Tale of the turtle: Don’t place young athletes on a pedestal

A pedestal is a dangerous, precarious precipice.

Every community, high school and team selects and lifts players up on a pedestal, unsteady as it may be. Nobody does a risk assessment. No one is standing in the middle of the road waving a red flag. The spotlight blinds them to what inevitably will happen.

Yet, time and again, even though we can astutely predict the outcome for most athletes, up they go on a pedestal.  The stories have been chronicled thousands of times in rural communities, small towns and urban areas as well. But we can’t seem to help ourselves.

Why do we do this? When history tells us that every athlete eventually falls from that seemingly enviable spot, why are we so addicted to worshipping young athletes?

One answer comes from Hall of Fame football coach Fisher DeBerry, who guided the Air Force Academy football program to 169 wins in 22 seasons.  He conveys a wonderful tale that he would tell his squads every year.

When the time was right, DeBerry would look into the eyes of his players and say: “Men, when you see a turtle on top of a fence post, you have to remember that the turtle did not get there on his own. Someone else put him there.”

It is a story we all should consider when taking steps to idolize young athletes. No athlete is an island unto himself.  It takes a team of coaches and teammates to hoist an individual to the stratosphere for everyone to see.  And without appreciating that truth, young athletes can mistakenly believe they put themselves in that position.

So, the next time you see someone raising a youngster to unreasonable heights, give this a thought: Remember the turtle.