The Importance Of A Middle School Athletic Competition

college level, the hiring of coaches is a key responsibility for athletic directors that can be subject

Some schools with strong sporting traditions reinforce participation in sport. The sports that students are encouraged to participate in can depend on the school’s history and traditions, the facilities and equipment available, and the expertise of the teachers.

To be a college coach you have to be very dedicated and love the sport you are coaching. Being a college coach is very time consuming and a very hard job to land in the sports world. The competition that one faces when trying to get into the job field is fierce. This means that the job as a coach in the collegiate athletic career field is limited to a small percentage of the people that end up applying. These people need to be able to fulfill a variety of duties for their universities, and because of this it is important that anyone who is thinking of applying knows the difficulty that comes with the job (Greenwald, 2010).

Today’s youth is our society’s future, which is why it is important to keep them safe and out of harm’s way. Children and teens who get into trouble are more likely to continue doing so as they reach adulthood. It is important to give children an alternative extra-curricular activity than hanging out with their friends unsupervised with peer pressure all around them. Sports can be a great way to help these children improve their lives.

Within the Athletics Department there were several changes that occurred in the last 4-5 years. There were significant changes for athletics at the high school and middle school elementary level. Some of the changes were good and justified, but not everyone was accustomed or willing to adapt.

“To this day, after being in this business … the best day on a college campus is graduation, When I see kids I had a relationship with … graduating, you feel like you had a part in that.” David Williams, Athletic Director of Vanderbilt Athletics. Being around sports my whole life and now currently coaching a basketball team, I have encountered a few athletic directors and their supporting cast, which in a high school, it’s the principal and the administration staff. In some circumstance, especially from most coaches’ point of view, it is always about the result of the team and how good the players are. For some athletic directors, it is the same, but at the school I coach, it is also about

“The idea that school sports should be about something more than just winning” Summary and Respond

To begin with, these sports can teach your kids to learn more. To play they must make a certain grade (Usually a D or above). If they get in too much trouble they will be kicked off the team or will not even get chosen to be on the team. Middle school teams will make you have good grades.

Children are often encouraged to take part in extracurricular activities from a young age. This is discussed in a 2012 New York Times article by Matt Richtel entitled “The Competing Views on Competition.” ““Kids have a shallow understanding of competition,” Dr. Shields said. “They know the word ‘win’ is used out there.” (Richtel, 2012). What happens in many of these team-oriented activities, however, is that the children are pushed solely to win. As a result, more and more children participate in these activities with increasing focus on being the last one standing. Mark Cinelli explores this idea in his “Competition Can Be a Positive Experience for Kids.” “Unfortunately, many adults still have this attitude and are passing it on to children at a high expense.  The top reasons young athletes participate in sports are to have fun, make friends and stay in shape.

Sports programs have been an integral part of all schools. They support the academics of the school and therefore foster success in life. These programs are educational and help produce productive citizenship. They help students experience and build skills that may help them in their future, like interpersonal and time management skills. Education may kindle the light of knowledge, but sports help to maintain the proper physique. Sports are also an important means of entertainment and a use for energy after long hours of study. Sports increase a student’s performance not only in the classroom but also in their life.

When I was participating in high school interviews last year, the interviewer always wanted to know which sports I played. The school interviewer knew I was a student at Hillside; a boarding school in Marlborough that housed male students from grades 5-9. Hillside is one of the well known middle school boarding institutions in New England and is known for having one of the best athletics programs in Massachusetts. Every time I was asked, I’d just shrug it off and tell them the truth: I’m not a real student athlete… Unless you count skiing and sailing as athletic activities. Like all the student athletes, I was in a demographic of kids who tried their hardest in both academics and athletics. During my time at Hillside, I went through all the hardships that the serious athletes went through by trying to balance the two subjects. Some kids blamed their grades on teachers that did not explain concepts well. Others turned to the lack of study material for answers. The only thing that we all agreed on, as a community, was that pushing the start and end times back an hour was the worst decision that an athletically focused school like ours could make.

Although some may believe that high school student athletes who do poorly in their academic courses should still be able to participate in athletic programs, I do not agree. It allows students who are capable of performing well in the classroom environment to feel as if it is not necessary to do so, for most athletes, high school sports will be as far as they will go, and furthermore the idea that sports are an extra-curricular rather than a privilege has been lost.

When I participated in high school interviews last year, the interviewer always wanted to know which sports I played. The school interviewer knew I was a student at Hillside; a boarding school in Marlborough that housed male students from grades 5-9. Hillside is one of the well known middle school boarding institutions in New England and is known for having one of the best athletics programs in Massachusetts. Every time I was asked, I’d just shrug it off and tell them the truth: I’m not a real student athlete… Unless you count skiing and sailing as athletic activities. Like all the student athletes, I was in a demographic of kids who worked their hardest to succeed in both academics and athletics. During my time at Hillside, I went through all the hardships that the serious athletes went through by trying to balance the two subjects. Some kids blamed their grades on teachers that did not explain concepts well. Others turned to the lack of study material for answers. The only thing that we all agreed on, as a community, was that pushing the start and end times back an hour was the worst decision that an athletically focused school like ours could make.

Sports that have a designated winner and loser builds character in real life. However, some cases have shown that it causes emotional damage because it puts too much pressure on athletes. I believe all youth sports need a winner. Losing prepares athletes for the real world issues, and a winning team is more likely to be noticed by college scouts. Believe me, students dream of playing college ball. If sports don’t have a winner, or if sports don’t give back in any way, shape, or form, then what’s the point in playing at all?

In this scenario you have a coach who is the pride and joy of the community and a principal who is faced with a difficult decision. As a sort of figurehead of the high school, the coach has a longstanding positive relationship with many members in the community. High school sports programs are often integral part of rural communities, as is demonstrated in this scenario. Mr. Bradley has not only been the basketball coach for the past 15 years, but in this role he has secured donations that have been used to make major improvements to the athletic program. The community support of the coach is a critical issue in this scenario because the principal must take into consideration the reactions of the community based on the decision that is made related to Coach Bradley’s future. If the decision is made to terminate the coach, the principal could face backlash from the community resulting in fewer donations as well as lack of support for other school initiatives.