High school sports have always played an important role in my family. Our son Zach played several sports in high school, I played football and wrestled in my glory days and Tracy is the daughter of a coach and was raised in the dugout, gym and on a cross-country course.

As parents, we always look for what’s best for our children. You want to prepare them to be successful in life, and you know that academic endeavors alone won’t cut it anymore.

High school athletics offers plenty of physical, physiological and social benefits that can help shape young adults as professionals. Participating in high school athletics is one of the best ways for teens to learn essential values such as teamwork and collaboration.

Yesterday morning, I read a story about a group of teenage shoplifters in a suburb of Nashville that stormed a store attempting to steal high end perfumes, money and other items. In some larger cities, repeat shoplifters and organized gangs of teenagers are free to steal repeatedly, with many stores ignoring the issue and eventfully shuttering.

Thankfully a group of patrons blocked the door from the outside, forcing the teens to flee without their ill-gotten booty. They used a ladder to smash a hole in the wall and escaped out the back. At one point in the crime, they even called police to report the patrons. Oh, the irony.

In stark contrast to that, last night I was honored, along with my colleagues at the Daily News, to host our seventh annual Kentucky Super Preps event at Bowling Green Ballpark. In addition to individual winners in each KHSAA-sanctioned sport, the awards ceremony honored a slew of student-athletes with specialty awards and recognized the Coach of the Year and Athletic Director of the Year before revealing the 2022-23 Boys’ and Girls’ Overall Student Athletes of the Year. Each overall winner received a $500 scholarship.

It was uplifting to hear excerpts from the coaches’ letters of recommendation about the students’ efforts off the court to make our community a better place. Some nominees had more than 500 hours of volunteering under their belt per year. Each one brought something special to their team and their hometown.

The event, presented by Med Center Health, featured Hank Plona, the newly named Western Kentucky University men’s basketball coach. He spoke directly to the several hundred student-athletes in front of him.

“Once you learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable, as your situation changes, if you can stay true to yourself and continue to invest in each other – give back to the community that you are in,” Plona said. “If you can continue to have a positive approach and attitude, those core values will succeed as your situation changes and they will help you be comfortable in a different situation,” Plona said.

Winners were announced from high schools in Warren and surrounding counties. South Warren High School’s Hannah Andrews was honored as the Girls’ Student-Athlete of the Year with Logan County’s Colby Collins taking the boys’ top honor. Their coaches had the following to say about them.

“Hannah is very committed to her activities. She enjoys mentoring the younger generation and helping out where needed. Hannah is not often at the front of the crowd trying to lead, but she is always the encourager among the middle of the crowd, leading by example, encouraging her teammates and showing up to do her best.”

“Colby is one of the finest young men I’ve ever had the privilege to coach. He is a man of great character and uses his platform as an athlete to help others. This season, I saw him help a teammate that was going through a very difficult time in their life. Colby is the ultimate teammate who always puts the team above himself. Not only is he a great leader for our basketball team, but he also is a great example for the younger generation of Logan County basketball players.”

Despite what you read in your news feed and on social media, there are plenty of good things being done by the younger generation in our community. The future is brighter because of them and their commitment to their sport, school and community.

I spend a lot of time on the sidelines covering games. The stands are not as full as they used to be when I started in newspapers. We are distracted by busy lives, the internet and the frenetic pace we set for ourselves these days. I hope you will make it a point to get out to a high school game next season and support our student-athletes. They are our tomorrow.

– Daily News Publisher Joe Imel can be reached at (270) 783-3273 or via email at joe.imel@ bgdailynews.com.