Another swim meet. It's now the boys high school season, and after two weeks two meets have already taken place. It's going to be a rough season. All Minneapolis meets take place at Southwest High School, the only high school in Minneapolis with a pool. I try not to think of the facilities available to students in Minnetonka or Edina, or even Bloomington. The Southwest scoreboard and timers never work. There is no team bus to return to South after the meet, forcing students to beg rides. The team booster club provides the suits, pays for additional coaching and pool time, and generally supplies basics that are available freely to swimmers in richer communities.
There is something wrong with this picture. Parents in Edina and Minnetonka are presumably better able to supplement the swim teams' expenses, and probably don't need to do so (just guessing here, so correct me if I'm wrong). In contrast, Minneapolis parents generally are less likely to have extra money to support athletics, and need to do so if the programs are to continue. This is just one of the glaring inequalities caused by education funding in Minnesota. And while I am glad to support the swimmers, I would feel even better about it if I didn't have to.
South High lost the swim meet. Joe High School swam well, but there was some stiff, and unexpected, competition from one of the Southwest swimmers. And South lost a couple of its best swimmers from last year to graduation. But there's always next time.
