Within High School Sport Programs, Young People Learn the Values Associated with Discipline

Within high school sport programs, young people learn the values associated with discipline, performing under stress, teamwork, sacrifice, commitment, effort, accountability, citizenship, sportsmanship, confidence, leadership and organizational skills, participating within rules, physical well-being and healthy lifestyles, striving towards excellence, and many other characteristics that come quickly to the mind of any educator. If interscholastic athletics are to be justified as school activities, then values such as these must be the priorities of every program. Ethics, playing within the spirit of the rules, and good sportsmanship (which is good citizenship) must be woven into the fabric of the high school athletic program.

In the education of 65% of the young people attending MIAA member schools, athletic participation is a critical component. What should drive those responsible for student-athletes and their programs is the educational mission of school activities. For many students, the most stable environment in their lives is that provided by high school activity programs. Often the best opportunities for crisis intervention, drug prevention, "day care" programs, and the like are school activity programs. The cost is minimal, while the worth is maximal.

While winning contests, rather than losing them, is a laudable goal, it should not supersede the primary priorities of high school sport programs. What should be the rationale behind high school activities is preparing students to succeed rather than merely to win games. Win or lose, students should learn lessons of a lasting and positive nature.

If the success of any high school athletic program is measured by an undefeated season, then 99% of the thousands of high school teams, which participate annually in Massachusetts, have failed. If a league championship is the measure of success, then 85% of our programs are failures. Even if success is measured merely by qualification for MIAA end-of-season tournaments, 50% of our students are "losers."

What should be encouraged is participation in varied activities under different teacher/coach role models. The percentage of student-athletes who complete their formal athletic experiences at the high school level is overwhelming (well in excess of 90%). Schools should focus their attention upon goals other than championships or the development of "blue chip" athletes. Young people need varied activities: time at the beach, time to study and, in fact, time just to be kids.

Young people need to learn, to think, and simply to grow up. Schools should guide them, through athletics, to allow that to happen as comfortably as possibly.

On this page, I think there should be a personalized contact every year from someone at the MIAA. It could be from one of the people on staff, or it could just be from the tournament director that year. They can touch on what a great year it was, and what a joy it is to see the kids succeed. They should also detail their expectations of the fans as spectators, explaining that they should have fun but do so within certain guidelines. Etc.

The 2007 MIAA Sportsmanship Essay Winner

is a video presentation by Megan Roy of ShrewsburyHigh School

This video presentation can be viewed at the following link:

Below is the first place essay from an earlier year:

______

The Role of Parents in Sportsmanship

By Matthew Baron

MonsonHigh School

A child’s parents are the most influential role models in life. Although superstar athletes and pop stars may adorn the bedroom walls of the next generation, their influence is dwarfed in comparison to that of the people that have worked to build those walls, buy those posters, and heat that room. The values instilled during youth are the parameters that define character, and that character is the basis for life, athletic or otherwise. The character of an individual determines whom one admires, what one believes, and how one handles himself. Parents are the roots from which their children grow, for better or for worse.

The way in which children are raised establishes their view of competition. If growing up they are bombarded with questions relating to how many points they scored, if coach played them enough, or the fairness of the referee, it establishes one type of sportsman. On the other hand, if they are greeted with questions associated with their enjoyment of the game, the quality of their opponent, or if any of their teammates will be coming over for dinner, it cultivates a very different kind of sportsman. While the latter will tend to view sports as a happy social medium with the additional enjoyment of competition, the other will tend to feel pressure to outperform his opponents and teammates alike, and depart with memories

consumed by the final values on the scoreboard.

This outlook on priorities may be the single most defining characteristic among athletes. Most readily witnessed at the conclusion of a game, it can be seen in who stamps off pouting to the showers in self-loathing or who sticks around to get to know the rivals and discuss the universal disdain for sloppy joes and mystery meat. Competition is often intense and makes sport what it is, but one must be able to funnel that intensity into performance as opposed to cheap shots, and know when and how to shut it off. It is the coach’s job to get his team to play to the apex of their potential, but all too often this coach has a dozen or more unofficial assistants. In the middle of homework and in between bites at the breakfast table are not the time or the place for coaching. The responsibility of a parent is to make sure that the place sports held in their child’s heart growing up continues to maintain its residence throughout high school and beyond. No little kid picks up a wiffleball bat because he feels the need to put in a hard day’s work.

Although words of encouragement and lectures on priorities can get a child on the right track, they are worth nothing without example. The hypocritical nature of some parents in the stands is not only counterproductive, but also embarrassing. Whether it is a parent’s inability to control their emotions or their need to live vicariously through their children, everything they’ve taught can be thrown away with a single obscene gesture or slip of the tongue. A parent can’t ask more of a child than they can expect from themselves and they must expect a lot of themselves when it comes to sportsmanship, the backbone and

greatness of high school athletics.

Sport and Year

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(Record Here) (Record here)

Sport and Year

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(Record Here) (Record here)

Sport and Year

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(Record Here) (Record here)

The purpose of the Association shall be to organize, regulate, and promote interscholastic athletics for secondary schools of Massachusetts. In pursuing this commitment the Association shall:

1. Provide leadership and service designed to improve interschool relations in athletics.

1. Foster cooperation among voluntary institutional members and the Massachusetts Secondary School Administrators' Association, Massachusetts Department of Education, Massachusetts Association of School Committees, Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, Massachusetts Secondary School Athletic Directors' Association, Coaches, Game Officials, and with other professional organizations interested in attaining common goals.

1. Secure uniform regulations and control of interscholastic participation in athletics throughout the state to provide equitable competition for students as an integral part of the education of secondary school students.

1. Promote safety and health of participants in interscholastic athletics.

1. Provide leadership that ensures interscholastic athletics are conducted within reasonable bounds, encouraging all that is honorable and sportsmanlike.

1. Provide a forum for concerns related to interscholastic athletics for institutions that are voluntary members of the Association.

1. Develop uniform standards and procedures for determining championships at the end of the season.

MIAA Insert Sport Here Sectional + State Finals

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MIAA Insert Sport Here Sectional + State Finals

Division Number

MIAA Insert Sport Here Sectional + State Finals

Division Number

A SPECIAL THANKS
TO ALL OUR

HIGH SCHOOL COACHES AND GAME OFFICIALS

“Information, quotes, link, or whatever the organization wishes to promote in the program.”

-author of the information

“Game officials can be role models for our student-athletes. Your efforts provide opportunities to “make a difference”. Please help to promote the personal, positive growth of student-athletes as they are developing into good citizens and productive adults.”

-MIAA Handbook

Please visit the MIAA website for more information about our coaches and game officials:

Leadership for Middle School Girls
Insert a date for a workshop here

Leadership Workshop

for High School Girls

Date for Workshop
at the MIAA Office

Massachusetts Celebration of

National Girls and Women in Sport Day

Insert specific day
at Specific location

THE SECTION FOR
STUDENT-ATHLETESAND PARENTS

Information compiled to assist student-athletes and their families.

• Who is the MIAA?

• Sports/Tournaments

• Information to Consider

• Student Services Initiatives

• Rules / Regulations

• Communication

• Student/Parent Eligibility Check List

Tournament Website

News Releases

MIAA Rulebook

MemberSchool Lookup

Monthly Calendar

Open Dates

Tournament Information

Coaches Education/ Vacancies

Game Officials’ Information

Health and Safety Information

Directions

Helpful Links