Titles can lift spirits, last a lifetime - #lakewoodnews

Spring high school sports playoffs have started, and dozens of teams and hundreds of athletes in Colorado are pursuing state titles.But what does winning a championship really mean?At the high school level, MVPs don't get invited to Disney World. Athletes generally don't appear on talk shows. There are few national awards.In fact, a title brings little in the way of tangible rewards -- hardware housed in school trophy cases, pictures of teams hung on walls and banners displayed in gyms.Still, a championship can leave an indelible mark on athletes and coaches."I was lucky enough to be on a state championship team in high school and I can recall everything about it," said Brad Madden, who has coached Green Mountain's baseball team to back-to-back Class 4A state titles and played on the 1994 Arvada West state championship team. "We were pretty dominating. We had (former Major League pitcher) Roy Halladay and a lot good guys. I can remember the feeling of it and being around your buddies. That's something you'll never forget."Creating a buzzChaparral Athletic Director Rob Johnson was the boys basketball coach when the Wolverines defeated Arapahoe to win the Class 5A state title in 2012. A title, he said, creates a morale boost."People sometimes underestimate what that does for a school," Johnson said. "Not just the state championship game, but the whole ride getting there. The kids are so excited and the fan base doubles and triples. For any sport, it's great."Pomona won state titles this season in gymnastics and wrestling and was second in football and softball."Winning a state championship sets the tone for the school year," said Pomona Athletic Director Michael J. Santarelli. "The success unites the student body and the faculty. It creates the ultimate connection of academics and extracurricular activities. It also reaffirms that you as a school are doing something that is creating better people."Ponderosa Athletic Director Tim Ottmann, who guided the Mustangs to eight of the school's 10 state wrestling titles when he was head coach, said championships help draw positive attention to the south Parker community. At the same time, community support helps build title-winning teams."To win a state championship," he said, "you have to have the athletes who are willing to work hard, great coaching and you have to have parent support getting their kids places and supporting the coach."Building on successRaising championship banners can help create a culture of winning.Cherry Creek leads the state with 193 titles across all sports. Veteran coach Marc Johnson has won eight baseball championships."Winning a state championship does make a difference in people's mindset," Johnson said.Rod Sherman is Valor Christian's former athletic director and current football coach. The Eagles have won 16 state titles since 2007, including six in football.Winning a championship "creates excitement for the kids and validates all the work they have done," Sherman said. "Unfortunately, we live in a society that sometimes success is the most important thing versus the journey -- and that's the hard thing about championships. But the great thing is the banners that get hung up in the gyms and kids can come back for decades and know I was a part of something special."And tere can be a snowball effect."With open enrollment and choice, people begin to make decisions based upon the success of athletic programs early in seventh and eighth grade and maybe before that," Ottmann said. "People want to be around winners. State championships do draw athletes to a school for a specific sport, especially if they maintain that level of success for a while."Thanks for the memoriesWinning a state title in the spring is sometimes overlooked as classes are all but over for the school year. Rock Canyon won the Class 5A state baseball title last spring in a tournament that wasn't decided until May 27 because of rain delays.After the Jaguars won, coach Tyler Munro returned to school the next day and the building was almost empty.While high school championship teams don't get parades like the Super Bowl-winning Denver Broncos, it's possible the memories and inspiration will last just as long for those involved."Overall, a state championship just builds school pride that is sometimes kind of missing these days," Madden said. "For a smaller school like Green Mountain and the community, it sort of builds a sense that I can go to my neighborhood school and still accomplish something."Green Mountain is an older school," he said. "It's pretty neat to see the people that had gone to school a long time ago come back and stick their head in the dugout and say, 'I played baseball here.' "

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