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Alignment

November 22, 2011

During a question-and-answer period following a speech in 2006 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts spoke about communication, and he did so in terms that are important for us to hear today.  Judge Roberts said in 2006:  “People talk of him (Ronald Reagan) as ‘The Great Communicator.’ He was a great communicator . . . because he communicated great ideas with the sincerity of a deeply felt and abiding belief in those ideas.” 

It was great ideas and great belief in those ideas that generated the great communication.

The Chief Justice continued:  “It’s vitally important to examine ideas that underlie your conduct and actions, and to make sure you’re content with those and then stick with them.”

I firmly believe that the happiest among school sports leadership today, the most content and fulfilled among us, are those whose beliefs and actions are in alignment. They are those people who have examined the ideals of educational athletics, the core values of school sports, and allow them to guide their actions.

Because they believe in the ideals of school sports, they are content in their work, and are able to stick with it and survive it even in these most difficult times.  Difficult times reveal durable leaders, and durable leaders believe in what they’re doing.

Staying the Course

August 7, 2015

During my first days on this job 30 years ago this week, I told the MHSAA staff, interviewers and constituents that from my first week on the job to my last, there would be four fundamental issues which would continuously have our attention. Different problems, trends and fads would come and go; but we would remain faithful to these four topics:

  • Scholarship – meaning scholarship in high school, not athletic scholarships to college; maintaining school sports as a helper to the schools’ academic mission.
  • Sportsmanship – meaning the environment at interscholastic events, shaped by the attitudes and actions of players, coaches and spectators; seeing good sportsmanship as a precursor to good citizenship.
  • Safety – assuring parents that their children not only will be as safe as possible in school sports, but will develop habits that tend to encourage a lifetime of better health.
  • Scope – placing borders around school sports that tend to assure a sane and sensible, student-centered educational experience.

I said in 1986 that these would still be our top topics in 1996, 2006 and 2016; and the “Four S’s” have stood the test of time. In fact, they stand even taller now than three decades ago.

On Monday, the first day of this 30th year, 95 representatives of 70 schools gathered for training to execute one of two pilot programs we have launched for 2015-16 to improve the process of concussion detection at interscholastic practices and contests.

When fall practices begin next week, they will do so with three other health and safety changes.

  • All member schools, grades 7 through 12, must report all suspected concussions at practices and games to the MHSAA, utilizing a web-based reporting system on MHSAA.com.
  • All high school varsity head coaches must have a current certification in CPR.
  • All athletes in all levels of all sports in MHSAA member schools grades 7 through 12 will be provided, without charge to either their families or the schools, concussion care insurance aimed at assuring all students have access to prompt, professional medical care, regardless of family resources.