Creating a Culture of Community Service

Community service is commonly thought of as an essential and integral aspect associated with the education-based athletic philosophy. Giving back, supporting and assisting an individual or group beyond one’s team is a worthwhile, lifelong quality.

While the value of community service may not be debatable, it may be a challenge for some athletic administrators to create a culture to support it within their program. How do you get started?

• Explain the value, importance and benefits of the concept to your coaching staff. This is the logical first step, because without their support and commitment, community service will not take off. You need your coaches to believe in and embrace this effort in order to convince their athletes that this initiative is not only beneficial for those within the community receiving their help, but also for them as well. Student-athletes will gain a great deal from participation in this project.

• Use one or two common, time-tested, long-established community service projects – hosting a game to benefit the American Cancer Society or similar association, or helping at a food bank or soup kitchen – with your coaches to serve as an example of how to get started. This explanation would include how and when to make initial contact with the group or organization, determining what needs to be done, when the project would begin, how many students would be needed to help, will all of the necessary equipment and materials be supplied, how long the session will last, and what type of attire would be needed for the students?

• Highlight and share positive examples of community service projects that other schools in the area have undertaken. This step shows that the initiative can be done and was successful. You might also enlist the help of a coach or the athletic administrator from a particular school to come and help explain and promote their project. When these individuals address your coaching staff, they can also easily answer any questions that arise.

• Have previous recipients share their experience and testimonial of how the students and team helped and how appreciative they were. This can be a powerful technique to convince your coaches of the value and benefit of community service, and to get them on board.

• Strongly suggest to your coaches that they should involve their student-athletes to help select the specific project or initiative. When students play a part with the selection, they will be more excited and involved with the program.

• Explain to your coaching staff that when they allow team members to plan and fill leadership roles with the initiative, they will also be enhancing their leadership and organizational skills. This can – and should be – an added benefit of community service, and should not be overlooked. It becomes a win-win situation for everyone.

• Point out that coaches or parents should take photos of the students working at the project, and then write a brief description of the initiative to post on your website and Instagram. In addition, you should share both the photos and write-ups with the local media. This is a great public relations vehicle, and it may also serve as an incentive for other teams within your program to give it a try.

Directing the public relations effort toward community members can also be extremely informative and eye-opening in that they may not have any direct contact with your student-athletes other than watching a game. To see, read or hear that the young people are positive, caring and giving of the themselves can be an invaluable benefit for your students and program.

• Contact the president of the school board and get your team(s) on their meeting agenda. During this session, the coach should briefly share photos and an explanation of what the young people did, and how it was received. This is a great marketing opportunity to promote the positive aspects of your education-based athletic program.

• Total up the number of the various team projects from the year, and share this information with the media and your school board. If there has been an increase over the years, this statistic should also be mentioned to indicate the continued growth and commitment by your athletes, coaches and program.

With a little education, guidance and oversight on your part, a culture of community service can be created with your coaching staff.

Dr. David Hoch is a former athletic director at two high schools in Baltimore County (Maryland) for 16 years. He has 24 years of experience coaching basketball, including 14 years on the collegiate level. Hoch, who has a doctorate in sports management from Temple (Pennsylvania) University, is past president of the Maryland State Athletic Directors Association, and he formerly was executive director of the Maryland State Coaches Association. He has had more than 800 articles published in professional magazines, as well as four textbook chapters. Dr. Hoch is the author of five books: Coaching within the Education-Based Athletics Concept; The Parents’ Guide to Education-Based Athletics; Leading an Education-Based Athletic Program; A Lifetime of Memories from Education-Based Athletics: Humorous, Inspirational and Occasionally Sad; and Refocusing on Education-Based Athletics – A Call to Action. Hoch is a member of the NFHS High School Today Publications Committee.