Every Friday evening in the fall the Timpview High School football stadium fills with fans who've come to watch the Thunderbirds devour yet another opponent. At Timpview, winning is stamped in the minds of their up-and-coming players who have seen their school win three of the last four 4A state championships.

"Look at our players," Timpview offensive coordinator Chad Van Orden said. "We've got good players at every spot and they just keep coming. I think we provide them with the environment to be successful."

Timpview's success is a great example of how important high school sports have become statewide. For some Utah high school athletes, winning is everything. The increased pressure has brought success to many programs, but the results are not always as positive.

Something to talk about

This past football season has been full of positives, but it has also given those in charge of high schools sports a lot of headaches.

Before the 2007 began, Timpview head coach Louis Wong was suspended for a game by the Utah High School Activities Association (UHSAA) because of a recruiting violation. The accusations were made by city-rival Provo High School.

In September, 22 players were kicked off of the Hillcrest High School football team after skipping practice in protest of head coach Kirk Merhish's coaching style. The athletes' actions may have been influenced by their parents, who fought hard to have their children reinstated, but to no avail.

Just weeks later, Lone Peak quarterback Scott Lefrandt was involved in a post-game dispute with his head coach, Monte Morgan. Lefrandt was kicked off of the team, but Morgan was suspended one game by the UHSAA for his conduct. Subsequently, Lefrandt was allowed to transfer to and play for rival American Fork because of the nature of the dispute.

"Anytime you elevate the competition you elevate the chance for poor sportsmanship," said Rob Cuff, assistant director of the UHSAA. "So we have some things we need to continue to work on."

Another incident happened during the state football playoffs where American Fork and Hunter were involved in a bench-clearing brawl that involved both players and fans. The game was called with 1:59 remaining, after which five players were disciplined because of their roles in the fight.

The lack of sportsmanship displayed by players, coaches and parents may be the key to the problems that have plagued high school sports in Utah this past year.

Each sport carries with it a different type of pressure.

"Sometimes the pressure is good, and other times it is bad," Cuff remarked. "And for each sport it is different. In basketball and baseball, the coach has added pressure from making cuts, that the football coach doesn't usually have to worry about."

Pressure Manifested

The pressure on the athletes and coaches involved in the highly competitive realm of sports is usually shown through their actions.

"One of the issues going on today is the win-at-all-costs philosophy," said sports psychologist Ron Chamberlain. "All across the sports world there is pressure on coaches and players, from parents, fans, and sometimes media."

Athletes who fall for this philosophy and let their emotions spill out onto the playing field might not have this type of pressure in any other aspect of their life.

The pressure isn't always a bad thing, either. For instance, when someone feels the pressure mounting on him or her but they are able to succeed, it makes success feel even better.

Chamberlain feels that this is the reason most people participate in or coach sports: They are either motivated by their dreams or their fears.

"Good kids and good parents get involved in sports and they say and do things they might never do in other situations," he noted.

Keeping up with the big boys

Pressure in sports is not new to states like Texas, California, and Florida which have always been the go-to states for college recruiters looking to nab the best talent in the country. What makes them the best has always been their ability to produce a number of different players who are able to play college sports. The way they groom them, through great coaching and enhanced competition has always been the secret recipe.

But that isn't the only reason.

Part of making it through high school and into another level of athletic competition is the exposure athletes get. There can be great athletes that don't have the luxuries of exposure and often times they become a feel good story about a kid who came out of nowhere.

While Utah is still not to the level that these bigger states are, it is moving quite steadily in that direction.

"The state is growing at a rapid pace, new schools are being created and the amount of talent is increasing," explained American Fork head football coach Davis Knight.

Knight, who is in his 41st year at American Fork, has seen the evolution that has taken place throughout the state that's population has grown by nearly one million people since 1990.

Of course the increasing population brings more talent to the state and teams are becoming more and more competitive as the time goes by.

"Now we have teams that are reaching out and playing programs from other states," Knight said. "Like us, we went and played one of the best teams in the country, Mater Dei in California."

In fact, Utah high schools played 33 games against teams from California, Nevada, Colorado, Hawaii, Wyoming, Georgia and Alaska in 2007. In those 33 games the Utah teams boasted a 21-14 record combined.

Turning heads

As Utah continues to improve the level of competition within its amateur athletics, so has the coverage it receives from media outlets in the area.

Just ten years ago student athletes would be happy to see their game in a box score of the morning paper. Now, the games can be seen, heard or read about, almost as much as the colleges that line the state.

"Since I arrived here in Utah, I think the local media market has recognized the importance of covering (high school sports)," TV and radio personality Alema Harrington said. "And it is worth it because it wouldn't be covered if it wasn't a high quality product."

Two major sports radio stations broadcasted a football 'game of the week' on their airwaves, while newspapers beefed up coverage throughout the state to feed the interested communities.

The latest was the increased television coverage throughout this past football season. Park City TV continued to offer their games with a tape delay, as did Comcast through their On Demand service, but KJZZ TV broadcasted a live game weekly, something unique to the market.

While the media coverage is oftentimes positive in nature, the attention could bring out the egos of those affected by the coverage and cause unneeded problems.

"I don't think it can be helped," Harrington said. "Good things are being magnified and bad things are going to be magnified as well. The positive of the coverage is that before, some of those things might have floated under the radar but at least now they can be addressed."

Easing the burden

The coverage prep athletes receive has brought to light the problems seen over this past football season. While the state has recognized that these challenges exist, the amount of help to solve them doesn't appear to be as extensive as the many debates heard on talk radio.

Besides a handbook, clinics and several suspensions, the governing authority has not been able to completely control the consequences of enhanced competition.

One step has been in addressing the growing area of drug and alcohol abuse amongst athletes. Whether it is performance-enhancing drugs, which are popping up in all levels of sports because of increased pressure to succeed. Or even recreational drugs athletes use as a means to relax and escape, the problem is unavoidable.

"We know alcohol and drug abuse is high nationwide, Utah's numbers are high and Granite District matches both of those numbers," said Martin Bates, interim assistant superintendent of Granite School District's program services. "The grant is set up to help kids with this."

Granite just recently announced the $1.2 million grant they were awarded to help educate students about the problems with drugs abuse. Part of the program will go to drug test athletes for four different drug-types in an affordable and non-invasive manner.

"We see this as a piece to help athletes, who we believe are the pace setters in our schools," Bates said. "It gives them an opportunity and a reason to not do these things. It is really a crutch and support to help with peer pressure."

The program would discipline those who tested positive for drugs and alcohol, but would allow those who came forward on their own to receive the help they need without being removed from their teams.

This program is a way to keep everyone grounded as the competition leads to desires of being the biggest, fastest and strongest.

Make it fun

The increased attention and dedication towards these sports could cause the overall goals to be forgotten.

The danger of taking the fun out of amateur sports is what it could lead to in the future. For Mike Knight, a former Murray High School lineman that went on to play college football at Southern Utah University, it isn't the wins and losses that have made him the person he is today.

"We won some games but those are not the things I remember from playing football," he said. "I remember going out with my teammates and just being with them. Football has taught me hard work and it's given me a lot, but it is the people that I have met that I will always remember."

If wins and losses continue to be the most important thing in high school sports, we may see more of what we have seen this past season, and less of the development high school kids could partake in.

"I understand why sports are taken serious, but they are becoming so cutthroat," Knight said. "I just think if we take all the fun out of them you will miss out on all the experiences that make them special."