The Athlete’s View - Winter 1998

Jack Hayes, Executive Director
California Interscholastic Federation

I took three years of Greek in high school. While I have only vague recollections of some high school classes and lessons, I do remember clearly translating a phrase which means the soul is deathless.

It was a phrase, uttered by a Greek orator and philosopher, that served as a tenet for a rich, renowned, thriving culture. Maintenance of the spirit of the culture, its soul, was more important to that culture than the more tangible elements of the society—the economic structure or the military structure.

The soul of that culture lives on today. It has served as a foundation for many Western cultures and blends nicely with many Eastern cultures. Its soul rests in the education of children, the continued enrichment of all within the society, and in the maintenance of a strong, ethical base to guide the direction of society.

Sport was a valued part of that culture, part of its soul and spirit. Sport was an integral part of the education of youth, and successful athletes were honored as leaders.

The soul of the culture depended on the full development of humanity—body, mind, and spirit. All elements of humanity were viewed as intertwined, part of the whole, inseparable, and complimentary. Participation in sport was valued not only for the development of the body but for the resulting nurturance of mind and spirit as well.

In American culture, sport became an important element in school programs early in this century. Today, no nation in the world has a stronger scholastic-athletic program. However, the spirit of school sport is in danger. Unless we reaffirm and protect the value and place of sport in the education of youth, we'll suffer a severe wound to the soul of our culture.

What's caused the wound? I offer these culprits:

• Loss of direction and appreciation of the place of sport in the education of youth.
  
  
• Creeping professionalism into amateur and school sports, fostered by corporations seeking elite athletes and programs for brand identity.
  
  
• The image and behavior of the professional athletes, upon whom the media focuses, who don't know, don't appreciate, or willfully damage the value of sport.
  
  
• The desperate perception that the value of school sport lies only in winning or only in the elite youth who represent the two percent who are to be recipients of collegiate athletic scholarships.
  
  
• The behavior of coaches at all levels who display blatant disregard or contempt for the rules of sport, or officials who foster the notion that winning through intimidation is the model for successful coaches.

Can we stop the damage to sport, to the education of our youth, to part of the soul of this society? I believe we can, with some will and some work. At the California Interscholastic Federation, we want to proceed in the following ways over the next months and years:

• We will work with the Associations of School Board members, school administrators, school activity directors and coaches, and teachers to help each group as it redefines the value and place of high school athletics.
  
  
• We will work with the legislature to develop ways to support—not control—the efforts to reaffirm the value of high school athletics.
  
  
• We will continue to train and teach coaches about their role in educating youth.
  
  
• On behalf of high schools around the state, we hope to work with corporations that are interested in the high school market to promote messages that foster what is valuable in high school sports and encourage participation. We will also be forthright about our disdain for messages that distort or detract from the goals and values of high school sports.
  
  
• Through our national organizations, we will continue to work with the NCAA and the major professional sports leagues to establish programs and means to counteract or eliminate the behaviors and attitudes that detract from the value of sport and send damaging images and messages to young people.

We hope to enlist the help and support of all those interested in the preservation and enhancement of high school sports, and all who recognize its value in fostering self-respect, respect for others, leadership, self-discipline, teamwork, success in the classroom, and success in life. We have to encourage participation, not elitism or winning for winning's sake.

We know the role sport can play in enriching the spirit and soul of a culture. I believe that soul is deathless and that all of us have an obligation to define and enrich the influence of that soul, that spirit.

There are more than 520,000 athletes competing in high school sports in California, the largest number ever. We must act now to reinforce and reaffirm the values that should drive our efforts to serve youth and society.