Artisteer

Athletics Policy

“Geneva CSD Sports Philosophy – Extreme Make-over Needed.”

Introduction/Background

Ever since our family switched over from home-schooling to joining the GSD, my wife and I have become even more acute observers of the institution we call “public education” and in particular the Geneva School District as our local reflection of this system.

Recently, as a result of numerous interactions with soccer in Geneva and the associations and connections that resulted with the GSD, I have come to understand that there is no coherent sports philosophy being practiced at the school district. There may be an over arching school mission that may have some sports implications, but whether these are followed or clear to those responsible for the sports programs is at best debatable.

A more accurate reflection of the sports philosophy in the GSD is that it is typically established on a team-by-team basis, each coach making their own decisions about how they work with kids, and rarely do school officials get together and discuss an overarching principle among themselves much less with the community they serve.

Below you will find two narratives about opposing or different sports philosophies. The first is my understanding of how it works now. And, based on my discussions with other parents, this approach applies to more than just soccer.

School District Evidence...

1. At the meeting with the GSD (this past Septemeber) regarding the resuscitation of the boys varsity program under Dennis Johnson, the prevailing attitude of the representatives of the school district (Mike Simon, Dave Whitcomb, and Bob Young) were the following:

a. We want to field competitive teams in all sports that we play

b. Low winning percentage teams have less fun than competitive teams

c. Teams measure their satisfaction with the game by how many goals, runs, touchdowns, etc… they make.

d. Teams such as soccer that don’t score a lot of goals are really not fun if they don’t score goals

e. Teams need to have 17-18 players who are committed

f. Teams with 13 or 14 players risk having more injuries

g. Somewhere between modified and JV the school district begins making transitions from an emphasis on participation to one of making player cuts based on fielding only skillful players.

h. We are not going to spend our time chasing kids around town to play on our sports teams. Kids and their parents need to keep commitments they make to their teams.

i. The school district cannot chase kids around who don’t respond to district announcements and communications.

2. Mike Simon comments at the GSD Meeting with Varsity Boys parents.

If 28 students sign up in (May 2008) indicating an interest in the GSD’s fall soccer program, then it is up to them to show up to practice and follow-through on their commitments.

o (By a show of hands, about half of parents in the room did not get a communication sent out by the GSD during the summer.)

"The school district never dropped the ball. Ken Camera was in my office and we discussed the position and how I recruit new teachers/coaches. We were in full communication.... if there was a disconnect, it was at the GSC Board level... and not with the GSD...”

Authority/Hierarchy Model (current model in operation)

Kids participate in sports starting at the 10U level. Coaching/teaching centers on two activities - character development (how to play with and get along with teammates) and skills development. In the early years, there is an emphasis on participation. The idea is to promote/expose the sports team experience and helping kids develop their talent.

As kids move through modified and arrive at the JV level, gradually, the participation goal evolves into an authority model.

· It is assumes that kids have learned their team and character responsibilities.

o Kids need to be responsible... be on time, communicate, don’t miss practice, stay focused, be completely serious about their sport, and limit the interference from other interests...

· Skills in the sport become the criteria on which kids stay on the team. The practice of cutting kids is introduced at the JV level.

By the time kids reach the JV level, character requirements are a necessary but not sufficient condition stay on the team. Kids who can’t meet the character requirements are immediately exposed to being cut from the team. Sometimes JV and almost always at the Varsity levels, if kids can’t satisfy skill requirements, then they will be cut from our teams as well. Try-outs are conducted and kids that can’t make it lose their chance to play for a whole season.

Soccer Example this Season: GHS girls had roughly 44-46 players participate in tryouts one week in late August. At the end of the week, ~17 players were taken for the Varsity and ~18 players were taken for the JVs. At least, seven players were cut from the JVs and half went home in tears.

As part of the letdown, kids were told “...We want you to continue your soccer careers and keep playing, but we have to make difficult choices. Remember Michael Jordan was cut from his tenth grade team and we all know the end of that story....”

The JV girls played their last game of the season (this year) with 4 kids on the bench.

Participation/Inclusion Model (Proposed Sports Philosophy)

Participation throughout all sports levels is a goal. We aspire to help everyone enjoy/learn the sports team experience and help kids develop their innate talents.

Responsibility/accountability guidelines are not ignored. On the contrary, they are promoted and projected as necessary conditions for getting playing time. At the modified and JV levels, kids must satisfy these requirements to get playing time. At the modified level the goal is to give everyone playing time, because the view is that at this early stage exposing kids to team play will encourage longer-term commitments. Character problems are negatively reinforced. Positive character and behavior traits are promoted. Kids are given a chance to screw up and coached toward positive behavior through both modeling and encouragement.

At the JV level, the player must satisfy good character and responsibility in order to get playing time. Players will be introduced to the concept of different player roles... based on skill level and other intangibles such as leadership. Some players have skill levels that make them what is called in the biz “impact players.” These players are to a great extent relied on to “carry the ball” and as a result will play a lot. Other players on the team will still get some playing time, but will begin to appreciate the difference in skill levels that exist on a team. Encouragement and hope and integration of all team members will be the operative guideline as the concept of roles and skills are discussed with all team members.

At the varsity level, in addition to character, the skill guideline is applied to determine playing time. Exclusion from a varsity team is not pre-ordained if your skill level is not up to the norm of the team or league. Playing time at the varsity level is limited because the coach is going to play skilled players more than others. Players with less developed skills are encouraged to stay with the game, continue to develop, and shown that their participation is important to the overall success of the team through practices, scrimmages, and substitutions when starters are tired/injured. This role is developed and presented to players. Non-starters are made to understand that they are needed for all kinds of important roles - besides subbing for injured players and supply knowledgeable bodies for full scrimmages during practice, the subs are vital as encouragement and support for the players who are playing more often. Most of all, these subs or taxi squad (for lack of a better word) must remain on the team because nowhere are they going to be inspired or motivated more to improve their skills and make the starting line-up than as part of the team.

Coaches make these guidelines clear to each and every kid on the team. Players with high skills know when they are sitting on the bench they haven’t satisfied character requirements. Players who don’t have the best skills know they are sitting on the bench because their skills haven’t progressed enough.

Disruptive or non-team behavior is always grounds for removal from the team as it is for the Authoritarian model.

College examples this Season:

Fall participation stats for 3D colleges...

a. Hamilton College men, when they played at Hobart in Geneva had 36 dressed players

b. Skidmore brought 28 dressed players

c. Hobart dresses 25 players and rarely plays more than 16 players in a game.

The Participation/Inclusion Model is in line with our academic philosophy. If kids miss classes, are late to class, or are disruptive to the others, they are disciplined. Under normal circumstances, they are made aware of their responsibilities and are held to these standards. They are only removed when there are serious character flaws/issues/problems that cannot be solved by normal remedies. How could kids learn the character/student requirements if they were kicked out of academic classes for being late, etc...? Kids are also not kicked out of class for less than stellar academic performance. Some even blossom later in their academic careers if we don’t give up on them or find some way to exclude them.

Exclusion and differentiation is an unfortunate fact of life. A sports philosophy based on the Participation Model will surely ease the transition to the adult world better than the Authority model. In addition, it is entirely likely that the Participation Model has a much better chance to yield unexpected positive surprises in cases of kids who where shown the handwriting on the wall and were given the tools and constructive guidance to do something about it.

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