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Software Development

August 8, 2014

In his book The Sports Gene, author David Epstein causes the reader to think about athletic performance as software more than hardware; and I believe this is even more important for us to consider in educational athletics.
In school sports, at least in most situations, we still believe that opportunity is for everybody, regardless of gene pool or body type. High school sports teams often have an eclectic mix-and-match look that defies each sport’s stereotype on other levels.
In school sports, coaches don’t select and sculpt the body type as much as welcome what comes to them and work to develop skills to overcome inherent shortcomings.
In school sports, we focus on the software more than the hardware on other levels as well.

We are concerned with character development more than physical development, on principles more than physiques. It’s the operating system we focus on, much more than the hardware.

We also judge success differently – more on intangibles than tangibles, more on heart and mind than trophies and medals.

    Not Acting Like Grownups

    December 26, 2015

    Take a look at Fox Sports Detroit today, the second of two days replaying the 2015 MHSAA 11-Player Football Finals at Ford Field.

    What I’d like you to see – what I’m most proud of – is the behavior of the players.

    Score a touchdown? Then hand the ball to the official, without any childish end zone dancing.

    Sack the quarterback? Then head back to the huddle, without any ridiculous pointing and prancing.

    So different from the professional game.

    But sadly, some of that bad behavior is settling to the college level; and sometimes, there’s even a hint of it in our high school games.

    But for now, the players behaving most maturely are the youngest, and behaving least maturely are the oldest.