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Parent Problem

October 29, 2013

For years when I have paused in presentations to ask coaches and school administrators to identify the biggest problems we have in school sports, two problems are far most frequently mentioned:

  • Too little money; and
  • Too many misdirected parents.

Other problems are cited; but far and away, the most frequently mentioned problems are under-funding of programs and over-involvement of parents.

In many aspects of the lives of youth, there is too little parent involvement and direction; but such is not the case in most places when it comes to sports. “Helicopter parents” not only hover, they also seek to rescue their children from the very situations – adversity – that sports uses to teach life lessons.

Parents have no role in decisions regarding playing time and game plans. Should parents ever believe that their child has been put at risk in a sports program, there are prompt and appropriate ways to address those situations, directly and with discretion, not gossip and guile.

And the job description of school administrators today must include the staunch defense of the jobs our committed coaches are doing.

No Place They Would Rather Be

April 24, 2018

Seven years ago, the Michigan High School Athletic Association and its Student Advisory Council began the MHSAA’s trademarked “Battle of the Fans.” That was 2012.

Buchanan High School has been a contestant five times, a finalist four times and the winner twice ... in 2013 and again this year.

Many of us complain of all that competes for attention of students and spectators. But at Buchanan, the culture is different. And it’s not an accident. Being involved in school and attending school events is the thing to do. By design.

Starting with a few individuals with vision and energy, student engagement has become the norm. Middle school students saw this in 2013. They were invited to be a part of it then; and now they are leading the effort at Buchanan High School.

At Buchanan, attending athletic events is the thing to do – and not just boys sports or winter sports. To attend events, to cheer loudly and to actually think and talk about what good sportsmanship looks like has become a year-round thing.

Buchanan High School and the other two finalists for 2018, Boyne City High School and Petoskey High School – and all the BOTF applicants, are helping to define and defend educational athletics.

View Buchanan’s application video for the 2018 Battle of the Fans