By Justin Blades
Sports have always played a significant role in American culture, serving as a key source of entertainment and passion for many. Besides the obvious fun and physical benefits, sports inspire kids to strive to be their best selves and it teaches them important values such as cooperation and respect. According to ESPN, approximately 21.5 million kids participated in competitive sports in the year 2013. For decades, schools have incorporated sports into their programs in order to promote the mental and physical growth of their students, to massive success. However, not all schools and institutions share the benefits of sports to the same extent. At LREI, there are a number of interests and extracurricular activities such as chorus, play productions, and ensembles that are held in high regard, yet sports have always been omitted from this list. The way that LREI approaches sports as an institution ultimately negates the potential benefits of sports and is counterproductive to the success and growth of students.
Students seeking answers for the issues of the sports program often hear the same rebuttals over and over again. Supporters of LREI sports argue that even though the LREI sports program may not be the highest quality, we have reached high participation levels relative to our population. Even if the participants aren’t at the highest level athletically, they will still experience the benefits of sports to some degree. Along with this, competition has never really been a part of the LREI identity due to our progressive approach to success. Progressive values are the very foundation of LREI and they are applied whenever possible, academically and otherwise. Our commitment to these values stems from the appreciation of exploration and the promotion of individual growth, leading many to the question: why should we stray from our values now? As an institution, LREI is not ignorant to the issues of the sports program and we have actually made significant progress froward, as seen with the recent unprecedented successes of teams like varsity soccer, track, and more.
Although there are a fairly high number of participants in the athletics program, the quality of the program is the issue. Students who consider themselves to be more serious athletes find themselves disgruntled in regards to the competition, organization, equipment, and coaching that the school has to offer. While progressive thinking can be beneficial academically, a progressive mentality can be detrimental in sports. Due to LREI’s principles, our teams remain minimally competitive because of the “everyone plays” and no cut philosophies, which value participation over skill level. Despite the fact that progressive values can be beneficial in regards to nurturing growth, critical thinking, and curiosity within classrooms, progressive values do not translate to creating successful sports team. This means that when opposing teams see LREI on their schedule they assume victory before games have even started, depriving our teams of school and team spirit. Along with this, many student athletes find that LREI lacks the facilities to create competitive teams. With the only true athletic space being the Thompson Street Gym, teams do not have the proper space or enough time to practice because of gym traffic. When teams actually are able to practice, they often find disorganization in regards to timing, equipment, and permits, especially for teams that do not practice at the Thompson Street Gym.
While LREI advocates for student engagement with the world around them and participation, this can detract from the level of commitment and dedication to our sports teams. While participation levels in our sports program is fairly high, however, many kids choose to be on teams simply to fulfill PE requirements rather than commit real time and effort. The numbers of kids may have increased but that does not necessarily correlate with increased engagement and benefit from the sports program. Additionally, even though competition is not the LREI way, shielding kids from competition is not beneficial either. Sports are intended to provide kids with important tools to be successful adults in the real world, where competition is undoubtedly prevalent.
By distorting the intentions and purpose of sports, LREI’s sports culture has a perverse effect on the student body. Instead of being taught skills of determination, perseverance, and hard work through sport, students practice disengagement and perhaps the most damaging quality: entitlement. Considering that a number of kids do not put in effort in practice but still find themselves playing in games because of our participation-based philosophy, kids grow accustomed to receiving things they don’t work for, directly contrasting the original intentions of LREI’s progressive values. In order to reverse this trend, we as a school need to reevaluate the presence of progressive values in our athletic program. Once we begin to take sports more seriously we can begin to address the organization, equipment, space, and coaching that is necessary to drive a successful sports program. According to the LREI sports program description, “the goal of the sports program is to encourage lifelong pursuits in physical activities and sports and to provide students with skills they will use well into adulthood.” While this is an admirable goal, the shortcomings of our sports program must be addressed in order to ensure the fulfillment of the goal and the growth of our students.