February 14, 2023
Six grade athletes boost sports programs
By Henry Lieberman, Student Contributor
CIS broke a barrier in athletics this fall by becoming the only school in Columbia to offer MSHSAA-sanctioned sports sixth-grade students, a controversial topic. Critics claim that it can be dangerous to put younger athletes — 11- and 12-year olds — against 14-year-olds who are more physically mature, but CIS has seen great success so far.
Three sports — cross country, volleyball, and basketball — were made available to sixth grade athletes, each of which have seen an increase in roster numbers.
Walter Luther, Heath Turner-Diaz and Henry Bricker all joined the cross country teams this season in their first year of eligibility and each placed in the top 20 at meets during the season. Bricker came in even higher at some meets.
“I think it’s always good to be able to start teaching students a new sport at a younger age. They will have an extra year of practice over other kids,” cross country coach and PE teacher Daniel Radkowiec said. “I think it helps them with their development as an athlete and a person.”
The volleyball team also saw a large group of sixth graders with Katie Coker, Leah Dowell, Lizzy Roush and Simone Yin all joining the team for the first time. The youngest athletes on the team mostly competed on the B team, which went 3-2 on the season, while the A team only lost a single game with a record of 13-1.
“I think it’s been outstanding,” volleyball coach Wally Luther said on sixth grade involvement in athletics. “I think any chance to get exposure to the sport at a younger age contributes to their growth as players and people and to the growth of the team.”
Basketball saw the most sixth graders turn out with a total of six players between the boys and the girls teams. Walter Luther, Heath Turner-Díaz, Henry Bricker, Maxwell Hsu, and Ben Orford on the boys team and Milli Arce on the girls team joined the rosters.
One standout so far this season is Turner-Díaz, making his way into the starting lineup for the boys team as a sixth grader. The rest of the starting lineup is composed of seventh and eighth graders, but that hasn’t stopped this young athlete from becoming one of the leading scorers on the team.
“It’s cool because you can learn from all of the older kids who have been playing for longer,” Turner-Díaz said.
The class of 2028 has already made a huge splash in athletics at CIS, giving the school a boost in the department.
The school will likely benefit from a continued trend of sixth grade athlete participation.