PositiveSports.net

Study: The Price of Poverty in Big-Time College Sport

A newly released study by National College Players Association (NCPA) and Drexel University Department of Sport Management blames colleges sports scandals on a black market created by unethical and unpractical NCAA restrictions on college athletes. This study will surely have its detractors, but it should give pause to parents and coaches of athletes with aspirations to play Division I college sports. From the press release:

Examining football and basketball teams from Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) colleges, the study calculates athletes' out-of-pocket educational related expenses associated with a "full" scholarship, compares the room and board portion of players' scholarships to the federal poverty line and coaches' and athletic administrators' salaries, and uses NFL and NBA collective bargaining agreements to estimate the fair market value of FBS football and basketball players. The study...shows that the average scholarship shortfall (out-of-pocket expenses) for each "full" scholarship athlete was approximately $3222 per player during the 2010-11 school year. The report also found that the room and board provisions in a full scholarship leave 85% of players living on campus and 86% of players living off campus living below the federal poverty line. The study estimates the fair market value of the average FBS football and basketball player to be $120,048 and $265,027, respectively.

Read the full press release and link to the full study at the NCPA website.

 

Let Kids Play: The Positive Impact of Youth Sports

As youth sports advocates go about the business of generating and sustaining support for youth sports, it helps to have a set of educational resources for funders, sponsors, partners, administrators, coaches, and parents.   This two-page outline from Let Kids Play (a Canadian organization) concisely summarizes key benefits of youth sports.

Download this resource in pdf format...

 

NCAA Study: Half of Division I Athletes Do Not Trust Their Coaches

By Steve Horan

A new NCAA study of college athletes reveals that half or more of Division I athletes in basketball, football, and baseball trust their coaches. According to a summary in USA Today:

• Only 39% of Division I women's basketball players said their head coach "defines success by not only winning, but winning fairly." Also, just 39% said their head coach can be trusted. A little more than a third of the players said they'd prefer to spend less time with their coaches, compared with 21% in all other women's sports and 21% in men's basketball.
• Only half of all Division I men's basketball players said they felt their coaches were as interested in fairness as in winning. In baseball, it was 43%. Football coaches scored highest, a still-modest 57%.The proportion of players who trusted their coaches ran much the same: 50% in men's basketball, 52% in baseball, 56% in football.

These findings raise important questions for athletes, coaches, athletic directors, and parents.  Why is it that so many athletes do not trust their coaches?  Is it mostly a case of youthful misperception of the intentions of caring adults?  Or is it mostly a case of too many coaches being unworthy of trust?  Given the hyper-competitive atmosphere present in so many athletic programs at every level, plus the countless documented cases of cheating and malpractice by coaches, it seems reasonable to conclude that many athletes have good reason not to trust their coaches. 

This is a sad statement about college sports as a field of endeavor which justifies its nonprofit status by teaching sportsmanship and character.  Perhaps this is an opportune time for college presidents to survey their own student-athleteson their level of trust in their coaches - and carefully consider what the results say about the academic mission of their institution.

 

 

 

Award-Winning Boston Globe Series Raises Concerns About Sports Equity

A seven-part series in the Boston Globe about the plight of student-athletes in Boston public schools -- a series that chronicled a pattern of neglect on and off the field and eventually led to action by the city's mayor as well as business and community leaders -- was selected as the inaugural winner of the Award for Excellence in Coverage of Youth Sports, presented by the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.  To quote from the series:

A system that could inspire greater achievement on the field and in the classroom while providing a vital alternative to the hazards of the streets is failing because of inadequacies in funding, facilities, equipment, coaching, oversight, and vision, according to a nine-month review by the Globe.

The series highlighted the often-overlooked issue of sports equity, and the importance of assuring that youth in every community have a chance to participate in youth sports.  The Boston situation should prompt every community to evaluate its investment in youth sports.

Click here to read about the award

Click here to read the award-winning series online

 

Making the Case for Youth Sports Funding

 By Steve Horan, PositiveSports.net

As the economy continues to sputter we are seeing youth sports budgets cut or eliminated in the school and community setting.  We are also seeing youth sports advocates struggle to make the case for sustaining or restoring sports program funding. 

Making the case for youth sports funding in our schools and communities takes more than a passionate belief in the power of sports.  There are scores of other advocates who bring the same passion to their own advocacy for their particular cause.  We have to make the case for sports in terms of the value society receives in return for its investment in sports.  Our case needs to be authentic and not just wishful thinking.

In this ongoing series we present a practical framework for making the case for youth sports funding.  We recommend that every youth sports program can make the case for funding by explicitly:

• Defining the Value of Youth Sports
• Stating What We Teach in Youth Sports
• Demonstrating Performance

These are the topics of the first three articles in the series.

Making the Case (Part 1): Defining the Value of Youth Sports

 By Steve Horan, PositiveSports.net

As the economy continues to sputter we are seeing youth sports budgets cut or eliminated in the school and community setting.  This is the first in a series on making the case for youth sports funding. 

Everyone involved in youth sports thinks the athletic experience is valuable.  But if you ask ten different people to describe that value, you are likely to get ten different answers.  This makes it hard to advocate for youth sports funding in a systematic way.  In this article we suggest a three terms for describing the value of youth sports: Return on Investment, Positive Youth Development, and Community Benefit.

Return on Investment

As a society we invest billions of dollars in interscholastic and community youth sports.  We do this because we expect some value in return for our investment.  What in your opinion is the 'return on investment' society receives in return for its investment in youth sports?  Be ready to state your viewpoint in terms of 'return on investment in sports' when you are advocating for funding.

It is also important to remember that every dollar spent on youth sports is a dollar not spent on something else.  This is the 'opportunity cost' of investing in youth sports versus some other alternative use of funds.  When you are advocating for funding, remember that if the decision maker in front of you is going to say ''yes' to youth sports funding, she is probably going to have to say 'no' to something else.  You need to arm that person with enough information to make that choice in favor of youth sports.

Positive Youth Development

If we were to ask a room full of youth sports advocates why we should invest in youth sports, we would get a variety of answers including 'character building,' 'health promotion,' and many more.  When advocating for youth sports funding, it is important to be able to describe the value of youth sports in clear and concise terms.  At PositiveSports.net we say that sports done well promote positive youth development in terms of school engagement, healthy living, positive character, self direction, teamwork, leadership, and community engagement.  When youth sports programs teach, enforce, affirm, and model these positive life skills, the entire community benefits. 

Community Benefit

The community benefit of youth sports is hard to measure at the individual program level.  But we do know from research that young people engaged in positive sports are more likely to be positively engaged in school, and more likely to resist many (but not all) risk behaviors. There is some research evidence that former athletes are more likely to engage in things like voluntarism and voting when they reach adulthood.  There is also practical evidence that sports bring communities together as people convene to watch sporting events and do the myriad things it takes to support youth sports programs.  Taken together, all of these factors argue for the community benefit of youth sports.

Summary

We can be stronger advocates to the extent we use clear and compelling language in making our case for youth sports funding.  The terms introduced in this article - return on investment, positive youth development, and community benefit - are tested terms which should resonate with those making decisions about youth sports budgets. When you can authentically say that 'Our sports program is worth funding because we deliver a high return on investment in terms of positive youth development and community benefit,' you will not have won the game yet, but you will be taking your best shot.

Thank you for promoting positive youth development through sports!

Making the Case (Part 2): Stating What We Teach

By Steve Horan. PositiveSports.net

As the economy continues to sputter we are seeing youth sports budgets cut or eliminated in the school and community setting.  This is the second in a series on making the case for youth sports funding. 

 

In Part 1 we suggested that we can be stronger advocates for youth sports funding in terms of positive youth development and community benefit. The next step is to define and state the life skills we aim to teach in youth sports.

 

Positive Life Skills

Positive life skills are those skills everyone needs to develop into healthy, ethical, caring, and responsible people.  In the context of youth sports, we have the opportunity to help young athletes learn many different kinds of positive life skills.  In the Positive Youth Sports Model we identify seven life skill sets which we can help young athletes develop through sports.  These are not the only life skills worth teaching to young athletes, but they are a start.  The list includes:

• School Engagement
• Healthy Living
• Positive Character
• Self Direction
• Teamwork
• Leadership
• Community Engagement

Stating the What We Teach

Defining and stating the life skills we teach puts us in better position to make our case for youth sports funding.  For example, we should be able to say:

Our sports program is worth funding because we deliver a high return on investment in terms of positive youth development and community benefit.

School Engagement. We teach our student athletes the importance of making the grade in school by setting academic goals, showing consistent attendance, demonstrating respect, fulfilling all of their assignments, and graduating on time.

Healthy Living.  We teach our student athletes to practice healthy habits of nutrition, training, rest, risk avoidance, and stress management.

Positive Character.  We teach our student athletes the importance of positive character including honor, spirit, courage, perseverance, and resilience.

Self Direction.  We teach our student athletes the importance of self direction including self-motivation, self-initiative, self-discipline, emotional self-restraint, and self-directed learning.

Teamwork. We teach our student athletes positive teamwork including commitment, responsibility, contribution, collaboration, and flexibility.

Leadership.  We teach our student athletes how to become positive leaders leaders by modeling the way, working with others to get things done, inspiring each other when things get tough, promoting team unity, and reaching out to help a teammate in need. 

Community Engagement. We teach our student-athletes the importance of giving back to their community by becoming involved in community service as individuals and as a team.

If we do not feel comfortable or authentic in describing our program in these terms (or similar terms), we are not alone.  It is in the nature of all organizations, not just youth sports programs, that we do not always live up to our aspirations.  You can get started by writing down your own vision of the life skills you aim to teach as a coach or program director.  Then engage your colleagues in a discussion about what you aim to teach as a program.

 

 

Making the Case (Part 3): Demonstrating Performance

By Steve Horan, PositiveSports.net

As the economy continues to sputter we are seeing youth sports budgets cut or eliminated in the school and community setting.  This is the third in a series on making the case for youth sports funding. 

In Part 1 we recommended describing the value of youth sports in terms of positive youth development and community benefit.  In Part 2 we recommended stating the specific life skill sets we aim to teach our athletes. In this article we suggest a simple framework for demonstrating the actual performance of our youth sports programs. This is important for justifying youth sports funding in the face of so many other competing priorities.

If you were asked to demonstrate that your program teaches positive life skills, could you do it?

This is an important question for all of us involved in youth sports.  Many middle school, high school, and competitive club programs have a mission statement expressing an intent to teach sportsmanship, values, character, etc.  This is good.  But let us be candid: Very few programs could provide solid evidence that they are actually delivering on their mission. 

Most of us could relate authentic anecdotes about the good things we try to teach.  But very few of us could quickly demonstrate that we pro-actively and systematically promote positive youth development through our programs.

We need an efficient strategy for demonstrating the value of our programs. We suggest that any youth sports program can reasonably demonstrate its performance by documenting seven indicators of its commitment and action.

1.  Mission.  The program has a mission statement which includes positive youth development and which is distributed to all athletes, parents, and coaches. 

2.  Learning Objectives.  The program has a set of specific life skill learning objectives for participating athletes. 

3. Proactive Coaching. The coaches proactively teach positive life skills to participating athletes in meetings, in practice, and in competition.

4. Coach Support.  The program provides policy support, education, and materials to help coaches instruct their athletes in positive life skills.

5. Parent Engagement.  The program proactively engages parents as partners in promoting positive youth development by distributing educational materials and presenting opportunities for parent education.

6. Community Engagement.  The program proactively engages its community of spectators in promoting positive youth development by setting and enforcing rules for sportsmanship before, during, and after competition.

7. Athlete Evaluation.  The coaches evaluate the athletes on their achievement of selected life skill objectives.  The athletes also evaluate their own attainment of life skill objectives and their experience in receiving life skill instruction through the program.

Of the seven indicators, #7 (Athlete Evaluation) may appear to be the most daunting.  This need not be so.  Keep in mind that most coaches do informally evaluate their athletes on key life skill dimensions such as positive character, self direction, teamwork, and leadership.  This need only be formalized with a simple rating tool and a mid-season or end-of-season conversation with each athlete. Likewise, middle- and high-school age athletes are quite capable of completing self-assessments and delivering honest feedback on the life skill instruction they received.

The deeper challenge is likely to be persuading coaches to invest in defining the positive life skills they aim to teach - and in being accountable for teaching them.  There is always going to be some resistance to the prospect of actually demonstrating performance.  But his is where we find out who we are as youth sports leaders.  Will we give in to the fear of being accountable to our own mission?  Or will we be as courageous as our athletes and push ourselves to the next level of performance?   

If you are ready to begin demonstrating the performance of your program, we developed The Positive Youth Sports Model and its seven life skill sets as one option for getting started.  But every program can certainly develop its own mission and objectives, and we encourage you to do what makes good sense for your athletes. 

Thank you for promoting positive youth development through sports!