Practice-field skirmish lends ‘Insight’ to narrow thinking

On the surface, the dispute over Insight Bowl’s relationship with Corona del Sol High School seems far removed from the bigger issues of our time.

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Yet, in some respects, the complaints that emanate from a small yet vocal group of Corona parents over the college bowl game’s use of the Corona athletic facilities is emblematic of a troubling ideology that greatly undermines the nation’s efforts to recover from the worst economic depression since the 1930s.

To understand both the local dispute and the national dilemma, it is necessary to note the emerging attitude of our time, which can be summed up this way:

“I want what’s mine and I will have what’s mine, and the common good be damned. I’m going to have my way and if somebody else gets hurt, well, that’s their problem, isn’t it?’’

It used to be that in hard times, we rallied under the mantra, “We’re all in this together.’’

Now we have torn down the Altar of Sacrifice and, in its place, erected the Shrine of Self Interest.

If the Insight Bowl dustup isn’t the greatest example of America’s inability to see beyond narrow self-interest, it is, at least, a tangible example that can be found in our own back yard.

For four years now, Corona has given Insight Bowl access to its practice fields, a relationship that will end this year if a handful of Corona parents have their way.  

Although the visiting college team uses the facilities for less than a week, the fields are inaccessible for around six weeks as the fields are over-seeded and manicured in advance of the bowl team’s arrival.

Certainly, no one will suggest that losing access to those fields is not without inconvenience to Corona’s sports programs, most notably the boys and girls soccer programs. Yet whatever nuisances are created by the bowl’s presence are largely mitigated by an agreement with the city of Tempe for the school to use its outstanding facilities on Kyrene Road, located a couple of miles from campus.  

As a result, the bowl arrangement has had zero impact on scheduling. Corona coaches believe the larger dimensions at city’s fields actually work to their advantage, in fact.

Conversely, the benefits Corona receives from the bowl more than compensate for the inconvenience, especially at a time when schools are hard-pressed to maintain facilities. Thanks to the arrangement with the Insight Bowl, Corona’s fields have been maintained at a high level and at no cost to the school. There is a reason that Corona today plays on well-conditioned fields while many of its neighbors are playing on dirt. It’s called The Insight Bowl.

The Insight Bowl also provides the school with two scholarships for its trouble.

Knowing those relevant facts, it’s easy to understand why the source of the complaints has not emerged not from soccer coaches at the school. It appears the complaints originate among a few parents.

Their argument is that the Corona soccer teams suffer while other programs, most notably the football team, benefits. This sort of persecution complex is getting pretty shopworn. Corona, like most high schools, does not have free-standing programs in the sense that each program operates independently. There are not separate piles of money for each sport; the funds come from the same shrinking pile. In one way or another, what benefits one program benefits all.

 None of this is to suggest that associations between the corporate sector and taxpayer-supported institutions should not be viewed with healthy skepticism. We expect our school administrators to perform their due diligence in considering these arrangements and, after careful examination of the costs and benefits, make a decision based on what is best for the school and community as a whole.

Even as the tide of narrow self-interest washes against the shore of policy, we expect our administrators to stand firm in the defense of the common good. The preponderance of the evidence strongly supports the idea that Insight Bowl’s relationship with Corona del Sol has been beneficial.

It is on that basis that administrators should deny the demands of a few vocal constituents who demand appeasement even to the considerable detriment to others.

Contact the author at slim.smith@wranglernews.com

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