While immigration debate rages on in national politics, Abbotsford football shows the ability to come together and be successful.

September 19, 2024 11:08 AM CDT

During my daily morning program political topics are a regular feature of the show. However, when I go out to broadcast High School sports on many evenings throughout the year there is never of discussion of politics during my broadcast. The same thought is true of the “Big High School Sports Show” each Wednesday night during the fall and winter sports season. However, sometimes, a discussion can link thoughts and actions from the fields/locker rooms to the greater community.

This week our coach guest on the “Big High School Sports Show” was Abbotsford football head coach Jacob Knapmiller. We brought coach Knapmiller on the show to talk about the 4-0 start for his Falcons and about the team as a whole. As we got to the end of the interview my co-host, former Wausau West football coach Jason Foster, asked about the off-season program at Abbotsford with successful sports seasons so often starting almost immediately following the end of the previous campaign. Coach Knapmiller started by talking about the “super unique situation with the student body” at Abbotsford. Abbotsford is a rural, small school with a high percentage of minorities and a large immigrant population. The coach talked about how a lot of these families don’t have football or other athletics in their backgrounds and that affects the program at Abbotsford. What he and his staff do is, during the off-season, have the kids come together in different non-sports settings such as cookouts and camping to establish connections. The connections developed have worked. A successful team and program has been the result.

This was not a political conversation but a football conversation. However, I couldn’t help but connect it in my mind with some national and state headlines just this week. Republican VP candidate J.D. Vance proudly saying he would continue to call people “illegal aliens” even those who have legal status in our country. Or his running mate, Donald Trump, getting animated at every opportunity he gets to denigrate all immigrants, even those who have added to the fabric of so many communities around the country and in central Wisconsin. Congressman Tom Tiffany calling a press conference this week and talking about “illegal aliens”.

Then, in a conversation I had no thought of being political, I hear a story from a community in western Marathon County that show the strength we get in diversity. That diversity within a community, or a sports team, shouldn’t mean separation of people but the opportunity to come together and do great things. Whether on the sports field, a workplace, or a living room. Our history in the United States has touted the “melting pot” aspect of our country. There are challenges when it comes to immigration policy in our country but opportunities as well. We need public servants who are capable of looking at both sides and coming up with solutions to make the country stronger through their actions and not weaker. Vance, Trump and Tiffany did the latter this week.