Voices of the Nation - April 2015

What do you do to promote multi-sport participation?

Angela Miller, CMAA, Director of Athletics
Nash-Rocky Mount Schools
Nashville, North Carolina

To promote multi-sport participation in our schools, we take a comprehensive approach to physical health. For one, we encourage any activities for the purpose of health and wellness and peak athletic performance. Also, we push teamwork in all areas of our schools, from the classroom to the fields. Additionally, when conducting teaching interviews for any position we ask, “What can you do to build school spirit outside of the classroom?” We want teachers to be a team and to teach students how to be empowered as part of a larger team. Finally, we award our multi-sport athletes with pins, certificates and special media releases in our school district.

Ross Burdick, Director of Athletics
Waynflete School
Portland, Maine

As club opportunities lured athletes away from playing multiple sports, we created an incentive for athletes to play on three varsity teams: The Varsity Tri-Athlete Award. We place the names of those students on a plaque. To recognize the athletes who play three seasons at any level, we give a gift at the end of the year. Our mascot is a “Flyer” so we call this the “Frequent Flyer Award.” At an assembly, our three-season athletes are presented with a gift such as a t-shirt or a fleece blanket emblazoned with the Waynflete W that they can use with pride.

Steve May, CMAA, Athletic Director
Wheeling High School
Wheeling, Illinois

At Wheeling High School, we do a few things to recognize three-sport athletes. First, at our All-sport Spring Awards night, every three-sport athlete is listed in the program. They are listed by class so every freshman, sophomore, junior and senior is listed. We also do a special recognition for our four-year, three-sport athletes that night. Each four-year, three-sport athlete gets a nice blanket with a varsity letter, their name and sports stitched on it. Our booster club buys the blankets, and we make a big deal about “earning a blanket.”

Barry Bokn, Athletic Director
Willamette High School
Eugene, Oregon

Willamette High School has a pay-to-play system, asking athletes to pay a fee for each season they participate. We have done two things to promote multi-sport participation: 1) The third season is free. Athletes who participate in a Fall and Winter season sport can participate for free during our third season. 2) All of our Three-Season Athletes will also receive a special THREE-SPORT HOODED SWEATSHIRT which we use to honor our three-sport athletes. Only these special athletes receive this sweatshirt. It’s working as we have more three-season athletes than ever and the numbers are growing.