State Tourney Experience Offers "March Mystique"

By Robert Kanaby, NFHS executive director and Ron Laird, NFHS president

March is an exciting time of year when the chill of winter wanes and we welcome warmer weather and the vivid colors of spring. It is also a time when sports fans across the country experience a common euphoria - "March Madness/March Mystique."

While March Madness is commonly used to refer to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship, media and the public also make it a common identifier that bridges all levels of play in this sport at high school basketball tournaments. However, we like to think of the high school experience more in terms of March Mystique.

According to the 2006-07 High School Athletics Participation Survey conducted by the NFHS, more than one million boys and girls in America participate in high school basketball. In terms of participation, it is second only to football. A sport of this magnitude has the capability to instill a great amount of excitement in both participants and fans when the state championships come around.

Today, state championships for not only basketball, but also wrestling, swimming, ice hockey, gymnastics, and indoor track and field have become a central part of the electricity that surrounds this time of year. They are integrally woven into that fabric known as the high school experience.

During March, fans and participants crowd gyms, stadiums and natatoriums to witness the spectacle of the state championship. Together, they experience the sights and sounds. Basketballs thump on the floor, feet splash in the water, sticks slam the ice, and hands hit the mat. Blurred colors race back and forth across the court, track, rink and pool.

State championships represent the pinnacle of achievement offered by state high school associations. They provide rare opportunities for high school students who take part in sports to participate in an event that will add to some of the greatest lifelong memories of their high school athletic careers.

Because very few high school student-athletes go on to play at the college and professional levels, state tournaments generate a great deal of enthusiasm during those few days when the state's best student-athletes converge to compete for the state title. For many high school seniors, being able to participate in the state championship provides both a memorable capstone experience and a sense of accomplishment at the end of their high school years.

Education-based athletics attempt to separate the madness from the mystique. We're not about madness - we're about the mystique of representing the community and the high school and participating in an experience that will live forever in their memories.

Part of the thrill of being a high school student-athlete is the opportunity to participate in the state championships. It shouldn't matter to those participants whether they win or lose, but rather that they were simply able to participate and to make it to that level. That is more easily written than experienced and we acknowledge that fact.

As state championship participants, student-athletes are given the opportunity to represent not only their schools and fellow students, but also their communities. It's not often that young people are put on such high pedestals within their communities. Such an honor can heighten self-esteem and reinforce the importance of teamwork. By working together to make it to the state championships, small-town teams can enjoy the same recognition as their large-town counterparts.

Student-athletes and fans alike listen every year to hear that one special word - "Cinderella." Cinderella stories describe the longshot teams who seemingly come out of nowhere to be a part of the state championship and sometimes even win it.

No matter where you come from - city, small town, farmland - everyone can enjoy the glory of striving to be a Cinderella team. Even in defeat, that Cinderella team has accomplished something amazing simply by participating in the state championships.

The glory of state championships is a universal feeling. It applies to young and old, male and female, athlete and non-athlete. Grandparents can relive the memories of high school sports championships from their childhoods, and young children can find role models in the championship participants - provided we exhibit the mystique over the madness.

For a few days at the beginning of spring, millions across the nation have the opportunity to take part in that March Mystique tradition that is high school state championships. It is a time-honored tradition that reflects the best high schools can be and the best we can all hope to become. After all, "WE ARE HIGH SCHOOL."