They Said It Couldn’t Be Done
By Richard Silverman
Trustee, Board of Trustees
They said it couldn’t be done. But now, it’s done. The Kirtland athletic program, particularly the basketball program, has arrived as a bona fide program whose student athletes meet their student responsibilities and have success on the courses and courts.
And I must say that I’m elated. The students, their coaches, and their athletic director have emphatically answered the critics, nay sayers and pessimists. And even though I have been a staunch supporter of the program, I must admit that I had attacks of skepticism during some of the darker moments in the evolution of the Firebirds: those moments when some under age student athletes partied too hard with alcohol; those times when some players smoked dope; those times when half of the starting basketball players would disappear from class and then disappear from the team before January. Yes, there were lots of downs. But thankfully, there were more ups.
I have to pinpoint the program’s official arrival date as the afternoon of Saturday, February 23, in Mio. That was the day when the Lady ‘Birds walked all over Henry Ford to complete a successful 10-8 conference season with an almost all-freshmen team. That was the afternoon when the men beat a wonderful Henry Ford team in a very intense, well-played game. It was a game where the ‘Birds won with Piston-like team defense in the second half. Simply put, it was college basketball at its very best.
And so, the men accomplished what no other Firebird team had accomplished. They finished in second place with a 14-4 record, behind undefeated, defending national champion, Mott Community College. For the first time, they will host an MCCAA tournament game when they play Wayne CC at the McGregor Athletic Complex.
And please don’t shed any tears for the ‘Lady ‘Birds, who just missed making the top 4 in the conference and qualifying for the MCCAA postseason tournament. Remember, if all goes well, Natasha Dewald (AuGres), Brooke Robinson (Standish-Sterling), Sarah Ostroski (Standish Sterling), Kaylon Leslie (Whittemore-Prescottt), Whitney Bonham (Evart), and Jo’Ell Cruse (Inland Lakes) all return. That would make this the strongest nucleus that the Lady ‘Birds have ever had going into a new season. If the women add another tall, strong player at center and recruit a pure shooting guard, their 10-8 season can easily be a 14-4 season next year.
So, what, if anything, does this all mean for Kirtland? Well, I think it means more than simply having a strong athletic program. It demonstrates that our very unique, little college in the woods can dream big dreams and can do things that many of our larger sister community colleges can’t. It means that our college can succeed if it hires the right people and then lets them do their thing. It means that with the development of any new program you have to be patient and persevere. Don’t turn tail and run at the first sign of trouble. Don’t ignore the trouble and your mistakes; face them and learn from them. If we learn these lessons by looking at the evolution of the athletic program, then we can be more than an 14-4 college in a premier athletic conference. We can be a premier college.