with another teammate, participated in a video that ended up being about making fun of an opponent they had vanquished.
It was something that has been around for a bit now and had caused issues with other youth football organizations, including the cancellation of the entire league.
I watched the video and had no idea what was happening – but then again, I am a dinosaur, especially when it comes to social media.
The players had been warned by their coaches about not falling into this latest social media trap. Once the video was posted, there was a problem.
I do not know the third player but can tell you the two I know are great kids and great students around the school. They cause no problems and overall are great to be around. There is every reason to expect them to grow into great young men.
But in the span of moments, their respective middle school football careers were in jeopardy all because of a poor choice making a social media video.
Ultimately the coaches decided to use the situation as a teachable moment – the correct decision as far as I am concerned.
They were suspended from the team for a game and got what should be the wake up call of a lifetime.
They have heard it from their coaches, their parents and took a heap of lecturing from myself.
The message I conveyed is much the same as I did a couple years back – while social media is a fun and innocent thing to most of these kids, the reality is if not kept under check, it can be something that potentially ruin a college athletic career.
Even in middle school.
Many colleges employ people who have the responsibility of going through the social media profiles of prospective recruits. That is their entire job responsibility – doing deep dives on social media to see what they can find, even down through the middle school.
Honestly, it sucks that kids in middle school need to worry about such things, but it is a stark reality. There is a problem finding role models as we see professional athletes, as well as many other adults that make mistakes regularly, posting something that gets them in trouble.
I have written many times over the years about how I consider myself lucky to have evaded social media when I was going through school.
But this generation of students find it as a potential grenade for their future. It’s not just athletics, as it could be a factor for any student.
It is a competitive time to earn admittance to a college, and the thing that could make or break a potential student is their social media footprint.
Social media can be cute and fun – heck my kids in their 20s and 30s regularly take part in social media or at the very least, enjoy watching videos from such sites as Instagram, Facebook or TikTok.
My wife and I often talk about being thankful our kids survived the social media glut during their younger years, emerging into their adult years without a destructive post.
I preach to students constantly about the potential pratfalls of social media but honestly think it falls on deaf ears for the most part. I am sure parents and coaches often feel the same way.
I am thankful the two young athletes in this case have avoided a huge mistake this time, and hopefully they take to heart what was preached to both.
After talking extensively with them both this week, I believe they have. Hopefully others can learn as well.
The next time some of our local kids will not be as fortunate. I feel that as parents, coaches and influential people throughout the school system we must embrace the chance to preach to the students and help as many as we can.
So much of social media is a spur of the moment thing, but the kids need to step back and think about the ramifications before posting.
NCS playoffs notes
The North Coast Section came out with its playoffs for girls’ volleyball and flag football with the East Bay Athletic League well-represented in both.
And as is usually the case, there are some head-scratchers.
In flag football, the following teams qualified for the tournament from the EBAL (seed in parenthesis): California (2), Granada (5), San Ramon Valley (6), Amador Valley (8), Foothill (11) and Dublin (14).
California will be at home and open play Tuesday night at home against College Park (15) in a 6 p.m. game. Granada opens at Heritage High against Alameda (12). San Ramon Valley will face Foothill in a 7:30 p.m. game at Cal High. Finally, Dublin will play at Liberty, against Liberty (3) at 6 p.m.
The quarterfinals are set for Thursday (Oct. 30) at sites to be determined. The semifinals will be Nov. 4 with the championship game set for Nov. 6.
In volleyball, the NCS policy that a league champion gets to host a first-round game despite the seed is rearing its ugly head once again.
In the Open Division tournament, it works in San Ramon Valley’s favor as the Wolves (5) play host to Branson (4) in the first-round of the tournament on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
The Open semifinals are set for Nov. 5, with the finals taking place Nov. 8.
In Division I play, it is nonsensical.
Play opens Tuesday night with the games set for 7 p.m.
Monte Vista earned the top seed, but for its efforts the Mustangs are on the road to Petaluma, the No. 16 seed. Carondelet is the No. 3 seed, but the Cougars are also North Bay-bound to play at No. 14 Rancho Cotate.
The lone EBAL team to be home in the first round is No. 6 Foothill that will play host to No. 11 Northgate.
The quarterfinals are set for Nov. 1, with the semifinals on Nov. 5, and the title game taking place Nov. 8.
The D-II tournament returns some sense of normalcy with No. 16 Granada traveling to top-seeded University on Wednesday (Oct. 29). Amador is the No. 8 seed and will host No. 9 Terra Linda.
‘The Playbook Jinx’?
It has been an interesting couple of weeks for my Big Picture column here in the Tri-Valley Preps Playbook. It seems like the Playbook is taking the place of the Sports Illustrated cover jinx.
A couple weeks back I wrote about how a young San Ramon Valley football team had come together and appeared to be hitting their stride following the Wolves 41-14 win over Amador Valley.
The next game SRV went out was handled to the tune of a 33-14 loss to California.
The next week I wrote about the 7-0 Cal team and how they were getting it done this year. This past Friday, the Grizzlies saw their undefeated run ended with a 34-13 loss to Monte Vista.
It would seem natural that this week I would be writing about the Mustangs winning their EBAL opener and their dynamic offense.
My decision? Not a chance – although there is probably a good chance anyone associated with the Monte Vista program would answer a call from me, and justifiably so!
Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for the Pleasanton Weekly. This column originally appeared in Tri-Valley Preps Playbook, a weekly sports e-newsletter published by Embarcadero Media Foundation.
