Karen Brown, Director

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A Call to Action on Behalf of Maines
Student-Athletes
Karen Brown, Director Maine Center for Sport and
Coaching University of Maine
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• The University of Maine initiative provides
  schools and
• communities with a comprehensive approach
  and the
• resources to confront troubling trends in
  youth and
• interscholastic sports head-on.

• The Sports Done Right initiative is designed to
  re-infuse
• core values into youth and interscholastic
  sports programs
• through community based action in order to
  re-engage our
• youth in positive, collaborative and active
  play.

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University of Maines Response

• Sports Done Right A Call to Action on Behalf of
  Maines Student-Athletes was funded by a
  Department of Education allocation and released
  in January 2005.
• Sports Done Right provides, for the first time
• Core principles and supporting practices -
  guidelines - for improving sports programs to
  ensure positive experiences that keep youth
  engaged.
• A specific process for developing local standards
  of quality sports programs that encourage a
  culture of communication and consistency
  throughout the community.
• Sample policy to bring about and sustain positive
  change and to ensure developmentally appropriate
  opportunities for all who wish to participate.

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• The Maine Center for Sport and Coaching (MCSC)
  oversees the Sports Done Right initiative.
• The MCSC has targeted
• All student-athletes
• Maines 470 middle schools and high schools
• Maines youth sports organizations

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Philosophy, Values and Sportsmanship

• Core Principle Athletic participation must be
  healthful, positive and safe for everyone
  involved, conducted in an environment that
  teaches values and ethics, strengthens the
  community, promotes competition without conflict
  and enriches the lives of the athletes.
• Sample Core Practice Players learn the value of
  competition without conflict and how to handle
  success with grace and failure with dignity. The
  spirit of improvement and excellence replaces a
  win at all costs mentality.

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Philosophy, Values and Sportsmanship

• A call for consistency
• A values-based philosophy established as policy

• Competition without conflict
• Handle success with grace and failure with dignity

• A need for student involvement

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Sports and Learning

• Core Principle Learning and personal growth form
  the foundation for interscholastic and intramural
  sports.
• Sample Core Practice A quality sports program is
  learning-based with a philosophy that puts the
  needs of the student-athlete first. Providing
  such learning-based programs is the
  responsibility of the school boards,
  administrators, coaches, teachers and parents.

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Sports and Learning

• Learning-based sports programs
• Preparation for life rather than for limited
  opportunities

• Great coaching is great teaching. -
  Tim Whitehead, Head Coach, Mens Ice Hockey,
  UMaine

• Its about striking a balance

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Parents and Community

• Core Principle Parents and community are
  actively involved in creating and supporting an
  environment that fosters positive athletic
  experiences for student-athletes.
• Sample Core Practice (Parents) Parents give
  consistent encouragement and support to their
  children regardless of the degree of success, the
  level of skill or time on the field.
• Sample Core Practice (Community) Spectators,
  including the student body, show good
  sportsmanship by saluting fine performances,
  demonstrating respect for all coaches, officials
  and players, and by refraining from antagonistic
  behavior intended to interfere with the athletes
  performance.

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Parents and Community

• Stress the importance of respect

• Leave coaching to coaches
• Avoid putting pressure on their children about
  playing time and performance

• Spectators salute fine performances
• Refrain from antagonistic behavior intended to
  interfere with the athletes performance

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The Quality of Coaching

• Core Principle The coach is the key to making
  the student-athlete experience appropriate,
  positive and educational.
• Sample Core Practice A coach must master the
  fundamentals of the game and continue to learn,
  using professional development and mentor
  relationships. The learning goes beyond
  techniques and strategies to include teaching of
  ethics and sportsmanship and effective
  communication with parents and the public.

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The Quality of Coaching

• Different approaches for different individuals
• The role of age, gender, culture and development

• Connecting sports and academic learning

• Opportunities for professional development
• Learning goes beyond the techniques and
  strategies to include the teaching of ethics and
  sportsmanship and effective communication

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Opportunity to Play

• Core Principle Each student who meets the
  eligibility standards has the opportunity to
  participate and learn through sports.
• Sample Core Practice Schools, in cooperation
  with their communities, support alternative
  programs for students who are cut from or do not
  choose to try out for interscholastic teams.
  These programs emphasize increased opportunity
  for participation.

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Opportunity to Play

• Alternative programs community partnerships
• Increase opportunities for participation

• Interscholastic Intramural

• Pay - to - play polices
• A socio-economic barrier to participation

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Health and Fitness

• Core Principle Participation in sports builds
  self-confidence while teaching good health and
  fitness habits to last a lifetime.
• Sample Core Practice The physical and emotional
  health and safety of students are the primary
  considerations of all athletic programs.

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Health and Fitness

• A need for heightened awareness
• Of students personal, academic, social and
  emotional pressures

• Define seasons limitations
• Limits on practice time take into account the age
  
• and physical and emotional capacities of students

• Promote model habits of good health

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• Those who participate in a variety of sports
• and specialize only after reaching the age of
• puberty tend to be more consistent
• performers, have fewer injuries, and play
• longer than those who specialize early.
• American Academy of Pediatrics

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Leadership, Policy and Organization

• Core Principle High-quality athletic programs
  are built upon a foundation of strong leadership,
  clear policy, adequate resources and effective
  organization.
• Sample Core Practice School authorities ensure
  that middle school and high school coaches,
  whether paid or volunteer, are competent and
  eligible to coach in accordance with any
  standards that may be set by the Maine
  Principals Association or another sports
  oversight group.

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Leadership, Policy and Organization

• Working together to establish standards of
  behavior

• Policy Development Evaluation
• To provide continuous improvement, oversight
  includes
• periodic evaluation of the sports program and of
  adequacy
• of its support

• A call for realistic expectations

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Middle Level Sports

• Exploration rather than specialization
• Strengthening of fundamental skills in a variety
  of activities
• Teamwork and sportsmanship
• Meaningful relationships
• Health and safety
• Resiliency, responsibility, and accountability
• Continuing opportunities to play

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Out of School Sports

• Parents play the key role in assuring that their
  children have balanced, healthy and appropriate
  schedules.
• Program leaders can do their part by
  communicating regularly with one another and by
  coordinating seasons and activities to benefit
  student-athletes.
• Communities should regularly review their
  recreational programs for opportunities to both
  broaden healthy participation and prevent the
  growth of a class system in sports.

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Specific objectives of this program include

• Establish outreach capacity to facilitate local
  conversations, policy adoption, and
  implementation of Sports Done Right core
  principles and practices.
• Develop and distribute tools and Community
  Development Grants to assist school communities
  through the grassroots reform effort.
• Conduct on-going research and evaluation to
  measure the effectiveness and impact of local
  conversations, policy adoption and implementation
  of Sports Done Right.

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Sports Done Right Community Outreach
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Open Forum
www.sportsdonerightmaine.org For More
Information Contact Karen Brown Director,
MCSC karen.brown_at_umit.maine.edu [phone]