BASA Member Update 12.8.17

Superintendents Letter November 2017.qxp_FB MGR MTG - STATE FINALS.qxd 11/17/17 11:23 AM Page 1

Ohio High School Athletic Association • 4080 Roselea Place, Columbus, Ohio 43214 Phone: 614-267-2502 • www.ohsaa.org November 2017 TO: OHSAA Member School Superintendents and Board Presidents FR: Dan Ross, Ph.D., OHSAA Executive Director Fewer than 3% of the students who participate in high school athletics will play at the collegiate level, and less than 1% will go on to play professionally. This means 97% of the students involved in high school sports will have a terminal experience — upon graduation, they will never again participate in sports at the same organized level. So what are we really giving students if we are only concerned with physical skill development and the outcome on the scoreboard? Winning is the goal of our sports programs. We play, plan and prepare to win every game. But winning in education-based athletics is not the purpose. The purpose is the human growth and development of students who participate and connecting them with caring adults in their learning community. The Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA), in conjunction with the Ohio Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (OIAAA), has been selected to launch the InSideOut Initiative , a national movement supported by the NFL Foundation, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns, to transform the current win-at-all-costs sports culture to one that defines and promotes sports as a human growth experience that acutely focuses on the intentional growth and development of each student. Statewide endorsement of this initiative, which is aimed to help students in all sports, has also come from the Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA), the Buckeye Association of School Administrators (BASA), the Ohio Association of Secondary School Administrators (OASSA) and the Ohio Association of Elementary School Administrators (OAESA). The InSideOut Initiative — co-founded by author, educator and former NFL lineman Joe Ehrmann and Jody Redman, a nationally recognized facilitator and speaker and an administrator with the Minnesota State High School League — clearly defines the purpose of sports in an edu- cational setting, where countless teachable moments and values such as respect, responsibility, empathy, moral courage, teamwork and sportsmanship can be taught and developed. It encour- ages school and community leaders, led by the school’s athletic administrator, to address the bro- kenness of the sports culture since, without intentional leaders, coaches and supportive commu- nities, it is more likely that organized sports will spoil play and undermine the development of the very character and virtue it claims to build. To find out more about the InSideOut Initiative , the OHSAA has developed an informational video that we encourage you to view and share with your school community and governing board. Please cut and paste this URL for the 11-minute video to your browser: https://youtu.be/RkBnXE1XhHc . After having further discussion with your board members and administrative team, we encour- age your school to consider getting involved in this important initiative. Information on addition- al InSideOut Initiative training sessions in Ohio will be announced soon. Thank you for allowing me to take the time to share this important information!