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Keep on Coaching
February 1, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A few weeks ago, I finally got my first chance this season to watch a friend coach his basketball team. After guiding some others at the lower levels, this is his first time running the varsity – something he wasn't sure he wanted to do with a 1-year-old just learning to walk, but a challenge he ended up taking on to the benefit of all those involved.
Simply put, he’s good. I've seen a lot of teams and a lot of coaches over the past 15 years, and although I wouldn't know much of what to do if I were walking the sideline, I felt pretty qualified in telling him I was impressed – even if he didn't buy that I was offering an unbiased opinion. The best news is he’s gone from not sure about this a few months ago to talking about next season.
We know, at least anecdotally, that coaching continues to get more challenging. The time commitment has grown substantially to make running a program a year-round endeavor in a lot of sports at a lot of schools.
That commitment – especially for coaches with children of their own – was a main reason referred to in a New Haven Post-Chronicle story Saturday that noted 23 football coaching openings in Connecticut at one point this offseason. That state has 146 football teams – meaning roughly 15 percent will have new leaders this fall.
And that got me thinking about my friend, about how glad I am he’s given this a shot, and how I've seen so many others either not do so, or not stick around long despite having some pretty nice success.
A study published last winter in Interscholastic Athletic Administration magazine – a product of the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association – noted some predictable results of a study that sought to determine the biggest challenges faced by first-year high school coaches.
The toughest according to the study was balancing the demands of coaching and teaching, experienced by nearly half the respondents – 98 percent of which coached high school teams and 81 percent of which are teachers.
The next six reasons all were noted by at least 30 percent of those in the study – personal fatigue, securing community support, securing and caring for facilities and equipment, parental contact, keeping non-starting players motivated, dealing with schedule interruptions and motivating athletes to achieve consistent, peak performance.
Nothing there is earth-shaking, and most if not all of these challenges are faced by high school coaches regardless of how long they've been in the field. But I got a little more perspective from some of the 32 items that ranked as least challenging to the first-year leaders – keeping in compliance with state and league regulations, dealing with substance abuse issues, teaching sport skills and creating a positive team atmosphere – things that seem most important, and yet appear to be easiest to do. I’m not sure what that tells us – but I think it tells us something.
Click to check out the entire three-page breakdown of the study, plus the researchers’ recommendations to remedy some of what first-year coaches face.
Giving back to Saginaw
I love reading about high-level athletes – like a star-studded group of alums from Saginaw – giving back to where they got their starts.
Pittsburgh Steelers star LaMarr Woodley made a big impact before the start of this school year by donating $60,000 to cover all participation fees for athletes in his former school district. The Saginaw News’ Hugh Bernreuter writes today about how Woodley (Saginaw High), the Philadelphia 76ers’ Jason Richardson (Saginaw Arthur Hill) and former Oakland Raiders standout Stu Schweigert (Saginaw Heritage) have combined to give more than $865,000 back to their home communities.
Bernreuter also mentions the non-monetary contributions of the Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green (Saginaw High) and former Indianapolis Colts receiver Blair White (Saginaw Nouvel).
Click to read more about it.
Quote(s) of the Week
While rifling through more papers on my desk, I found an article from the Washington Post from Sept. 2011 titled “How high school sports save our schools.” I was drawn to it in part because I spent more than a decade in a newsroom, and it was a piece by a reporter covering education who instead of reporting on school boards and the like, delved into the importance of interscholastic athletics to education as a whole.
He spoke of how participation continues to grow even as resources dwindle, and of data supporting that extracurriculars like sports are more effective than academic classes in teaching leadership, teamwork, time management and “other skills crucial for success in the workplace.” Later, he mentioned a study noting that those who participate in extracurriculars earned more a decade later.
Click here to read the entre piece. These passages struck me most.
“Coaches might be the only faculty members still allowed by our culture and educational practice to get tough with students not making the proper effort. They have the advantage of teaching what are essentially elective non-credit courses. They can insist on standards of behavior that classroom teachers often cannot enforce because the stakes of dismissing or letting students drop their courses are too high. …
“Students do better in activities they choose. If we provide more of them, led by committed adults … that can make a difference. We know the bad news about education. Dropout rates are high. Achievement scores are stagnant. But sports participation is going up, despite pressure to cut it back. Let’s cheer about that and look for a way to draw in more students.”
![Hartland’s Addie Frantti (14) and Adams’ Catherine Delikat contend for possession during Friday’s Division 1 Final.](/sites/default/files/2024-06/240614_D1socc_2H.png)
Defense Dazzles as Adams Pulls Away for 1st Finals Victory Since 1999
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
June 14, 2024
EAST LANSING – Rochester Adams tentatively held onto a one-goal lead in the MHSAA Division 1 girls soccer championship match Friday at Michigan State University’s DeMartin Stadium.
The Highlanders had chance after chance to distance themselves from Hartland, which was being stifled by sophomore goalkeeper Lexi Calcamuggio.
Junior Sadie Rogers had one of those chances, and whiffed on a shot. But she did find the net with 4:39 to play, and Adams went on to claim its third Finals championship with a 2-0 victory.
“My only thought was to help the team out as much as possible,’’ said Rogers, a junior. “I knew this season I was more of an assister. I had the chance, so I took it. I was definitely frustrated in the beginning that my chances weren’t going where I wanted them, but I just kept at it.’’
Adams (16-2-2) came into the Final seeking its first Division 1 championship since 1999. The Highlanders also won Class A in 1992, and its two runner-up finishes came during that decade as well.
Hartland (16-4-3) had won Division 1 as recently as 2021, and this spring finished first in the Kensington Lake Activities Association West with a 10-1-3 record while Adams was second in the Oakland Activities Association at 3-2-1.
Both teams missed on early scoring chances Friday until senior Adams Evelyn Kekhoua took a pass from Danielle Danko and scored with 23 minutes, 46 seconds on the clock to give their team a 1-0 lead.
“I felt we exploded after that,’’ said Kekhoua. “It built up the confidence.’’
With trouble getting the ball out of its own end, Hartland had few chances to tie the score during the first half. Early in the second, Calcamuggio made a spectacular save on a shot by Josie Cheyne to keep the Highlanders ahead.
“I’m so proud of our defense. They are like a brick wall out there,’’ said Calcamuggio. “I owe it to them; they did a good job.
“There was one side of the net open, so I knew where (Cheyne) was going. I tried to trust it and put my body against the ball and it hit me. My defense is so good, they kept everyone under wraps.’’
Calcamuggio entered this week with a 0.70 goals-against average and seven shutouts.
Danko also assisted on Rogers’ goal.
“On the first goal I saw Evelyn on my right, and I knew I could get a cross to her and I knew she could put it in. That’s where my target was. She came through,” Danko said. “The second one I drove down the line and cut it back, and Sadie was yelling ‘Danny, Danny.’ I passed it to her and she buried the second one. It gives you the cushion.’’
Said Adams coach Josh Hickey: “Danielle is such a special player.’’
PHOTOS (Top) Hartland’s Addie Frantti (14) and Adams’ Catherine Delikat contend for possession during Friday’s Division 1 Final. (Middle) Highlanders keeper Lexi Calcamuggio boots the ball.