As the sports editor at the Arizona Daily Sun since 2021, I've covered a lot of high-level sporting events in Flagstaff, and interviewed Shane Burcar plenty.
I've been at pretty much every Northern Arizona men's basketball home game in the last two seasons, and covered even more remotely, talking to Burcar -- the head coach of the Lumberjack men -- on and off the record dozens of times.
There have been some extreme highs and lows. NAU both won and lost on miraculous buzzer-beating shots in the 2022-23 season, among other crazy moments in the last two years. Admittedly, I'm not in the locker room after either a blowout win or a brutal defeat, but Burcar remains pretty calm regardless of the result in the postgame interview room.
That's why it shocked me so much to see him shed a tear (maybe a couple of them) Friday night. The same guy that has won a high school state basketball championship in Arizona, coached against the No. 1 team in the NCAA and was, just months ago, a game away from playing in march madness, was overwhelmed by emotion for a brief moment after coaching the West Flagstaff Little League baseball team to a district title and reaching the state tournament.
Burcar has used terms like "heartbreak" when describing a difficult moment on the basketball court, but never once -- in my experience -- had such an outward display of emotion after a single game.
“When you can give your time to the youth, it’s really important to me," he said, pausing to wipe his eye. "I was fortunate, growing up, to have great coaches. To be able to be part of these guys’ lives...it means so much."
Part of it made immediate sense to me. His son, Brisson, is one of the best players on the team. I'm sure it's rewarding to be able to see your son and his friends have success on the field, reaping some rewards for their efforts. Bella Burcar, "the oldest Burcar kid, won a 4A girls basketball title with the Flagstaff Eagles this past winter, too, and I could tell how much it mattered to that family.
But, moreso, the moment cemented something for me:
Youth sports, especially at a really young age, matter.
He're the thing:
You're on a site primarily devoted to high school athletics. You probably already care about youth sports (at least a tiny bit) if you've made the effort to click and read this far.
Ask most people, and you'd probably expect to hear about the lessons and memories created playing sports at a young age.
But participation is going down.
"Only 37% of children ages 6–12 played team sports on a regular basis in 2021, the most recent year of available data from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association. That’s down from 38% in 2019 and 2020 and well below 45% in 2008, the highest mark in recent decades,” Sports Travel Magazine reads.
It's not just a problem at that age either.
According to the NFHS, 7,618,054 high school students participated in school sports in the 2021-22 academic year. That number is the least since 2009-10, excluding 2019-20 and 2020-21 due to COVID-19.
I'll tell you firsthand, sports are a pivotal part of my life, and were key in my development.
As a young boy, my parents put me in everything: baseball, basketball, soccer, tennis, running, biking, etc. and I'd spend even more time playing football in the streets or throwing around whatever ball we could get our hands on.
If not just for the health and fitness aspects, I can't think of a better way to make lasting, impactful, friendships. Two of the groomsmen in my wedding were guys I played soccer and tennis with as a teenager, and I have so many memories from the highs and lows of games, practices and more.
None of this is breaking news, per se. But I think it's worth mentioning just what participation can mean for a kid's growth.
I went to the Super Bowl in February. I smiled just as much Friday watching 12-year-olds hitting baseballs -- maybe more -- on Friday, than I did at State Farm Stadium.
I know I'm not alone either.
“Where does today rank for me?" Burcar asked rhetorically after I questioned him on the importance of Friday's Little League baseball game as opposed to the hundreds of others he's coached in different sports.
"I don’t know. But it’s up there pretty high because it’s a precious present. All the kids are great friends, our 10-year-olds to 12-year-olds are all little buddies. They’re going to eventually go to high school together and talk about having their first dates together and go to the prom and all of that stuff growing up, and I’m emotional. They’re going to remember this game the rest of their lives,”
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