This article appeared in the QUID NOVI by John Maynard, Athletic Director
Athletics can be a hot-button topic in a private Christian school. Sometimes I struggle to understand the perception that the athletic mission and the school’s mission cannot coexist. The conclusion I have come to is that we fail to frame athletics as a part of school mission. If the missions are separate entities, maybe they truly can’t coexist. But if we view them as different pieces of the same mission working toward the same goals we can begin to see how they can work together.
When it comes to athletic philosophy within the educational setting (especially the Christian high school setting) the question I get asked most often is a version of “So, are you all about winning? Or is it about personal growth and life lessons for our students?” I have a thought-out, built-in answer that inevitably comes spilling out, but I sometimes get the feeling that the answer is incomplete and my listeners walk away from the conversation without clarity and the definitive answer they may be seeking. Perhaps the reason is because the question itself has flaws. The question of “Is winning everything?” is incomplete because it assumes that winning and learning life lessons are mutually exclusive and an either/or proposition. Winning is not everything. I would argue, however, that our athletic philosophy should be centered on these two points: The pursuit of winning and the manner in which we pursue winning are what matters.
If we take this into a specific context we can see this in action. If we were of a mind that “winning is all that matters,” what then do we tell our athletes when/if they don’t win? Was it all for naught? On the other hand, can we truly learn the great lessons of perseverance, preparation, hard work, losing with grace, and winning with humility if we were never trying to win in the first place? How can one persevere, work hard or learn to lose if they never had the intention of winning? This is where we begin to see that the two must work together. There is too much at stake for us to tell our athletes that winning is everything, and there is also too much to lose if we just tell our athletes to go out there and have fun.
The second point involves the manner in which we pursue a winning mindset. Winning games, accolades, and championships loses its luster if we cannot be proud of way we achieved those goals. In the same way, if we pursue winning with a nonchalant, half-in attitude we cannot feel as if the manner in which we pursued our goals was a success.
With this mind we can see how the mission of athletics ties into the academic mission. We do not teach our students that all that matters is making the best grade. We do not want to ignore the preparation, study habits, and mental fortitude that go into making the best grade possible for that student. If a student makes a “B” because they put in the requisite time, hard work, and fortitude while another student makes the same “B” by rolling out of bed and taking the assessment, the results are the same but the accomplishment is much different. In broader context New Covenant encourages excellence at every turn. This applies to the arts, academics, athletics and even in the way we conduct ourselves. It is just as accurate to say that New Covenant also encourages the pursuit of excellence every step of the way in our students’ paths to graduation.
We want every New Covenant student to pursue “winning” in all that they do. Our faith calls us to do that as does our desire to use the gifts that God gave us to the best of our ability and to their fullest so that we can be a shining example and use those gifts to glorify Him. The refusal to do so is a disservice to our students and to the gifts which we have been given. So yes, athletics is so much more than winning and losing. It certainly is about all the great lessons and physical, spiritual, and emotional growth as well. But it is our desire that we begin to see those as walking hand-in-hand with each other as well as in tandem with our overall mission and charge as student-athletes. Can you truly have one without the other?
