Sports & Education

Now, to start things off I’m a little upset and frustrated at this quote that was obtained from Cam Newton after the Auburn Tigers beat my Oregon Ducks in the BCS Title game. So if this seems a little off topic and sort of a rant, I want to apologize.

“I don’t want nobody to feel sorry for me, because throughout this year didn’t nobody feel sorry for Auburn,” Newton said, setting a BCS record for double negatives in a single sentence. “We got the last laugh.”

From an ESPN Article Here.

The issue that I have with this is that Americans have gotten to a point where playing a sport has taken over from the Academic side of being a student-athlete. Please make a note that STUDENT comes first which means (to me) that you need to earn the right as a STUDENT to perform as an athlete at a higher level. This is also reinforced in the NFHS Coaches Certification that is required for non-Teaching coaches.

Now, I know that I’m a first year coach and that I may not have all of the tips, techniques and other skills necessary, but I do know that in our swimming program we don’t tolerate individuals who slack off in the following aspects.

1. Discipline: Our athletes are required to respect the coaching staff AND each other. While also having enough common sense to know when something has gone/is going awry.
2. Academics: The school and the IHSAA hold our Student-Athletes accountable to have at least a 2.0GPA and passing a minimum of 5 classes to participate in sports. We encourage a 3.0, anything less you need to seek tutoring.
3. Training: We hold our students accountable to not miss any training time due to the limited amount of time we are allowed to keep Student-Athletes. Any missed training time is a violation of the team contract and has to be made up.

Now, I know that these types of things seem like common sense, but it makes for better athletes and better students. If we, as coaches, can hold our athletes accountable for withholding these simple things, we can also plan on them for holding themselves accountable later in life.

Note: The below conversation is one that I had with a football coach at a local Indianapolis high school. Recognizable information has been removed.

As always, feel free to express your opinions, whether they are similar or different. Everyone is welcome here.

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