At What Point Will We Wake Up In Regard To Youth Sports?

Back in the summer of 1970 I was commissioner, general manager, head coach, and player in my own baseball league in Ames, Iowa, more specifically in University Village north of the Iowa State campus where I lived with my parents and brother when my dad was in graduate school.  I have always wanted to run the show, and I did.  I gathered up the kids living in the apartments during those summer months and I put together a baseball league.  We had kids living in university housing from all over the world and most of them at least knew a little about playing baseball, though a few didn’t have a clue.  Didn’t matter.  They all played.  I drove moms nuts because I insisted that they all bring a white t-shirt (remember, back in 1970 there was no such thing as a colored t-shirt, let along screen printed ones!) over to our apartment and we went nuts with magic markers.  I knew all of the major league teams at the time and what their uniforms looked like and we took those markers and made our own.  I did run into resistance from moms when I decided we were going to have an all-star game and everyone needed new uniforms!  Apparently one white t-shirt marked up to look like a Dodger uniform was enough!  We played every day near the playground area and I kept stats.  By the way, I led the league in every positive category!  Hmmmm.  Perhaps the stat keeper was a little biased!

This is just one of my childhood memories of playing in the sandlot, backyard, or in the park with friends.  We changed sports with the seasons and wore out the knees of our Tuf-Skins.  Other than those homemade t-shirts that served as our jersey, no uniforms, no special shoes, no wristbands, no $300 bats, no private lessons for hitting, no private lessons for pitching.  None of that.  Just a group of kids from the neighborhood playing outside.  We loved it!  We laughed and we cried.  We argued and got really mad!  We called people names.  And once in a while we fought.  We also put an arm around a buddy that had a bad day.  Best of all, there were no adults around!

So how come when I drive around West Union on an incredibly nice summer day, I don’t see any kids anywhere outside?  Correction: one young man riding a bike across the highway.  Oh, there are a lot of reasons that can be listed.  Both parents working and no one to push the kids outside, video games, and the list can go on and on.  But another reason is that the kids don’t have to go outside and play with their friends because adults have taken over and organized their lives so much for them that they already do!  Confusing?  Because adults have become so busy with their lives, both work and personal, they have scheduled their children’s lives to the point where kids don’t know what it is like to gather up their friends and go outside and play ball.  And I would argue that the model we have created for youth sports in this country is broken.  We have imparted adult values on what should be kids games and the ramifications are very negative.

Let’s take a look at some numbers.  Three out of four American families with school-aged kids have at least one playing an organized sport.  However, by the time kids are 15-years old, according to Open Access Journal of Sports Medicine, 80% of those kids have quit playing.  Think about that.  Of those little kids that swim on swim team, play softball and baseball, play basketball, wrestle and play football, by the time they basically start high school, they quit playing sports.  Some kids are sick of playing, as today there seems to be a growing gap between the child’s desire to enjoy the sport and some adult views that youth sports are “mini-versions of win-at-all-costs adult sports.”  I have been involved with youth sports from small-town recreational programs to national elite levels and all one has to do is take a step back and look for a couple of things.  Take a look at the players and then look at the parents.  Who is more intense and engaged in the game emotionally?  Quite often it is the parents.  Where are the negative comments coming from, whether directed toward the officials, coaches, other team, or players?  Nearly every time, it comes from the parents, not the players.  It is almost sad to say, but I have seen parents hauling kids all over the country with the goal of getting their child in front of college coaches or scouts because they want so much for their child to get a college scholarship to play.  Maybe I am a bit callused, but I believe that for many parents it is for their own ego.  Watch the pride that comes across a parent’s face when they talk about the colleges that are “looking at their child.”  Parents love to brag on their kids and what greater level of accomplishment can they share than to say they got a scholarship offer.

What is scary is that for many of those kids that quit playing before they have a high school career, injuries have been a primary reason.  From a 2013 study of 1200 young athletes, those that concentrated on a single sport were 70-93% more likely to be injured than those who played multiple sports.  The single sport focus vs. multiple sport participation issue is one that can be addressed at length, but what these findings basically say is that kid’s bodies are getting worn out at a very young age.  Because we have organized youth sports into this model that works for adults, because some parents are doing everything possible for that elusive college scholarship, and because there are people out there that have recognized that there is a way to make a buck (actually millions) on this youth sports industry, the pawns, err, kids, are getting worn out and tired of playing games at a very young age.  For years our culture has loved the high school hero, but many of those potential heroes are on the sideline doing something different than playing sports.

There is no question America is a sports-obsessed society.  I love sports and am very interested in all aspects of the games we play.  But things are out of whack right now and while many things have improved over time, I am not so sure that this is the case.  Before I end my days on this planet, I hope that one day I will drive by a corner lot or a park and see a dozen kids out there playing ball.  Better yet, they will be arguing over whether one of them was out at first base, and figure out a way to resolve it on their own, without an adult in sight.

What Kind of A Parent Are You?

I am going to let you in on a secret: teachers, principals, and other school employees talk about parents.  Shhhh!  It’s a secret!  However, since the cat it out of the bag I will let you know that a lot of generalizations are made, during times of frustration some pretty negative things are said, and yes, there are often a number of positive conversations about parents as well.  We recognize that parents never talk about teachers or principals so I thought it was important to come clean and let you folks know that we do talk about you.  

I have never been very good with sarcasm, and as I have read and re-read the paragraph above I still wonder if I could have put it better.  However, what I want parents to know is that the relationship we have with you is very important.  Communication is the key, and when we have good communication things generally go much better with your child’s education at our school.  Just like every student is an individual with unique qualities and characteristics, you parents are the same.  There are times we forget that, especially when we make some of those broad-sweeping generalizations like I mentioned above.  We do know that parenting is tough.  Most of us have been through it.  And, we know that people parent differently.  Where we sometimes have difficulty is understanding why some parents deal with their children different than we did with our own.  It is for that reason that I have spent quite a bit of time learning about different parenting styles, trying to figure out how we work with students who have been raised differently than how I was raised, and how I raised my kids.  To that end, I have come across some interesting articles about parenting, and attended a very interesting session at this past year’s NASSP conference about the different ways parents are raising their kids today.  James Pedersen, an individual who has researched parenting styles and written a great deal about them, groups parents into three general categories: Hyper-Parents, Hypo-Parents, and Traditional/Neo-traditional Parents.  

Pedersen says that the biggest difference between parents today and those of days gone by is that today’s parents are “hyper-aware” and want to resolve all of their child’s problems for them.  According to him, this is based on previous generations of child rearing that focused on wanting to raise children to be more sensitive and caring.  That has come with a price because those more caring and compassionate people (us!) are parents now!  Compared to previous generations of parents, we are more aware of what is going on in our children’s lives, are more demanding, and more questioning.  Based on that, here a few types of parents, and perhaps you can identify what kind you are. 

The Hyper-Parents are those that over parent.  They are over-involved in their child’s lives and in many instances there tends to be blurred lines between their own goals for their child and their child’s goal.  They tend to have overly high expectations and attempt to remove obstacles to insure their kid’s success.  Included in this category of parent is the Helicopter Parent, who “hovers over their child, rarely letting them do anything by themselves.”  A more intense form of parent, The Blackhawk not only hovers, but also attempts to shoot down anyone who they believe is in the way of their child’s success.  Two other kinds of hyper-parents are the Curling and Snowplow.  The Curling parent “smooths the ice” for their child, while the Snowplow “blasts through” their child’s obstacles.  Also in this category is the Tiger Mom, where nothing their child does is ever good enough, nor is what anyone connected to their child does.  And, there is the Attachment Parent who refuses to let their child go. 

Hypo-Parents are those that under parent.  One that I found very interesting is the Free-range Parent, and since attending the conference, there has been quite a bit written about these kinds of parents.  In essence, they are the “anti-Helicopter,” “anti-Attachment” parent.  Like free-range chickens, they allow their kids to roam believing that they need to make their own way in life and learn for themselves.  Two examples in the news recently are the parents that were cited for neglect by letting their kids walk to a park by themselves about six blocks from home in an east coast city, and parents who live outside of New York City that allow their kids to visit the city on weekend evenings unaccompanied by adults.  Interesting that neglect is a term used here when these folks believe the best way for their child to grow and learn is out from under the wings of the parent.  We see a number of Best Friend or Karaoke parents, those that want to be the child’s pal or buddy rather than a parent.  And there is the Pussycat Parent that doesn’t want to upset their child and therefore do very little in terms of providing guidance or structure.

The last group is those referred to as the Traditional or Neo-traditional parents.  While the general assumption is that there is a parent at home keeping an eye on the kids as they grow up, there are a variety of different configurations.  The Backbone Parent is not afraid of saying “no” or making difficult decisions.  The Balance Parent insists on having balance in life and works to be sure that their child is not overextended.  The Faithful Parent uses their religious beliefs as a foundation for parenting.  There are a number of parents in our district that would fall under one of these categories, and they tend to be very supportive school and their children’s education.

John O’Sullivan provides a different perspective on parents that has merit as well.  According to him, kids today are pawns in an adult driven, hyper competitive race to the top.  This race takes place in academics and athletics that serves the needs of the adults, but rarely the kids.  According to O’Sullivan, we have a generation of kids that are being pushed to accomplish the dreams of their parents rather than their own, and some of them are actually sacrificing what most of us would consider a normal childhood.  He has a name for this kind of parent as well – The Avatar.  They have assumed the identity of their child and are trying to live out their unlived life through their kids.

As I have learned more about parenting, and looked at the different ways parents make decisions, and the motivation for those decisions, I can put faces on a lot of these different types.  But as I have dug in deeper, I have also done a great deal of self-reflection, and what I have determined in my own case is that I have characteristics of a handful of these types, or have passed through different phases of parenting.  Some of that has been good, and regretfully, some it has not.  The conclusion I have come to is that there needs to be balance and moderation, and perhaps the most damage that has been done to kids is with the extremes.  I look at some of the kids in our hallways and am really concerned about how they are going to make it through life without mom and dad right there with them.  I have wanted to ask a couple of moms if they plan to go to college with their child.  By the same token, we have had kids that have survived in spite of an absence of parenting, and it impresses me the resilience they have shown.  If you see bits of yourself in the short descriptions I have provided, perhaps spend a little bit of time thinking about what you can do better in order to help your child become an independent productive member of our society.  Isn’t that the goal we all have for our kids?

Uncoachable Kids Become . . .

I have seen a couple of different quotes that start with “Uncoachable kids become . . .”  One of them continues . . . “unemployable adults.  Once you are convinced the coach cares, let your kids get used to someone being tough on them.”  The other one is from Fayette alum and head softball coach at the University of Alabama, Patrick Murphy.  His goes like this: “Uncoachable kids become unemployable adults, let your kids get used to someone being tough on them.  It’s life, get over it!”  The message is very similar, and one that I have seen in similar forms a lot lately, and used in arenas other than sports.  I do not believe it is a new concept as I can think back to my playing days and former teammates that I would classify as uncoachable.  And yes, I can think of examples of where they have struggled over the years sustaining meaningful employment and having a happy, successful life.

I could discuss coaching and the approaches that are commonly used today, but my focus with this article is on the other side of the equation: the student.  However, I feel a couple of brief comments need to be said about coaching.  First of all, coaches have changed a lot over the past 30 years, especially at the high school level.  And overall, the abusive strategies that some coaches have employed do not exist anywhere close to the extent they used to.  School leaders have paid a lot more attention and public pressure has forced positive change.  Yet, there are still some very tough coaches out there.  Some that will raise their voice and push kids to their limit.  What I think is important is that there is a difference between tough and abusive, and frankly, tough coaches generally get students to maximize their potential.  The same can be said about teachers and others who work with young people.  Those that are tough more often than not get results.  They might not be liked, but they get results.

So what about these uncoachable kids?  As I stated, this is not a new phenomenon.  However, today there are differences that coaches and teachers must face.  Perhaps the most obvious is that young people today have a strong need to know “why.”  They often question coaches/teachers wanting to know “why.”  When coaching was much more similar to the dictatorial practices of the military, leaders/coaches did not have to respond to “why.”  They demanded conformity and to question was insubordinate.  Today, things have changed in schools and on many athletic fields.  Coaches and teachers get frustrated with this, but it is necessary most of the time.  That said, coaches and teachers are still authority figures, and whether they answer the question or not, in order for the team/group to move forward, they have to conform.  And that is where a lot of problems exist today.  In many instances they don’t conform because they don’t like the “why” or they have opinions/beliefs that are different and insist on following those.  That does not translate well to the work world.  When a boss that owns a company tells you do to something, she does not need to tell you “why.”  They are the boss, and it doesn’t matter “why.”  They are the boss.  If students do not learn to conform when it is necessary or in particular instances – when they are uncoachable – then that is a skill they will be lacking when they move into employment.

Another major factor that has caused change is that some parents have developed stronger opinions on what they believe are in the best interest of their child and insist that they listen to them rather than the coach/teacher.  We have seen basketball players look at their dad in the crowd during a time out when they should be listening to the coach.  Dads often walk behind the bench at softball games and tell their daughters what they should do, even if it contradicts the coach.  Parents have invested quite a bit of money in travel teams and private lessons, and question the abilities of the coach, even at the college level.  Based on that, no one should be surprised that a teenager is difficult to coach when they are hearing a different message at home.  I am well aware of a basketball situation that existed in our school where the student was being coached one way in the gym and told the exact opposite at home each night by Coach Dad.  Obviously they had to go home each night and answer to Coach Dad, which as a result created a lot of tension in the gym at practice and during games when they did not follow the expectations of the coach.  Unless a student is going to work for their parents when they are finished with high school, this kind of behavior is not going to be tolerated on the job site.

Some kids are just stubborn or have a mind of their own.  For whatever reason they have ideas or practices different from their teacher.  Classrooms have gone through a lot of the same changes that coaching has in recent years and are a lot more student-centered than you and I experienced.  That said, there is still an authority structure in the classroom, and if a student doesn’t meet deadlines or doesn’t complete a retake, this reflects a great deal on their habits and perhaps even their belief system.  I don’t believe it is the role of the school to teach responsibility.  That is something that should be done at home, but I can tell you that once they start working, if they are not on time or are unwilling to re-do some of their work, they are not going to stick with that company very long.

We have entered a period in our history where people have access to a great deal of information in a short amount of time.  Students are exposed to more life experiences at a younger age than their parents and teachers, and it is natural that they are going to question things a lot more.  But the reality is that when they enter the job market, they are going to work for individuals who grew up a lot different.  If a young person is not receptive to coaching, if they always think they know a better way, then there are going to be difficult times ahead.  In the athletic arena, parents have to entrust their child to the coach.  The coach is the one that is employed by the district to do a job.  I have not met one that doesn’t want to win games, and to do that they must sometimes make difficult decisions.  The coachable young man will recognize that he can help the team by being a rebounding presence and play inside rather than stay outside shooting 3-pointers.  The uncoachable player will defy the coach, or pout about not getting to fire them up from long range.  As an employer, what person will you hire?

Challenges or Rewards?

There is no question that we have made a number of changes in our school the past couple of years with sharing, grading, Capstone, and others.  Actually, we have made quite a few changes the past five years with the goal of improving our schools so that our students were challenged and better prepared for college and the work world.  It was not that many years ago when it was quite common for the senior year to be quite honestly, laughable, in terms of the course load many students took and attitude of “cruising” through the final year before one had to get serious about college or getting a job.  The result of this was a large percentage of students finding themselves unprepared for the rigors of college and basically wasting a year of learning opportunities.  Heck, some seniors were hardly in school due to low graduation requirements, as well as lax standards for attendance, low expectations, and easily abused entitlements like early release.

At no point have I ever thought school should be like the military, though my mind has wandered from time to time about some of the discipline and procedures they use and how that might transfer to a public school!  (Note: I haven’t viewed it as prison either, and laugh when students say that it is!  I have offered to take students to a prison to visit so that they can compare!)  That said, there is an analogy for what I am discussing.  When our troops face the possibility of entering a conflict they are put through the most challenging, excruciating training that their leaders can put them through to prepare them for what lies ahead.  If they did not prepare them in the most demanding way possible, that would be an injustice if not criminal.  Why would it be any different with education?

There is proof that a demanding high school education serves students well when they go on to college.  I have heard it spoken hundreds of times!  “College math was a breeze due to having Mr. Post teach math at Galva-Holstein.”  “Writing classes in college are easy compared to taking comp from Mrs. Kovarik at NFV.”  “I hated Mrs. Bishop at Chariton, but I smoked chemistry in college because I had her in high school.”  “My four years in Ag at Creston with Mr. Zumbach made four years at Iowa State fly by.”  You see, when students are challenged, and when they sometime have to give more and work harder than even they believe they can, it paves the way for success down the road.

I cringe when students complain about a teacher being too tough.  I really cringe when parents say the same thing!  I question the decisions that are made when a student drops a tough course to take an easier one.  Why would you do that?  This will sound like a commercial, but this country prides itself on the Protestant work ethic, and it was through blood, sweat, and tears that it became great!  And yet, we allow students to back away from challenges and complain that a teacher is too demanding.  Why?  Because we want life to be easy and our children happy?  We adults know that life has challenges and there are going to be setbacks far bigger than getting a low grade, or obstacles tougher to overcome than having to rewrite a paper or staying up late to study for a test.  Yet we want to give our kids a paved road to Easy Street.

We have taken steps in the direction we should be headed, and we are being careful about what we do.  Demanding is different than impossible, and tough is not the same as unreasonable.  Teachers have raised their game to meeting increased expectations, and they continue to grow in terms of how best to teach students.  We continue to seek the best ways to support students.  And, we will continue to eliminate the “easy classes” and develop curriculum so that students have the knowledge, skills, and confidence to succeed at the next step in their life.  Perhaps our greatest challenge is motivation and convincing them that they can excel and achieve, but on that end, the job is bigger than what we can do ourselves.  We need parents to join in this as well, and rather than complaining about something being too hard or too much, help your child prioritize things in their life and put maximum effort into those pursuits that will best prepare them to live life and meet the challenges ahead.

Some Things Your Kids Can Do This Summer

Summer is certainly a time when student, teachers, and even principals need some time to re-charge and prepare for the challenges that will meet us when we return to school in August.  However, while it is important for everyone to get a little rest and relaxation, getting too far away from school isn't necessarily a good idea.  Speaking as a principal, I honestly never get totally away as there are at most five days a summer that I don't do something related to school.  And, most teachers work off and on throughout the summer, taking classes, preparing new instruction, or simply refining some of the things they do.  There are things that students can do as well to keep their brains engaged and to insure that they don't backslide on some of the important things that they have learned.  Here are a few suggestions from Dustin Le in Edudemic that you may want to consider with your own kids!
Ten Creative Ways Students Can Have A Better Summer Break

A Salute to the Class of 2015

The following is the preliminary script for the address given to the graduates of the Class of 2015 at their commencement exercises May 29, 2015 at North Fayette Valley High School.

For the past few months I have tried to articulate in my mind what I wanted to say at graduation about the seniors in the Class of 2015 at North Fayette Valley High School.  Generally it has been easy for my to capsulize a class in a few words, but this year’s group has proven very difficult to sum up.  I have kept searching for that to no avail.  I remarked a year ago about the incredible academic achievement of the Class of 2014 with scores and accomplishments that were mind blowing.  In 2013, I spoke about the incredible pockets of talent and the amazing performances and accomplishments members of the class had over the course of their high school career.  For the Class of 2012 I discussed the potential and my personal curiosity as to where they were all going to end up.  But what about this bunch that sits before me?

Here is what I have come up with:  You are like the middle child.  Now I am going to describe what I mean from a few different perspectives.  You see last year in the first year of NFV, the seniors were the ones that got all of the attention.  First to do this, first to do that, and on and on and on.  They were the ones that had to leave behind their comfort zones in their last year of high school.  They got to make decisions and set the foundation for what was to come.  And the 9^th and 10^th graders – the younger siblings – we weren’t too worried about them because after a couple of years they would be just fine.  Plus, just like moms and dads do, we gave them extra attention to make sure they found their way.  And yes, we worried more about them than we did about you.  Would they find their way around the building?  Would they make friends?  How would they handle a school so big?  What about driving so far so early in the morning? 

And then there were you, the juniors.  Did anyone even notice you were here?  Were you here?  There’s three or four of you that we needed to check on this year to be sure you were who you claimed to be!  A lot of folks couldn’t tell the difference between a D.J. and a J.D.!  In some respects it was kind of like your class was invisible.  Neglected.  The school year ended, the first class of North Fayette Valley graduated and everyone patted themselves on their back about how well Year 1 had gone.  People were feeling pretty good.

And then we started this past school year, and with the older sibling gone and out of the house, the middle child was now ready to come out of his/her shell.  And this is what we found – this group of young men and women – these seniors – had become a strong, unified class of students that supported each other and had worked together to make each other better.   They had developed new friendships and found a lot of common interests.  Most of them have not been caught up getting a lot of individual attention or having the spotlight on them.  They have explored opportunities and have performed at a very high level.   There are some incredible minds in this class.  Some great thinkers.  A lot of this became evident through their Capstone experience.  They raised the bar with the quality of research and presentations they gave.  Many of them attacked the project, like they attack their classes, with the goal of learning.

Like the middle child there is a sense of empathy and a desire to help others.  A few were integral in putting together a program to draw awareness to how many students in our school struggle with mental health issues.  Others have provided much needed and appreciated service to others, such as playing the piano at a nursing home.  Parents are biased, but when I say that there are some really great kids in this class, you can take that coming from someone that wouldn’t say it if he didn’t mean it!  There are some truly nice, caring people that sit before me today, and we all have benefitted from having them build the foundation for our school.

Middle children do succeed, and a research study from the United Kingdom presents evidence that they out do their older and younger siblings.  Over half of the Presidents of our country were a middle-child.  Bill Gates, Peyton Manning, J-Lo, Donald Trump, Abraham Lincoln, David Letterman, Warren Buffett – all middle kids.  There were not great expectations place on this class – typical of the middle child – and perhaps because of this, they blossomed as their own intuition dictated.  They have done their own thing, and it has worked out very well.  We have over around 50 musicians in this class that have performed at the highest level in the state.  We have athletes that have won at the highest level in the state.  We have students that have represented our school extremely well in a number of different ways, making the staff and the community very proud.

The Class of 2015 is the one that has truly defined North Fayette Valley.  They have been instrumental in terms of setting the expectations for future classes.  They have to a large extent defined what it means to be a TigerHawk.  In this year’s class  you can truly see how some of the old traditions have merged and new ones are starting.  You saw a number of photos in the video earlier and rarely did you see one from the past year where students from both districts weren’t in the frame.  Some of these young men and women are going to make a difference in the lives of others in a big way.  There are people in this class with a social conscience who recognize that they have a role in the betterment of our lives.  To them I wish great success and hope that they will not be deterred by limits place upon them by others.  Good luck to all of you!  You have made us proud to be from NFV!

The Grades Game

There are times when we all understand something a little better when we can see it from a different perspective.  Grades are a concept that we all have experienced and have some idea of their meaning.  But like a lot of things experienced in life, they are one of those things that many of us may not truly understand.  What we do know is that they are an important part of what takes place at school, and since they are important, better understanding is imperative.

The reason why our school has focused on grading is because what was being done had strayed far off course from the original intent.  A grade is a symbol for what a student has learned, and in the purest form, is connected to more information that defines what it actually is that the student has learned.  Our move toward standards-based grading is underway, and the steps we have taken are being more refined in our classrooms.  However, it is never too late to go back to the fundamentals, just like a good coach takes a step back in the middle of the season, in order to help people understand the need for, and some of the changes we have made.

As mentioned above, analogies often help with understanding.  We could use any sport, but we will use one I am more familiar with as are many of you: football.  Coaches and athletes spend the majority of their time together out on the practice field just as teachers and student spend hours together in the classroom.  On a given day, the offensive line coach will drill the players on their footwork, making sure that they teach their body the appropriate first step and keeping weight distributed where it needs to be.  In the classroom, the English teacher spends time teaching and reviewing writing mechanics so that the student can write a coherent and correct sentence each and every time she puts something down on paper.  While the coach and athlete participate in an exchange of instruction and practice, the same is done in the classroom.  The linebacker learns to read his keys preparing for the next game and the math student solves problems and draws conclusions.  All of this is part of what we call practice.  The coach evaluates whether his linebackers are taking the right drop on pass coverage and whether they are making progress on reading their keys.  The math teacher checks progress on the homework assignments and worksheets his algebra students have completed.  Progress.  Learning.  Is the athlete/student moving forward?  And, just as the football coach does not give a grade or award a helmet sticker for the player’s efforts during practice, nor should the classroom teacher.   What is learned during football practice has an impact on the game Friday night, but grades are not handed out.  It is preparation for the “final exam” on Friday night.

To find out how well their players have learned and whether they can apply it in a game-like situation, the football coaches have their players scrimmage.  The scrimmage isn’t the real thing, but is simulates what the players are going to see on Friday night.  It is a safe environment where success and failure gives the coach a chance to make corrections they otherwise may have not noticed.  In the classroom these are called quizzes.  A quiz should not define a student’s success or failure, but should provide information about progress to the student and teacher.  Scrimmages are most effective when discussion takes place between coach and player to insure understanding of responsibilities and technique.  The science teacher and student should use the results of the quiz over particles to re-teach concepts that were not understood, or continue reading for more information.  Again, helmet stickers are not passed out after a scrimmage, nor does it make sense to grade the quiz.

Game night is Friday, the final test!  Has all of the work on the field, watching film, reviewing the playbook paid off?  Reviewing the homework, looking over the quizzes, and re-reading the chapters all provide preparation for game time, or in the case of American history, the unit test over the Gilded Age.  Anxiety tends to be a little more pronounced than it was on Wednesday during the scrimmage/class when the linemen/history students were reviewing their assignments.  Games matter.  Tests matter.  Both of these are the opportunities for the student/athlete to show exactly what they can and can’t do, what they know and don’t know.  When done correctly, teaching, practice, and scrimmaging have prepared students/athletes for the test/game.  Practice and scrimmages are essential in preparation for success, but on the football field Friday night, no one really cares about the athletes practice habits or performance in the scrimmage.  The proof is on the field.  The only thing that matters is how they play the game.  While this will sound crass as it is applied to the classroom, whether or not a student does homework, completes a few questions at the end of the chapter, or performed well on a 10-point quiz really doesn’t matter.  Yes, they are important and should be used to help the student prepare for the test.  But, they should not affect the student’s grade.  On Friday night, when that corner back reacts as he was taught to a move the receiver makes and positions himself to intercept the pass, that is what matters.  Not the fact the he missed practice on Tuesday when they practiced the skill and did not do it correctly in the scrimmage on Wednesday.  He did it Friday!  The same can be said about the quarterback who has an outstanding week of practices and looks like Tom Brady in the scrimmage Wednesday.  If he does not handle the pressure and his anxiety on Friday, and throws three interceptions and fumbles the ball twice, he did not “pass the test.”  The history student needs to step up and perform as well.  Chances are, if she has prepared well, learned from the quizzes, and approaches the test with confidence, she will do just fine.