ALL-STARS

ALL-STARS
Other sports haddeserving athletes
Fanfare:
I was extremely disappointed concerning the May 7th Vindicator All-Stars Section, titled The Best of the Best 2000-2001 Winter Athletes. The five-page section pictured and wrote about our area's best winter athletes.
According to The Vindicator's sports staff the featured athletes were selected based on their performance during the winter sports season, including playoffs and state tournaments.
Why then was high school swimming and diving not included? It is a winter sport and out of seven area high school teams, five swimmers and one diver qualified individually for the state meet.
A Poland female swimmer was the Division II 100 yds. backstroke state champion. In Div. I, a male swimmer from Boardman placed 6th in the 100-yard freestyle, a male diver from Canfield placed 5th and a female swimmer from Canfield placed 5th in the 100-yard freestyle and 8th in the 50-yard free.
Placing at state is an extraordinary feat for these individuals considering the lack of high school facilities in the area for training. These athletes compete against swimmers and divers that have unlimited access to their own high school pools.
The Vindicator should applaud such dedicated athletes that continue to pursue their dreams despite the lack of recognition, pool time and financial support.
It is my intention in writing this letter that the sports staff's decision to exclude swimming and diving, gymnastics and ice hockey as winter sports does not happen again.
The Vindicator's All-Star Team should have included all the area's outstanding winter athletes as stated, not some of the athletes from some of the sports.
Andrea L. Linnelli
Canfield
XThe writer is the Canfield High School swim coach