Practical Ways HS Athletic Directors Can Promote Participation in Athletics and Activities in Our Communities [NIAAA]

By: Kevin Bryant, CMAA and John Gray, CAA

Participation in high school athletics is on the decline for the first time in 30 years. If we want to stem this tide, we must do several things. We must begin by taking seriously our responsibility to live out educational-based athletics in practical ways.

We often talk about this topic like we are all on the same page and heads all bob up and down in agreement. However, we lack the will, understanding, and thoughtfulness to make sure it happens. We must be intentional in our approach. We can discuss high school athletics as another "classroom," as a "co-curricular enterprise" but high school athletics will be just that only is if IT TRULY IS!

Saying something does not make it so. We need to be direct and practical to parents and student-athletes as to our "guarantee" of what this "educational-based" athletic program will give them.

There are several reasons for this downturn in interscholastic athletic participation including: too much of a commitment is required to participate; students are used to short-term commitments and immediate rewards; preparing for tryouts, weightlifting and running; summer league and out-of-season workouts are not activities that draw people to commitment anymore.

The overreliance on technology has given many young people a dependence on quick answers-point and click action does not lend itself to preparation, physical challenge, and patience. Fun is missing from participation in sport. Students are not finding enjoyment and meaning in participation. It has become a chore and lacks personal connection to this powerful medium of sport.

Some students do not participate because they are afraid of failure. Trying something new, unfamiliar, and challenging makes it easier to let those opportunities slide by, or to withdraw from them when they become too difficult.

Many teenagers today have crazy lives and often have a family that is in crisis, members are missing, or they are just plain busy. Students are working for college savings, for car payments, taking care of siblings after school or getting their first two years of college done while completing their high school degrees.

The traditional high school athletic environment does not appeal to them when other important life stuff is going on around them. Some do not participate any longer because they are tired of coaches "chewing them out all the time."

The adults coaching them have not connected with them on a personal level and as a result, the sport experience has taken on less meaning. They are officially burned out on sport. Current estimates are that 70% of students end their playing careers by age 13.

Overly ambitious parent expectations and constant pushing have led others to opt out of what they consider the athletic rat race. Some continue playing, but for AAU/Club teams whose standards of expected on and off field behavior, academic expectations, and lack of school commitment are winning the day.

Some lack the purpose, passion, energy, and joy of playing with their classmates on a school team. Whatever the reason or motivation for a disconnect, students are deciding to forgo participation in record numbers.

Before taking the text above too seriously and shutting down high school athletics around the United States, we must rebound by seeing the glass as half full and focus on why more high school students have chosen to participate at this point than at any time in the history of high school sport.

Fun is the reason most often given by students for participating in sport in the high school environment. Fun consists of being with friends; fun representing their school and fun during the competition, challenge and improvement needed to be their best.

Friends is clearly the 2nd most important reason that students give for their participation. Relationships and making memories that last a lifetime is also a critical element of a successful high school athletic experience.

A passionate love of the game is another reason that students participate in high school sport. The joy of playing the game, a perfect pass off a fast break for a lay-in, the turning of a double play, an overhead put away off a lob in tennis doubles, a perfect spiral for a touchdown, and a match winning spike in volleyball all bring joy to the participants as well as those watching.

Competition was originally a concept that centered around each person giving their best to make the person they were competing against give their very best. This is a prime value of high school sport, the challenge to be your best and bring that out in those you compete against.

If there were ever a time when we needed to challenge our students to be involved in something bigger than themselves, high school sports can come to the rescue. Our students are asked to consider others equal to themselves, give themselves up for their teammates, sacrifice and be involved in something bigger than themselves.

There is a life lesson that makes a lifetime impact. Every teenager needs an adult, not just a parent, who believes in them, connects with them and truly loves them and wants their best. High school coaches and teachers do this every day which is why students stay in sport, which, in turn, is a powerful recruiting tool for those considering taking part.

As was shared with athletic directors at the 2019 NIAAA/NFHS national conference in Baltimore, Maryland, there are several ways in which athletic directors can impact student participation in their school and community.

1. Our stated philosophy must be more than just a dry statement on paper. It must be life to those participating. I work out early in the morning most days and without fail on the way to the gym I hear a PSA for high school athletics at 4:30 am. It celebrates high school sport as an "extension of the classroom," as "co-curricular" as "educationally-based athletics." We all pat ourselves on the back as if just by participating, these things automatically happen. Please hear this loud and clear: they only happen, if they truly happen. Intentional outcomes related to our philosophy are critical to make sure our athletes take away something specific from their participation, other than technique and tactics. If high school athletics is "another classroom" as we so claim, then what is the curriculum for this class? What is being taught intentionally and how do we know if the instruction is having its intended impact? When our words match our actions, we will attract more students to participate, as our passion and impact will match up. This is one of the key ways we differentiate ourselves from ever encroaching club sports.
2. We must involve others. We cannot be successful attempting this on our own. As athletic directors we certainly have a unique place and perspective around athletics in our community. However, the "lone ranger" approach to attracting students to participate will most likely be an abysmal failure; not for lack of passion, interest or care, but because we are about a community supporting this overall program. We need help. Parents of our athletes, community members, booster club members, faculty, student-athletes, youth coaches, middle school coaches, administrators, interested alumni – all must be engaged to help design and carry out an athletic program that truly is a community undertaking. We stoked this fire in Redmond, Oregon by developing a program we called the "Ideal Athletic Program." We met monthly for a year, with all the above represented, answering the question "What does the ideal athletic program look like in the Redmond School District?" We developed a mission statement, and a 3 to 5-year operational strategic plan from this work together as we answered the question about the ideal athletic program in our community.
3. We need to start with our youth programs across all the entire sports offerings in our community. Without a single-minded focus by our high school head coaches around our youth programs, we will never have the number, interest or skills needed to truly have a successful high school athletic program. If we wait to connect with our athletes as ninth graders, then we will be in a very tough situation. Habits form in middle school and often the die can be cast by this time and not allow us to connect with students in our community around our programs. We are currently working on a Youth Sports Summit program in Redmond, Oregon as we have now met three times with youth sports coaches, head coaches and interested community members around our athletic program in total. It has been enlightening, challenging and life giving to get all of us in the same room sharing our concerns, victories and desire to grow our programs together.
4. We need to have answers for those in our community that take shots at our athletic program, coaches, or the truth. We need to be wise in how we answer our critics in our community. Recently I read a quote by the Dali Lama that said "A smart person knows what to say. A wise person knows whether to say it or not." We hear many messages in our community from so many places. It is impossible to track all of them down, but when we are in the presence of one, we have the right and responsibility to respond when the information is inaccurate. For instance, if you heard someway falsely say about the safety of football "Did you know the average age of the first concussion from playing football is 11 years old?" We have a right to counter this with correct information. We have kids who have stopped participating because what others might see as "truth" has led them away from the athletic program, even if the information is not true. We need to make sure we seize the opportunity to correct misperceptions. Failure to do so in a sense equals agreement with those in the community that act as if their "opinion" is a well-known fact. We cannot answer every critic, but we need to be aware that false information impacts participation in our community.
5. If you aim at nothing you hit it every time! Be bold enough to have a goal around participation at your school. Set a realistic number for participants you want to have overall in your program, in specific sports and even the number of teams you desire. Have a goal about the return rate you want from those that are participating this year. As we all know, our best advertisement for our programs are those student-athletes who can't wait to return from the previous year. Have a goal to know every youth coach's name in your area. The quote says "You have not because you ask not." We need to be clear about what we are trying to do and why. Be mindful of our participants, and their current experiences will result in their return and the opportunity to bring their friends with them. There is nothing like a satisfied customer to help grow our offerings and impact.
6. We must retain our current participants. If our area youth programs are critical to our long-term success, returning those that currently participate is job 1A. And that is not just athletes. We need boosters, parents, head coaches and assistant coaches, game management workers, ticket sellers and takers, and announcers; all who have an impact on the program in our community to return. Experienced, gifted, caring people are a beacon for those who see the program as vital, enjoyable, passionate and relevant in our community. We will keep people in our program when they are valued, when our talk matches our walk and when fun and relationships are not forced but are a natural part of what we get to do together each day.
7. Is our program transformational or transactional? This relates to our overall mission and vision for why we do what we do. Winning is great and all, but will never replace actual authentic empathy, concern, connection, impact and lifelong involvement. This is not to explain away losing or poor coaching of technique and tactic. There is no excuse for this approach, just like there is no excuse to be a coach who is more concerned about winning to feed their own ego vs. connecting sport to excellence inside and outside of the arena. This might consist of a welcoming, warm and authentic approach to students to participate. It is not forced or contrived, but a want that our coaches must truly impact student-athletes both on the scoreboard and in the life of each individual athlete. If we do this each day, we will be creating the type of environment where we will have to find more space and coaches to coach more kids, which is so attractive. In his book InsideOut Coaching, author Joe Ehrmann encourages coaches to honestly reflect on the following four questions: (1) Why do I coach? (2) Why do I coach the way I do? (3) What is like to be coached by me? (4) How do I define success?
8.  We must get creative. We are losing kids to devices and individualistic participation. Social and physical fitness is on the back burner. We must get creative to win kids back to the fold. We must "itch where kids are scratching." Ideas abound and the best way to find out what kids want is to ask them. Our fastest growing sports in our country are playground sports we learned during recess which now foster adult recreational leagues (kickball, dodgeball, pickleball, lacrosse). Kids have left sport to head toward things that adults are not leading (longboarding, skiing, fishing, rodeo). If we are to win kids back and grow sports in our country, we might need to redefine mainstream. In Washington state, there is a fall slow pitch softball league vs. fast pitch in the spring to give girls only more exposure. In the winter Washington also offers a girls' bowling state championship. Several girls each year receive NCAA scholarships for bowling. Several states have flag football for girls and there is a movement afoot to develop boys' volleyball more fully. In Oregon there is a committee, the Ad Hoc Football committee, which is meeting regularly working their best to try and figure out how to grow the game of football. Oregon will have a girls' state wrestling championship this year for the first time ever. And colleges around the U.S. are now offering scholarships to students who are expert in electronic gaming. Schools compete against each other. Some state associations are in the process of moving ahead with these same opportunities. We must be creative in finding ways to meet the needs of our students if we are to grow our sports programming. And to do this, we can best start by asking our students directly for their interests.
9. Participants must be acknowledged. If we want our participants to return, we must genuinely celebrate their accomplishments. In the Redmond School District we meet with all sports at the end of each season to celebrate all our league athletes together and our all academic athletes, as well as any special team accomplishments (league champions, state academic team placers, state placers, individual state placers/champions). Sometimes there is resentment from some coaches who want to do their own thing, which is understandable, but defeats the bigger purpose of our program. To have 40-60 kids on stage who are all-league and/or all-academic is a significant statement to our athletes, parents, and community about the breadth of what we value in our athletic program. We then split by sport for individual and team awards. Our coaches are asked to avoid telling embarrassing stories, being sarcastic or any other communication that might end our season on a bad note. By creating community around our celebrations and by finding something positive to say about every athlete, we create an environment where the return of each athlete to the sport or the next sport is more possible.

If we want to grow our athletic programs, we must commit ourselves to learning, as painful as that reality might be. Are we teachable? Do we want the best for our student-athletes? The previous mentioned ideas are not magic, but they contain some truth for holding on to our current athletes and attracting new participants. As coaches and athletic directors, our best efforts to involve students to participate will result in lifetime impact and lives changed. Let us renew ourselves in giving our best to see this take place!!