So, having outlined some reasons why school sports may endure in my last post, there are also some realities that lead one to see that there are a number of factors working against school sports right now.
In no particular order, here are some of the challenges that school sports face going forward:
The discussion around concussions and brain injuries seems to be growing all the time. And quickly, the conversations often move to sports that have or are perceived to have high levels of head injuries. Two of these sports are two of the most popular in high school – football and rugby. And to be very fair, both sports are trying to get out in front of the issue and make their games safer. Examples include the Safe Contact Program in Canada that deals with heads-up tackling. The issue of safety is not going away, and there are definitely voices that question whether schools should be active in sports that can be seen to be dangerous.
We have continued to see a decline in teacher coaches in schools. Unlike, our American counterparts, high school coaching is almost exclusively a volunteer experience (there are some Independent Schools that offer a stipend). And over time, there has been a shift from school coaches to community coaches. I have seem some local data that shows the majority of coaches in almost all schools are non-teacher coaches. There is a commonly told story that teacher anger at government and new teachers without the same values as those of previous generations are the culprits. The story seems far more complicated and the real stories don’t make up these myths. This issue seems part of larger shifts in society that see teachers putting on their parenting hats quickly after school and leaving to coach their own children who are now playing more sports and younger ages than ever before. Teachers are also far more likely to be working as tutors or otherwise busy after school.
Also on the topic of coaching, we have moved from volunteers to professional coaches throughout youth sports. Soccer and hockey clubs no longer rely just on willing moms and dads as coaches but have technical directors to lead their clubs. While some coaches are trained and certified in schools the vast majority are willing volunteers looking to connect with kids and support them knowing the power of sports to help connect young people to school and positive peer groups. Somehow these types of coaches are not enough anymore as expertise is now becoming expected in both the community and in schools.
One of the advantages of school sports over community sports has been cost. School sports have been far cheaper alternatives than those in the community. This has been changing. Now school sports are reflective of the total cost of the offerings, and often can be several hundred dollars for a season to cover referee, tournament and other charges. While there are still some very inexpensive sports to run in schools, this has been changing. There are also not the same sources of revenue to support school sports – traditionally some gym rental revenue, or vending machine revenue or monies from other sources could help support school sports – as budgets have got tighter these sources have disappeared. Now, schools, like the community, are having to find ways to ensure all young people have access to sports. And the cost issue does not seem to be going away.
Did you know there are 17 school sports in British Columbia? I am sure you can name the first few quite easily – basketball, volleyball, football. But did you know about curling, tennis and ski and snowboarding? There are some questions of whether there are too many school sports. Again not a simple issue. I have coached some senior boys and girls soccer. Now soccer is done very well in the community but there was something great about having students organize by schools and play using “school values” which are often different from the values promoted in the community. Like UBC saw when they looked at reducing their university Varsity sports, any move to reduce the number of sports would be met with questions of “why us”? It does seem unwieldy to try to offer so many sports particularly given the other challenges.
In referencing a need to look at our model in the past post, I did begin to make the argument that we are moving to a much more participatory culture with a focus of having all young people engaged and not just the elite athletes. There is no shortage of news stories around the concerns over youth inactivity and governments of all levels around the world are working on strategies to have young people be more active. And while “sports” are a great way and we need to be exposing more kids at younger ages to the range of options, “competitive sports” in schools are often about the few participating not the many. While it is great to win provincial championships, there is definitely something to be said for having all students out running and playing.
It used to work out perfectly – there are three natural terms to a school year and three sports seasons. Of course the era of a sport being done in a single season is over. In the old version, come November the volleyballs would go away and the basketballs would come out. Then come spring break, the basketballs went away and out came the track spikes. Now all seasons spill into one another. It is hard for coaches to coach multiple sports and the community quickly picks up the parts that the school is not doing as almost all sports at high school are year-round.
Traditionally schooling has been very localized. The sense of global competition was not ever-present as it is today. As the academic competition increases, school sports are often seen as an add-on for teachers and students. Teaching has never been more difficult and the expectations around the profession are at an all-time high. Do parents want their math teachers coaching volleyball for 3 hours a night or prepping their lessons? Of course the answer is probably both. But this is a huge challenge as teachers invest more time in their lessons to support students and students invest more times in their studies to be competitive in the global learning race, sports can be seen as a nice extra but not part of the core for school.
Our current set of rules are all about schools, yet increasingly our system is about students. The system of school eligibility is about creating a fair playing field for all schools. There are a number of eligibility policies in place to keep this. And this has largely worked. We have an ongoing trend of students taking courses from multiple locations, often a blend of face-to-face and online courses and it seems likely that students will increasingly be defined less by being a member of one school. So, as a student takes a couple of courses at one school, a few at another and still other with a third institution online – how do we deal with this in a school sports eligibility sense? School sports are built around the “school” as the centre point but personalizing learning is about the “student” at the centre. And while I was a vocal leader of creating a fair playing field for schools I see the world shifting.
Try this out. Find a really good high school volleyball or basketball player and ask them – who do you play for? In these two sports that have been primarily school sports throughout time, most kids will not answer with their school but their club. Students now primarily identify with their club not their school. This has happened fast – I see it with my own elementary aged children. Yes, kids play sports for the school but this is not seen as their primary identification. While yes, in some sports in some communities the high school is the primary or only game in town – there are no sports left where the majority of training and growth happens in schools. Student athletes compete for their school but they play for their clubs.
Parents no longer see school sports as the pathway to university athletics. One of the great appeals of school sports to families has been that they open doors to a university education. Students are now regularly seen through club programs and students could receive full scholarships in a “school sport” without ever playing that sport in high school. Colleges and universities are also looking to bypass school programs creating their own club structures that feed their university programs rather than relying on high schools to develop their future players.
And of all of the challenges, I think the biggest one might be that potentially the community does a better job than schools of providing competitive sports. Public and private providers in the community may be better at offering competitive sports than schools. I wonder, if schools did not currently offer competitive athletics would there be a push to start them? I think the answer is no. The number of community, not-for-profit and for-profit groups offering competitive athletics is growing exponentially. And while some of the offerings make me cringe, there are many fabulous opportunities for young people in the community that did not exist even a decade ago. And while not perfect, groups like KidSport are helping make community sports accessible to all families.
I don’t think there is any one of the challenges in on the list that is insurmountable. It is more about the cumulative effect of them all. And to be clear, I am definitely not convinced that the loss of school sports would not be without huge repercussions for schools from overall student engagement, to morale to achievement levels – it might be a future reality though. And if sports remained in independent schools and not public schools I think we would see a mass exodus from our public institutions.
While we are envisioning teaching, learning and schooling of the future we better add athletics to the conversation. If we don’t, there will be more voices like Amanda Ripley, making the Case Against High-School Sports. For me, hearing stories about finding our way back to the 1970’s when schools dismissed and Empire Stadium was full with students for track meets or the glory days of basketball championships at the Agrodome are great stories but not instructive. We need to get to figuring out the role of schools in competitive sports as we go forward.
And while I am convinced we could do nothing and school sports would continue for a while, looking 20 years out we need to think of what new model will work.
cultureofyes.ca 
I do hope that there will be another article written on the demise of the Arts, especially Music.
Having recently held a meeting for Heads of Music, I was so inspired by the extensive benefits to children in having a music programme both in the school and as part of the extra-curricular programme. In a era of student anxiety and depression Music can be a balm to the body and soul.
There is no doubt that you are right on point with your comments around music and the arts. There is such an excellent link to what so many schools are trying to do around self-regulation. In the school context – I guess I am spoiled by very good examples. In West Vancouver, long before I arrived, there was the smart thinking to have music specialist teachers in all elementary schools. While districts are limited for areas of specialized teacher at elementary, the choice of music has been a good one here. In my other context, where my own children go to school they have a band model where all grade 6 and 7 students participate and are exposed to band inside the school timetable. Again, a smart, forward looking way to address music.
In thinking about extra curricular music opportunities, I think this is quite analogous to some of the athletic challenges. I wonder, as we look forward what role does the school have and what role does the community have in providing elite arts opportunities. Just as there is a growth in “club” sports, there seem to be more and more offerings for students to participate in both profit and not-for-profit based arts opportunities. In West Vancouver we have an Honour Choir that is part of our school district that runs in the evening, but in other areas these programs are run by the community. Who is best to offer theatre at night or the summer? Schools? Theatres? Both?
No doubt that those of us who believe in the power of the arts, need to keep this issue in the forefront.
I agree that coach and officials training, and more importantly retention, is a challenge but it is a challenge for all sports, not just school sports.
BCSS eligibility is in constant change to reflect the change of educational models that student athletes pursue; however the heart of eligibility remains that athletes do declare their home school, and not get to change that school (without an transfer reason). The structure of eligibility is to prevent an unbalance of competition through recruiting. As club sports increase in size, they are facing this issue more and more. As I see it, club sports will be forced to develop their own eligibility rules to prevent the “stacking of teams” and it will take lots of money to defend those rules.
I disagree that athletes identify themselves only by their club affiliation. Can you tell me who won the club provincials for girls volleyball last year? Who is the top boys basketball club program in BC? Did the club football program hold their championships at BC place? When was the last time that Howard Tsumura wrote an article on club soccer? Identity through school sports is strong.
The focus on elite single sport athletes may not be the objective of school sports in order to move forward. These limited number of elite athletes do drive program success through winning but do nothing for increasing participation.
The irony is every sport organization has an objective to increase participation numbers- its the primary pathway to finding those diamonds to populate their elite programs. However few sports are willing to invest in those programs. As you eluded to, in a previous post, few and few kids are participating in sports/activity and this a trend that needs to be changed.
I sit on the boards of different sport organizations, and we are finding a movement for funding and grant monies changing from supporting the elite and “hooked in” athletes to how can we engage more individuals in activity.
BCSS is ripe for the picking for receiving this type of funding as it has the structures in place to support multiple sport athlete and the less competitive athlete through the development of tier II sports and the season of play.
Lastly, society/parents are the ones not adjusting, as they believe that they must develop their child into that elite athlete who achieves the full ride scholarship or become professional athletes. We know that so few athlete achieve at that level. Society and sport should be focusing on the fact that everyone should be active and work towards “sport for life”.
Thanks Rob – so glad you pushed backed and challenged. I knew the eligibility topic would hook you 🙂
I disagree with you around clubs and eligibility. I don’t think they will look for regulation. They are thriving in the unregulated world. It does really speak to the different value set in clubs. Even in community sports with existing regulations, like soccer and hockey, there are groups now moving outside of these regulations and going on there own. I have described club sports as the Wild West. As I noted, some fabulous programs and some cringe-worthy ones – it is buyer beware. And interestingly enough, some of those clubs that are thriving are ones that promote a strong value set. I am most familiar with basketball clubs. I look at clubs like New Heights or Vancouver Sports Club and they are all about values not primarily driven by winning.
On club affiliation I would have agreed with you even a year ago. Your examples are correct. And I did touch on this in my last piece around media attention. No doubt, people will tell you who won the high school championships but have no idea who won club championships. And yes, visit a a field or walk in a gym – no comparison in the crowds – high school is still king. And as long at the media keep covering high school sports, this won’t change – we agree. But take my challenge – go to a summer camp for any sport that is offered by schools and community and ask “Who do you play for?” This is the identity question that shocked me. I have always known for soccer, for example, students would answer with their community team. But now when I ask this question of volleyball or basketball players they answer with their club team – almost 100% of the time. I heard one girl when asked “Who do you play for?” Answer the question, “Nobody right now – I just play school volleyball.” This is fascinating for me in thinking about the affiliations and loyalties kids have. Look at the language that sports clubs promote as well . . . almost all of them refer to themselves as “families”. I don’t think this can be discounted. Even 5 years ago 95% of kids playing basketball or volleyball when asked who they play for would say their school – not anymore.
And yes, you are right about the future of sports, if done right, is young people playing multiple sports, in competitive and less competitive environments, with many different entry points – but the jury is out on if schools / community or a combo of them both are the ones to do this.
I guess I hope you are right but in places you see the glass half-full I see it half-empty right now. Not very “Culture of Yes” of me.
Thanks for sparking conversation. Good stuff.
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