It Takes a Village

Earlier this month, IHSAA Assistant Director Todd Tharp and I participated in the “Behavior in Sport Summit” hosted by the National Federation of High Schools, the organization that serves the 51 (including D.C.) state athletic/activities associations.  The summit was part of the NFHS “Bench Bad Behavior Campaign.”  The focus of this summit was how to bring civility back into interscholastic, education-based athletics.  The goal was to share strategies needed to do so.

It saddens me a little that we have changed the words related to the environment at high school sporting events from “sportsmanship” to words like, “civility.”  It shows how far we’ve plunged.

If I could sum up my take-a-ways from the seminar, they would be:

• The problem is fan behavior, and to an extent, coach behavior.
• To solve the problem, it will take a village.

Not exactly revelations.

Let’s first acknowledge that on many game nights, students and adults represent themselves and their communities in exemplary fashion.  Credit to those who make it happen.  The unfortunate reality, however, is at way too many events, people do not. 

When it comes to changing the culture, for too long, we have “dabbled” in benching bad behavior and bringing civility back to high school sports.  And as with many challenges that seem so overwhelming that change is not likely, we shrug our shoulders, put up our hands, and say, “Whattya gonna do?”  Translation – “There’s nothing anyone can do.”  Kudos to the NFHS for refusing to accept that notion. 

So what of this village?  Who will it take to bring sportsmanship back into vogue?  Quite simply, it includes everyone involved in high school sports and specifically, everyone involved in each high school sporting event.  This is not a varsity level problem.  It’s not a JV level problem.  It’s not a freshmen level problem.  It’s an all-level problem.  So it will take everyone at every level to be the solution.  Administrators, coaches, athletes, adult fans (specifically parents), student fans, game officials, P.A. announcers, media personnel, social media personnel, school communications personnel, the staffs of the IHSAA and IGHSAU and the NFHS.  It will take all of us to establish:

• a culture of respect
• expectations for behavior
• accountability for actions

Culture

It all starts with establishing and committing to a culture.  A culture of respect.  Throughout the school and school community.  Throughout every program.  Throughout the entire coaching staff.  Throughout the entire roster of every team.  Throughout the entire fan base.  Quite frankly, I’m growing weary of leaning on the, “If this keeps up, we won’t have officials” approach.  I’ll be the first to say that officials deserve respect and should be commended for the difficult job they do.  But I just don’t see the need to tie anything to the fact that people should behave respectfully.  It should be enough to say people should treat others with respect because it’s the right thing to do.  (And for the record, yes, we are losing officials.)

Expectations

Next comes establishing and communicating expectations for how to conduct ourselves at sporting events.  With a culture of respect, this should be neither difficult nor confrontational.  Fans need to hear from administrators (especially the AD), the coaches, the athletes (and other students), the importance of a positive approach to attending a school’s athletic event.  Coaches need to hear the same message from the same people.  Athletes need to hear from administrators and coaches.  The message needs to be consistent and repetitive.  At back to school nights.  At parent meetings.  At coaches meetings.  During team goal setting.  At student assemblies.  During AD meetings with student leaders (not just student government but also those students who are the student section leaders – those visible students who others look to for how to act.)   Before the event.  During the event.  I’m prone to one liners and the one I tie to the deterioration of sportsmanship is, “We fell asleep at the wheel.”  We stopped focusing on it and now it has become a problem.  The time for, “that’s not my job” is long gone.  It’s everyone’s job.  

Accountability

Once the expectations are established, it’s time for accountability.  Accountability begins with monitoring.  I use the phrase, “antenna up” to frame the approach that’s needed when monitoring is needed.  Be aware.  Anticipate.  It’s difficult to hold people accountable if we don’t know who it was that failed to meet expectations.  It’s sad but the supervisors’ attention needs to be less on the contest and more on the fans.  If expectations have been set and shared with all, then consequences must follow when those expectations are not met.  Remember, a rule, guideline, or policy without consequences is simply a suggestion.  Our fans need to understand that the price of admission does not grant, "carte blanche" to say whatever they want to say.

Yelling at officials.  Yelling at opposing players, coaches, or fans (and sometimes yelling at our own coaches and players).  Ridiculing, trying to embarrass, making vulgar or racist comments toward opposing players, “rubbing it in” (“over-rated”).  It’s all just wrong.  And it’s time for all of us to recognize that and put an end to it.

Sportsmanship is a choice.  It Is also a matter of self-control.  It is the ability to look at something and think to ourselves, “that was a travel” or “that was a foul” without shouting it for everyone to hear.  It is the ability to understand that we are watching a “game.”  It is a respect for the people who are involved with that game.

I am proud to say that the fans at many of our schools have demonstrated respect for officials and opponents.  It is my hope that we continue to work so that “many” becomes “all.”  As I am known to preach frequently, “We either get better or worse; we never stay the same.”  I encourage all of us to keep sportsmanship a priority.  Let’s stay alert at the wheel.  Let’s be the village that raises a generation of respect.

  

Rinse and Repeat

 

 

Those of us involved in education and education-based activities are lucky.  We’re lucky because we get to say (at least figuratively), “Happy New Year!” not once, but twice a year.  For in addition to the traditional January 1 observance of the New Year, we also welcome in the “new year” every August as we begin another “school year.”  So, on behalf of the IHSAA, I extend a heartfelt, “Happy New Year!” to all of you!

 

As we approach our “new year,” I’d encourage us to reflect on how we’ve approached each new school year, and think about how we will approach this new year, this new opportunity to make an impact.  Quite simply, we have a choice.  We can “turn the page,” and do more of the same, or we can change the script (a little or a lot) to adapt to the new challenges that face us (as they do every year).   

 

Although it was many years ago, I remember my first years of teaching as if they happened yesterday.  The trials, the tribulations, the joy of great lessons and students who were engaged, the disappointment of dud lessons and students who were bored.  I also remember my first years of coaching – also filled with trials, tribulations, joy, and disappointment.  What I know now that I didn’t know then was that as much as I cherished the joy, I would learn much more from the trials, tribulations, and disappointment.

 

What I also remember is that I was indeed very, very naïve.  I remember thinking, “If I can just get a few years under my belt, I’ll have all of my lessons developed and can coast.”  When I think of that mindset, it makes me think of, “Rinse and Repeat.”  Just pull out the files full of lessons, objectives, assignments, and tests for each unit and have at it.  It seemed like such an easy formula.  As a coach, I had my list of drills, my schedule, my practice plans, my stat sheets, and my “to do” lists.  Solid stuff that should stand the test of time.

 

What I didn’t count on is that although the “core” of the course may have been constant, the world wasn’t.  And as the world changed, the way students viewed it and tried to adapt to it changed.  If what I was teaching was to be at all relevant, I had to take into consideration those changes.  That meant re-thinking, revising, re-creating, re-writing those same lessons that earlier I had hoped would stand the test of time and save me a lot of work.  Rinse and repeat just wasn’t going to cut it.  My style could be the same, the way I built relationships could be the same, but I had to adapt the content and the lessons, if what I was teaching was ever going to be applied to the “real world.”  And don’t even get me started on technology.  Once the Apple IIe hit our desks and once the world wide web (yes, I am that old) was within reach, teaching took on a whole new dimension.

 

As a coach, I watched the game change before my very eyes.  Faster than I ever imagined.  I watched other coaches develop strategies that my “old ways” would struggle against.  Again, my style and developing relationships could remain somewhat constant.  But quite frankly, if I coached the same way in the last 20 years the way I coached the first five, the teams I coached would have seen very little success.  Those who adapt to change are those who will succeed.

And here we are as administrators and leaders, facing another, “new year.”  With our school calendars.  Our class schedules.  Our activities schedules.  Our agenda for faculty/staff meetings, parent meetings, coach meetings, board meetings, booster club meetings, etc. etc.  With our handbooks and forms.  It’s all so familiar.  There can be a temptation to “rinse and repeat.”  It worked last year, so it should work this year.

 

It takes a forward thinking leader to recognize that what worked last year may not work this year.  Why?  Because this year is not last year.  Our staff may have changed a little (or a lot).  The class of 2023 is well on its way to life after high school.  A wide-eyed (and looking younger every year) group of freshmen will walk the high school halls for the first time.  The change in staff and students will most certainly change the dynamics.  And not only has the staff and student population changed.  The world, again, has changed.  What we must prepare our young people for has changed.  And we are called to help them engage with it, navigate it, and adapt to it.

 

I’ve been told I’m a bit of a change agent.  I don’t know about that but I do know that I’m not a status quo kinda guy.  I am always looking for a better way.  In a very affectionate way, when I was a head coach, it made my assistants shake their heads and chuckle.  Same for all our coaches when I was an activities director.  Ditto for my faculty, staff, and other administrators when I was a principal.  If I attended a conference, clinic, or workshop, or if they knew I was reading a book related to our work, the share with each other the proverbial, “uh-oh,” as they braced for something new to be presented for discussion and possible implementation.   

 

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, “We either get better or worse.  We never stay the same.”  So, if we are ever tempted to “rinse and repeat,” we must recognize we will be failing our students and our schools.  If we choose rinse and repeat, we will be standing still while the world goes by on the “moving sidewalk.”  Consequently, we will be losing ground.

 

Think about the changes you’ve implemented as a leader.  How many of those were a disaster?  How many had zero impact?  How many improved your school, your programs(s)? 

 

Change is hard.  There’s no getting around that.  But the only constant in our world is change.  I encourage all of us to ditch the temptation to, “rinse and repeat.”  It takes courage to lead change.  It takes courage to push back against the status quo, the “We’ve always done it this way,” mentality.  Let’s be courageous.  Let’s lead the way.  Let’s do all we can to create an environment that recognizes our changing world.  Let’s create a culture that is committed to preparing our students for whatever challenges that change presents.  Their future depends on it.

 

 

No More Turning Away

 

If you’ve read any of my posts, you’ve been subjected to more than one trip down memory lane via music of the classic rock variety.  Most classic rock entertains me.  It can also “get me going.”  It is, as some would say, “my jam.”  Yes, even at my age.

 

And then there’s Pink Floyd rock.  Just when I’m having a little fun, just when I’m getting a visceral charge from my rock, here comes Pink Floyd to make me think.  And so it is with a song from their 1987 album, “A Momentary Lapse of Reason.”  That song is, “On the Turning Away.”

 

I remember hearing, “On the Turning Away” one Monday morning while on my two hour drive from Cedar Rapids to our office in Boone.  And as I often do with music, I listened closely to the lyrics and thought about how they might relate to my life.  Where I landed is that Pink Floyd, through their lead singer David Gilmour, was challenging me (and quite frankly all of us) to think about the times we ignore those who need help. I remember thinking that these words were not letting me off the hook.  If the words asked me to avoid hurting others, I could rationalize that, as long as I didn’t intentionally bring harm to others, I was a good guy.  But the music of Pink Floyd was not created to let us off the hook.  It was written to challenge us.  In this case, I heard the words challenge us to rise above indifference and instead truly recognize those in need and work to improve their situation:

 

On the turning away, from the pale and downtrodden.

And the words which we won’t understand. 

Don’t accept that what’s happening is just a case of others’ suffering

Or you’ll find that you’re joining in

The turning away.

 

And so, I reflected on how often and when I’ve been indifferent.  How many times have I been face to face with those in need, those who are struggling, those who suffer, yet I’ve ignored them or their condition?  As a teacher and coach, how many opportunities did I have to engage with students and athletes who just needed someone to acknowledge them?  To take an interest in them?  To talk to them?  Most importantly to listen to them?  As an administrator, how many opportunities did I have to help a teacher, a coach, a staff member?  And what of my community?  When did I engage with the sick, the poor, the suffering.  Reach out to struggling families in the community.  Spend time with them.  Talk to them.  Get to know them.  See them for who they are – human and part of our community.

And here’s where I pose the question, “What does this have to do with us as administrators?”  I am honored this year to serve as the president of the NFHS Board of Directors.  Someone asked me if I have anything in particular I want to focus on.  And here is where the lyrics of Pink Floyd and real world opportunity intersect.  My focus this year is to challenge and collaborate with state associations, school districts, administrators, coaches, and directors to dig deep into the reasons some of our students do not participate in activities their schools offer.  More importantly, once we unpack those factors, I want us to develop meaningful strategies to increase that participation.  Whether the factors are financial, time, language, fear, or any other reason, we simply can’t shrug our shoulders and as those of us from Philly say, “Whattya gonna do?”  And this, my friends, needs to start in Iowa.  With all of us.  It will not be easy.  But nothing worth much has ever been easy.  It will take looking at the man and woman in the mirror and asking, “What can I do?”  It may take a new way of thinking.  It will definitely take a new way of doing things.  We just may have to realize that the “systems” we have in place are serving some of our young people, but not all. 

Every day we have a choice to be better or worse.  We have a choice to go about our business or to truly serve those we lead.  Instead of joining the indifference, let’s work on making a difference.  It all starts with noticing.

 

As I drop the needle on my Pink Floyd album, I am challenged with their simple yet compelling lyrics.

 

No more turning away from the weak and the weary

No more turning away from the coldness inside

Just a world that we all must share

It's not enough just to stand and stare

Is it only a dream that there'll be no more turning away?

 

Only we, those who have what we need and those who have the potential to change circumstances, know the answer.  Let’s resist the “out of sight, out of mind” approach.  Let’s instead build a world where there’s “No more turning away.”