No Substitute for Victory
Last week the DMPS announced it would petition the state athletic governing bodies to study the possibility re-classifying schools in a manner which would take into account factors other than enrollment. The argument is that socio-economic factors have created an uneven environment for athletic competition. Cited as evidence was head to head football games over the last ten years between metro and suburban schools. During this time the suburban schools have won 92 consecutive games by an average score of 51 to 10.
Ouch.
“Ouch” doesn’t begin to tell the full story of vastly increased likelihood of injury when football teams are badly mismatched as well as the humiliation which occurs during these beatdowns.
Something definitely needs to be done to rectify this situation.
While football provides the most glaring and physically painful examples of an uneven playing field. Other sports programs, both boys and girls, suffer from similar disparities. Tragically, the achievement gap seen in athletic endeavors is also evidenced in the classroom. Just peruse the most recent Iowa School Performance Profiles to see how we stack up:
Again, Ouch!
We are sending out into the world children, that is to say graduates, who are ill-prepared for the competitive demands of life in the 21st century. Rather than shielding ourselves from this reality with quick fixes like lowering the bar of expectations, we need better approach.
We need to teach our students how to win.
By this, our children need to be pushed to achieve at the highest possible level every day and in every way from the first day of kindergarten to the last day of 12th grade. Our schools need to set the highest possible standards and begin holding people accountable. High standards should include not just performance benchmarks but also attitudes and behaviors. Accountability should extend not just to students but also every staff member and all parents/guardians. Accountability should also rest, to a degree, with the community as a whole. It does in fact take a village to raise a child and we all should be alarmed, even embarrassed when our children do not reach their full potential.
If excellence is the expectation, we will get it. The vital goal of equity will also be obtained, only at a much higher level than what we are currently seeing.
In addition to heightened expectations, the district could take the following steps to facilitate success in interscholastic competition:
*Begin organized sports programs in 7th grade rather than waiting until 8th grade.
*Identify talent early then develop positive relationships with student and parents in order to reduce the number of athletes who get cherry-picked by non-Metro schools. Likewise, the district should vigilantly prevent this from happening between Metro schools.
*Create direct lines of communication, command, and control between each sport’s head coach and the feeder programs within their attendance boundaries. Along with this, make sure our pitifully underpaid and overworked feeder program coaches are recognized and supported for their prodigious work on behalf of our youth.
*See to it that every sport has access to a well-trained strength and conditioning coach and that the coach is working in an adequately equipped facility. When these conditions are in place, make strength and conditioning a requirement rather than a suggestion. Once our young athletes have their motors running at high speed, we need implement nutrition programs to make sure they are putting sufficient high quality fuel into their bodies.
*Form alliances with private and public entities which provide appropriate youth sports programs at an affordable cost to families. Along with this, make all district facilities readily available for use by these organizations.
*Make it much less cumbersome for coaches and building administrators to form booster clubs which can help with financial demands inherent to athletic success.
*While programs are developing towards state-level competitiveness, regular season contests against appropriate competition can be scheduled. It makes more sense to alter CIML scheduling procedures than IHSAA/IGHSAU classifications.
Sports certainly are not war, but General MacArthur was on to something when he proclaimed “There is no substitute for victory.” Winning starts with an attitude, but so does losing. A losing attitude, in part, begins with a belief that one cannot win. Our kids desperately need administrators, teacher, coaches, and parents who believe they can win at the highest levels.
Our Metro students can be Winners in the Game of Life. They just need to be shown how and given every tool at our disposal to make it happen both in the classroom and in extracurricular activities.
Comments
Post a Comment