In keeping with the idea that educational athletics is a string of teachable moments, the Michigan High School Athletic Association has partnered with the National Association for Music Education, and the National Federation of State High School Associations in support of The National Anthem Project. Together, we are encouraging all Americans to learn the words and to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” with pride, while raising awareness for the importance of school music programs.
Some consider the National Anthem to be nothing more than a ritual prior to an athletic event. That attitude is manifested in the distracted look that coaches and athletes display; of fans not removing their hats; of so-called signs of team unity involving the swaying of team members bodies or arms back and forth; of that person who has to get in the first yell during the final line of lyrics, especially when a soloist is performing the song; and of cheering sections which sometimes blare their school’s nickname to replace the word “brave” at the very end of the song.
Worse yet, some coaches prefer that their teams not be involved at all with the playing and the singing of our National Anthem, more concerned with last-minute instructions and their teams getting their game faces on.
Has everyone forgotten what the song represents? Especially in school sports? The privilege of educational athletics was won for us – not just when the lyrics were created during the Revolutionary War, but protected and won for us over and over again in every battle that has followed. I’m proud to be the son of a World War II veteran; to have had another family member serve our country; and shared in the suffering of a high school friend whose father was the last solider killed in Vietnam.
Our thanks to be able to enjoy the privilege of working with young people in sports -- watching young people play sports -- is embodied in words that can never go out of style, as hard as some people try to minimize them; even our own teacher-coaches, who ignore the Anthem or who allow their teams to participate in antics during the playing of the Anthem which smack of poor sportsmanship, gamesmanship and attention getting.
You couldn’t help but be impressed during the Stanley Cup Finals last spring, when the soloist of “Oh Canada” in the games at Edmonton set the tone and let thousands of people proudly sing that country’s anthem. No showmanship. No bodies or arms swinging and swaying. Just a natural outpouring of love of country.
We’d all be better off if our coaches, teams and cheering sections would take the singing of our National Anthem as seriously as the competition that follows it. For without the people who made that song possible, and who continue to make it possible, we would not have the opportunity to enjoy the privilege of educational athletics.
For more information about the National Anthem project, including the lyrics of the Star-Spangeled Banner, visit nationalanthemproject.org.