School administrators in Texas have the wrong lesson plan.
Many of you have probably seen the video of an egregious act that took place recently during a Texas high school football game. After being ejected from a game for unsportsmanlike conduct, a player rushed the field and knocked down a referee intentionally. For committing the act, the player has been arrested for assault.
It was a single act committed by a single player, and that player is facing serious consequences for his actions. But there’s more to this story–much more. School administrators decided to end its season and, with that, the team will not be permitted to participate in the playoffs.
Was it the right call? As a former high school administrator and coach, I’ve thought about that question.
As a high school coach, I would use various methods to build team spirit among the runners and wrestlers I coached. It wasn’t just to achieve athletic success. I always felt that it was a way to teach young people that it’s important to be part of something that’s larger than self. If an athlete transgressed, such as using inappropriate language during practice, I would stop practice and have everybody on the team serve some ‘punishment,’ like doing extra crunches. Likewise, when somebody on the team performed extraordinarily well, everyone would get some reward, such as getting an extra water break.
So what about the situation in Texas? It’s clear from the video that the player acted alone. You can see a teammate and a coach corral the player, restraining him from further action. It’s also important to point out that the transgression was handled within the game’s rule structure. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty was called and, with it, the player was ejected from the game. Soon thereafter, normality returned to the game, and play resumed.
In my view, punishing the entire team by denying playoff participation goes well beyond the rules I tried to follow as a high school coach. Furthermore, as a school administrator, I could not see myself imposing what amounts to a Draconian penalty on the team and school.
Of course, it’s easy for me to say all of that today. I no longer face the pressure that’s part-and-parcel of high school coaching and administration. Having said that, I firmly believe that ‘punishments’ are better left to the coaching staff and–if need be–by school administrators in consultation with the athletic staff. Deal with this matter in-house, and let the public dimension run its course through the court system.
The bottom line for me is that I’m wary when executive administrators exercise their power this way. Is their administrative action in the best interests of the athletes and the school? I think not.
Over the years, I’ve worried about what school administrators ‘teach youth’ in the decisions they make. And what happened in Texas adds kindling to an already burning fire of concern.
