The Intrinsic Value of High School Athletics

by Jackie

It’s my week to blog and two encounters that I had with two different people in the course of a week brought me to my blog subject: The intrinsic value of high school sports.

The first situation was when I was on a training run with a friend. She mentioned that her 8^th grade son was going to run cross country at the local high school in the fall. She was surprised that another parent cautioned her that participating in a sport would be too demanding for a freshman, because of homework, adjustments, etc. My friend and I chuckled at that because we both  ran cross country in high school together years ago and nothing could have been further from the truth. Cross country was a very positive focal point for us in our high school years.  And based on the fact that we are still running 30 years later, it obviously influenced our lifestyle choices as well.

My oldest daughter is a freshman swimmer at a Catholic high school. In my opinion, her involvement in high school athletics has been the catalyst for success.  Her involvement with the swim team has meant an instant study group every day after school with her teammates, before heading off to swim practice. She has also learned how to balance her homework with her practices and her responsibilities at home (well, maybe not so much the last one). As she and her teammates headed into Christmas break, which included two 2 hour swim practices a day, with a 2 hour dry land workout in between, the upper classman gave advice on the best ways to study for mid-terms which were right after break. She was offered assistance by her teammates with her studying and actually any advice in general. She was surrounded by positive role models that she listened to, quite honestly, better than she listened to me.  Her experience so far has been overwhelmingly positive, very similar to my own. The friendships she has made are priceless. 

The second encounter I had was with an Athletic Director during a meeting. He shared with my colleagues and I his concern for the future of high school sports. He said some parents are very driven by their children playing at the pro or college level, actually taking their kids out of high school sports, to play in club or AAU setting, which they felt would offer a higher level of competition. He said the piece that some of these people were missing was seeing the intrinsic value of high school sports: The value of participating with your classmates in a team environment; the shared experiences - will last a lifetime.

If you have had the privilege of participating at any level of high school sports, I hope that you will understand the passion of my blog.  And please share your comments on what your high school sports experience meant to you. 

Road Map for Successful Sponsorships

By Lorien Parry

I was recently charged with the task of organizing a Master Plan for a potential client that organized a year-long partnership with a state athletic association. The goals of the partnership were for the brand to be promoted as supporting active lifestyles, health and wellness; as well as, driving traffic to local restaurants. The question the potential client asked was, “How are you going to make this happen?” Our first response could have been: “How do you want us to make this happen?” However that answer would have lost us the business immediately.

The growing trend for sponsorships right now is to utilize the property to enhance the brand’s marketing mix and provide an outlet for specific fan engagement or support one aspect of the brand’s products and/or services. So, how do we do that? As property representatives, we must figure it out and supply viable solutions, examples, time lines for execution, and proof of performance. Three years ago it was good enough to say, “You can connect your brand with sports!” Now, the answer has to be; “You can connect your brand with sports, on a grass roots level, promoting this product/service during this event and receiving this return on your investment and here is a annual plan on how we will reach your target audience through a specific promotional/engagement technique while supporting your marketing efforts with these signs, PA announcements, program ads, online media presence, TV commercials, in-game features, direct mailings and mobile marketing initiatives.”

As property representatives, sponsorship master planning can create a high-level road map for how our current and potential clients can maximize the brand benefits they receive from sponsorships. The mission of sponsorship master planning is to define and prioritize the goals and objectives, outline how each element is going to be activated, and determine who is responsible for what. Most importantly it lets the current or potential client know exactly “how we are going to make this happen.”

The Tradition of High School Sports and the Masters

By Gary Melle

As I settled into my couch last Sunday, ready to watch the best golf tournament in the world, I was immediately reminded about the greatness that is High School Sports. Throughout the week of the Masters, analysts, players and fans alike took turns offering their thoughts and opinions as to why this golf tournament is so special. History, traditions, familiarity, purity, passion and excitement were presented as initial evidence. It’s All-American, small town setting with a first class venue, loyal patrons and a wanting for more, were offered as further proof.

As I listened, the lines became blurred…were they talking about the Masters or high school games and events that we witness on a daily basis? CBS’ description of the Masters, “a tradition unlike any other”, could really be applied to countless high school teams and communities across the country. Unique game-day traditions are commonplace from coast to coast, sport to sport.

By comparison, the Masters is played during the first full week of April each year – a date golf fans know well. But high school football defines a term, “Friday Night Lights”. More than a phrase, it’s an obsession.

Bubba Watson received a healthy check for his recent win at Augusta, but his most prized possession from the victory, a simple Green Jacket - a symbol of accomplishment, excellence, and a lifetime membership to an exclusive group.

Although not as high profile, many youngsters will receive state championship medals around their necks this year, an indication that they too have reached their ultimate goal, most likely in a sport they will never officially play again. High school “state champs” are our first local heroes.

The Masters golf tournament maintains a pureness that is rare in professional sports, but evident everywhere in high school athletics. Although wishful thinking, sometimes I think golfers would play this tournament for free. High school ball players do so every day. And unfortunately, many are now having to pay to play.

As the telecast scanned the galleries that surrounded each hole, it was easy to see the different generations that follow the game of golf. Go to a high school game and you’ll see the same thing. And although Bubba had some close friends and family nearby as he sank his final putt, the high school audience is just different. The participants are family, they’re friends, they’re neighbors. Communities unite; they rally, they care.

High school sports produces a passion factor and a resonance that is unique. It can’t be measured and it can’t be duplicated. There is a mystique around the Masters that is well deserved, for it rarely disappoints. But for many of the same reasons, in towns all across this country, the aura of high school athletics is growing…it is America’s number one sports platform.

“Fields of Dreams”

By Ken Laschinger

As I sat down to write my blog entry, I still had not finalized what my topic would be. What I can tell you is that baseball was on my mind; Opening Day 2012 is upon us. I mentioned to a co-worker that I was struggling to come up with my subject, and she challenged me to somehow incorporate baseball. That’s when it occurred to me…

Perhaps one of the greatest speeches in any movie (at least in my opinion) is the speech by James Earl Jones (Terrence Mann) in “Field of Dreams”. As I replayed that scene from memory in my head, I began to realize that there were a lot of parallels to high school athletics. Courtesy of www.imdb.com:

“Ray, people will come, Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past…

And they'll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come, Ray.

The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good and could be again. Oh... people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come.”

Sure seems like high school sports to me… “it’s a part of our past. It reminds us of all that once was good and could be again… People will most definitely come.” How about 500 million people annually?!