Not Good Enough

January 1, 2016

Good is never good enough.

When Frank Lloyd Wright was asked to choose his best project, he replied – in his 80s – “My next one.”

As we turn the page from 2015 to 2016, we are content that 2015 was a good year when several large, even transformative projects were initiated and some completed.

But 2016 must be better. The challenges to educational athletics will be tougher, and the needs for serving and supporting school sports will be greater.

Good will not be good enough in 2016. Our next year must be our best year.

Risky Business

May 19, 2015

At a time when efforts to promote student-athlete health and safety are more obviously than ever at the top of our daily to-do list, it may seem ill-advised to suggest that kids need more danger in their lives. But they do! And that’s the point of 50 Dangerous Things (You Should Let Your Children Do) by Penguin Books.

From mastering the perfect somersault (#3) to melting glass (#47), and from climbing a tree (#28) to walking home from school (#18), authors Gever Tulley and Julie Spiegler demonstrate two obvious but often overlooked points: (1) that most of us learn by doing; and (2) that a sterile, bubble-wrapped world teaches us less than one in which we are allowed to play with fire (#45).

After-school sports and activities provide safe and supervised danger. A place to learn new skills, meet different people, perform under pressure and test one’s limits. A supervised place to engage in life before going out in the less supervised real world.