What I’m Reading – The Measure of Success

What I’m reading –

If you are a coach, fan or player with an interest in the philosophical and ‘analytical’ sides of football, especially modern ‘xs and os’, go to this site –
Smart Football
Go as far back in their archives as you can, and start up’ing your knowledge.
Not everyone will like the content, but the author is a Lawyer/Academic who combines analysis of the latest football systems with discussions about ‘smart’ things like books, philosophical concepts, etc.

That site is where I also blatantly stole the ‘what I’m reading’ title, and I give them full credit.

On to the next – The measure of success –
A good friend of mine and former REP and college teammate recently returned from living abroad. He mentioned to me the name Geoffrey Canada. I did not know who this person was, but what my friend said interested me, so I, like all of us in the 21st century, took out my smartphone and Google’d it.

Geoffrey Canada is the founder of the Harlem Children’s Zone. It is a ‘cradle to college’ charter (private) school in Harlem, New York, whose goal is to graduate every single student from college or university.

Here is a link to an article about his film –
Waiting for Superman: A warning for Canada – thestar.com

Considering the socio-economic demographic of Harlem, this was an immense undertaking, but Mr. Canada’s argument is that if you have ANY interest in the future of the world, our society, or even just your own community, you MUST improve the education system and develop a sense of the WORTH of education within that community.

Mr. Canada used his own salesmanship and hard work to develop a network of donors the likes of which a charter school had never seen, especially in one of the most historically poor and black, neighbourhoods in America, so that each HCZ student could receive $5000 in funding per year (HCZ’s 2009 budget was 41 million dollars).

My interest in Mr. Canada’s ideas is a natural. Like him, I believe firmly that the ONLY measure of success in terms of education is post secondary education. College, trade school or university does not especially matter, in my mind, but the high school diploma is essentially worthless as proof of education, in 2011.

This is not to say that someone cannot be a good, or successful, person without graduating from College or University, but it is a less likely outcome. Society makes this a reality – an industrial job which had no educational requirement in 1970 most likely now requires a diploma or degree. Gone are the days of pushing a broom or working on an assembly line and being able to afford a house, car and 2.3 children.
The local news shows us daily images of mass layoffs, outsourcing, economic disaster and overall loss of wealth – ‘comfortable living’ is something that is increasingly difficult to achieve without an extensive education.

Mr. Canada’s concept of an educated community is simple – if we can develop and grow 100 people with degrees each year, then eventually, you will have a community that values education, and seeks to perpetuate education among THEIR future children. The ‘tipping point’ here is 61%, he says – when 61% of your community has a degree, then you are much more secure in the idea that future generations will continue along this path.

So what does this have to do with football?

I’ve come to believe we must work to bridge the gap between athletics and academics in our young players. We do this naturally on the football side, we must link it to the classroom as well.

We want to see our kids succeed. We also, as coaches, know the VERY RARE chances of ever getting paid to play sports (whether via scholarship or in the professional ranks). The NCAA states that only 0.8% of ALL high school seniors who play football will make the NFL, and for a Canadian football player (and you could draw a parallel to a Harlem-raised student here, easily) the odds are even steeper. We have to impress upon our young charges, and often their parents, that the greatness of this sport is the doors it opens for other opportunities in life, moreso than anything else.

I’ve worked with the Etobicoke Eagles for 7 years, since 2004. when I became Eagles President in 2006, our goal as a program was to produce 25 CIS/NCAA players per season. We have accomplished that, pretty much each season, and so have most other OVFL teams (I can only speak for OVFL as that is where I’ve worked). The average OVFL Varsity team in Etobicoke the past 7 years has been about 45 players. Therefore, we’re at roughly 61%, or the tipping point.

The past couple years, I think we’ve acheived the goal we set out to reach – and we’re seeing the self-perpetuating culture of the desire within our players to move on to post-secondary football (and education of course). I look at CFC and other websites, and the prospect sections. The majority of the prospects in my city, I have interacted with at one time or another. That tells me that we as a football community have progressed and our prospects are now focused on becoming post-secondary student athletes, for the most part.

If the concept of the ‘tipping point’ holds true, we have created in the Ontario REP/CLUB football community, our own small self-perpetuating culture which values the importance of going to University.

The important thing we must continue to impress on our players – the entry to University is important, but you MUST graduate to be considered successful.

I strongly believe that we can bridge the gap between athletics and academics in our young players. We MUST bridge this gap, in order to be considered successful mentors and coaches.

All coaches always tell players to ‘play to the whistle’ and ‘play every game like it is your last’ – we MUST continue to show our players that they can APPLY THESE LESSONS TO EDUCATION, and they MUST do so for their future’s sake!

The programming I am working to develop at my high school follows a similar ‘entry to exit’ approach, and it is my hope that the ‘tipping point’ Mr. Canada discusses in his ideology can also be achieved in my small corner of the educational world.

I will discuss our proposed programming in a future blog.

Oh, and if you do not agree, PLEASE comment! I think this is an important discussion that all involved with our sport should have.