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I guess that’s what bothers me so much about the current mess with high school sports in West Virginia. Legal challenges concerning the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission’s football playoff formula have postponed the start of the postseason. Although a lawsuit about who gets in and who doesn’t is not the same thing as trying to undo the results on the scoreboard, it’s still an effort to change the system to the benefit of some schools and the detriment of others, bypassing the original results. And these challenges are coming at a time that could end up wrecking the postseason.

It started with a court filing challenging the playoff point structure that led to a shakeup of the teams included in the postseason picture — less than a week before the playoffs were set to begin. Some of the schools that got bumped out have filed their own litigation in return.

It’s understandable that some schools or high school sports backers would be upset, and maybe even a little confused, given the massive changes that have affected high school athletics as of late. The WVSSAC recently moved from three to four classifications of competition levels in football, and legislation passed more than a year ago allowing high school athletes to transfer and play wherever they want without sitting out a season also disrupted the balance of power in the sport.

But is taking athletic issues to court really the solution?

I think Gazette-Mail sports reporter Taylor Kennedy hit the nail on the head when, in a recent column, he said, “There are too many hands in the cookie jar, and, to me, there are certain people in this state who are moving away from it being about the kids and, rather, for themselves.�

In another report Kennedy wrote about the situation, North Marion Coach Daran Hays said, “I wish we could go back to focusing on sports as an extension of the classroom to teach kids better and be better members of society by teaching them work ethic and commitment. Unfortunately, it’s teaching them — right now — a lot of litigation and fear of lawsuits.�

Bingo.

Organized competition of any kind, be it high school football or the academic team, teaches kids valuable lessons about socializing, structure and not only how to win, but how to lose. That’s important, because, let’s face it, life is actually a lot less fair than a game with rules, officials and a clock (sorry, baseball). If you don’t know how to accept a loss, learn from it and carry on without blaming everyone within pointing range, you’re operating at a serious disadvantage in the real world. The same goes for taking too much credit for success without recognizing teamwork or help you got from others along the way.

By the way, I used to be a sports reporter, and I have a son who competes in organized youth sports. Some of the parental and fan behavior I’ve witnessed during both (especially as it pertains to officiating) has been outright embarrassing, if not a trifle disturbing. That type of thing sets a horrible example for young athletes, and, most of the time, is coming from a place that doesn’t take the actual competitors into account at all. More simply put, it’s not about the kids.

West Virginia kids participating in athletics should be learning the game, but they also should be learning about teamwork, sportsmanship and how to accept a result, positive or negative, with the appropriate, proportionate response. Instead, as Hays suggested, they’re getting a crash course on the state’s legal system and learning that no result need be accepted, if there’s a place you can challenge it.