A teachable moment in a tragic turn of events

In our book the Hamtramck High School varsity football and soccer players are all winners.
Unfortunately, the school district had to forfeit the entire season for both teams after an internal investigation revealed violations of the Michigan High School Athletic Association.
Yes, rules are rules and they must be followed.
But still, the punishment seems harsh – especially when it needlessly dashed the hopes of players who were not found in violation. It should be noted that absolutely no player was found to be at fault.
Instead, it was the lack of oversight, and that job apparently fell on the shoulders of the Athletic Director who has since resigned.
There is one saving grace in this horrible outcome, and it’s that this incident affords us teachable moment.
At that is, the district owned up to the mistake and voluntarily performed its own internal investigation.
This matter shows what the Cosmos spirit is all about: Integrity.
We applaud the district for doing the right thing – no matter how painful and wrong it feels. Our community should be proud of our public school district – and Schools Superintendent Tom Niczay — and how it handled this unfortunate situation.
We can’t think of a more comforting thing to say than what the Hamtramck Police Department recently suggested on their Facebook page: Shake it off, Cosmos.
Next year, both teams will be heading for the state playoffs. You can count on that.

Published October 27, 2017