DATE: Wednesday, November 19, 1997          TAG: 9711190008

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B10  EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Editorial 

                                            LENGTH:   40 lines

A PAINFUL LESSON PORTSMOUTH SCHOOLS STICK BY REQUIREMENT THAT ATHLETES MAINTAIN 2.0 GRADE AVERAGE.

It's a story that Portsmouth coaches will tell future athletes for many years to come:

One day, back in November of 1997, the Churchland High School football team was on the brink of glory. It had qualified for its first playoff appearance in 21 years. And what happened? The team lost a close playoff game - 9 to 3 - after six players were declared academically ineligible. With those six players' help, the team might have won.

The moral of the story is simple: Athletes have to hit the books. In Portsmouth, they need a 2.0 grade average, a straight C, to play.

Portsmouth Superintendent Richard D. Trumble felt sorry for the six players. And fans of the football team felt sorry for themselves.

But Trumble said, ``We will not change.'' He added, ``Everybody's athletic career comes to an end sometime. And when the games are over, you need to be prepared for the rest of your life.''

Grades below C's are hardly preparation for the rest of students' lives.

``Academics first,'' said School Board member James E. Bridgeford. ``They had enough time to prepare. Now it's here. This is real life.''

Many of Churchland's athletes have good grades. The combined GPA of the girls basketball team is above 3.4, and the combined GPA of the boys basketball team is 3.2.

Maybe it was hard for the football players to believe that grades would really be important enough to keep six players from the big game. But grades were important enough, and the lesson surely was painful enough to be remembered for a long time.

``It's mostly my fault,'' said one of the ineligible players. ``I didn't try hard enough.''

It's commendable that the player took responsibility rather than blame the system. That student is a winner already.

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