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One Community at a Time

July 24, 2012

In the northwest corner of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula there is a group of volunteers who are focusing on the character-building potential of youth and high school sports.  They are teaching the principles and recognizing the people that make character education happen frequently and by design, rather than only rarely and by accident.

The group is known as Beyond The Scoreboard. It draws on resources from Character Counts, Positive Coaching Alliance and others; and it delivers character education through inexpensive workshops for athletes, coaches, officials, sports leaders and spectators. 

Beyond The Scoreboard also conducts a Champions of Character Awards Dinner, the 8th Annual held June 11, 2012 in Petoskey.  I’ve attended most and was the speaker in 2011.  This year’s speaker was my counterpart with the Arizona Interscholastic Association, Commissioner Harold Slemmer.

At an event like this there are many moments that uplift the best of youth and school sports.  Here are two from this year’s banquet:

  • When East Jordan High School runner Luke Hawley was thanking those who helped him be the kind of person who would be honored as the high school male athlete, he thanked many people, including the maintenance person who prepared the high school track.  I had never before heard a high school student-athlete include a groundskeeper in his support group.  And it told me a lot about this young man.  He’s likely to be a good employee, spouse and parent someday.
  • When a member of the Petoskey High School football team was introducing his coach, Kerry VanOrman, who was being honored as the high school coach, he said the first thing Coach VanOrman would say to every player he greeted was a question about something other than sports; and he would be the same way to every player, no matter how skilled.  He’s coaching more than a sport; he’s coaching kids.  Helping them become better people.

After a single banquet, an attentive person could develop a game plan for character building for an entire season.  Imagine all that’s been shared to improve youth and school sports after eight years!  Congratulations to founder Jack Taylor, Executive Director Ron Goodman and all board members and volunteers.

Membership Mentality

September 16, 2014

The Michigan High School Athletic Association is a membership organization – an association of schools, not individuals – that usually doesn’t think of itself as such. Most member-based organizations work hard to recruit and retain members because member dues are an important revenue source.

That’s not true for the MHSAA which charges no membership dues, no sport sponsorship assessments and no tournament entry fees. The MHSAA is free to join and its tournaments are free to enter.

But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t think like a member-based organization or that none of the dynamics of membership-based organizations apply here.

For example, we are in the business of recruiting and retaining contest officials; and while we registered approximately 10,600 officials last year, that number is significantly lower than six years ago, and the average age is increasing. So, like any other member-based organization, we need strategies for attracting and holding new, young officials.

A new tactic launched this fall is the “Be The Referee” feature (Click Here) on a Lansing-based sports talk daily radio show and weekly television show. Our staff explains rules and points of emphasis, and then we make a pitch for new officials.

But the most fundamental strategy for recruiting and retaining officials is consistent, ceaseless efforts to improve officials’ working environment. This means improving the assigner-official relationship before events and the sportsmanship at events.

Ultimately, if assigners treat new officials unprofessionally and spectators treat them abusively, we have no chance to increase the numbers and decrease the age of MHSAA registered officials.