Sometimes you read a story that just demonstrates what the true spirit of sports and competition are and should be. I believe this is one of them and I submit that this coach clearly gets it and his team and school are better off for it.
Watch the video and read the excerpts from the article (or the entire article if you'd like) and see if you don't agree that Dallas Academy although defeated 100-0 was the clear winner over The Covenant School.
I HEREBY NOMINATE, JEREMY CIVELLO, DALLAS ACADEMY FOR HS COACH OF THE YEAR
---------------------
DALLAS ACADEMY TEAM TALKS ABOUT THE GAME:
http://www.hsgametime.com/dfw/videopage.html?nvid=324099&shu=1
DALLAS NEWS ARTICLE ABOUT THE GAME:
Academy basketball coach sees a win in 100-0 loss
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/012209dnsposhutout.40d72ee.html
The final score of the high school girls basketball game was 100-0, and his team had the nothing. Still, a week later, Dallas Academy Athletic Director Jeremy Civello was chalking up the game in the win column.
"My girls never quit," he said. "They played as hard as they could to the very end. They played with all their hearts at 70-nothing, 80-nothing and 100-nothing. I was really proud of them. That's what I told them after the game."
The game took place Jan. 13, on the road, against The Covenant School. Civello didn't expect his girls to win. He never really does. His girls haven't won a game in his four seasons at the White Rock Lake-area school, renowned for its work with students with a variety of learning problems. In most games, they haven't come close.
The Bulldogs play, Civello said, for more than the final score. They play in hope of improving skills, learning teamwork and picking up whatever life lessons athletics may bring.
"Most of these girls would never play on any other school in the state," he said. "But they can say they were high school varsity players here. And they can say it with a sense of achievement."
Later on the 100-0 night, Civello told his girls the life lesson they could take from their loss: "I told them someday they will be on top in a similar situation and they should remember how they felt when some people were cheering for a team to score a hundred points and shut us out. Hopefully, my girls all learned a lesson in sportsmanship that will last them a lifetime."
-------------------------
Let me step back and define what I mean by the "true spirit of sports and competition" are because apparently we have different opinions on what that term means.
Competitive sports offer the best opportunity for personal growth and character development that will continue to serve us throughout life. It is our strength of character that will have the greatest impact on those with whom we deal with daily.
Really, there is nothing about wins and losses that truly defines the spirit of sports and competition. The games themselves are zero sum. Ultimately, if you can leave the field or court with your head held high, you're a winner. You haven't been defeated.
When I saw the headline of the article, Academy basketball coach sees a win in 100-0 loss the first thing that came to my mind was the line from the movie White Men Can't Jump where Gloria tells Billy
"Sometimes when you win, you really lose, and sometimes when you lose, you really win, and sometimes when you win or lose, you actually tie, and sometimes when you tie, you actually win or lose. Winning or losing is all one organic globule, from which one extracts what one needs."
This is central to the plot of the movie and the lesson it provides shows why, as I've been trying to convince my wife, this is a truly underrated movie.
See, when Billy was losing games and money and continuing to behave foolishly, his girl stood by him, but when he won the "big" game and the "big" bet, he lost his girl. She left him. His focus was on the wrong things and he lost even though he though he had won. He lost the most important thing in his life, the most valuable thing, by pursuing less important things.
This is where I see The Covenant School heading. Because I see from The Covenant School athletics page, the school states that its philosophy is:
"To glorify God by equipping students with the tools necessary to pursue a lifetime of learning so that they may discern, reason and defend truth in service to our Lord, Jesus Christ"
It sounds more like, based on this game and some others from it results page, that The Covenant School girls basketball program is more interested in glorifying themselves than in glorifying God. That's both sinful and shameful.
They should be ashamed of themselves and I believe they are. You know why I believe that? Because if you look further on the teams game results page, they have every other game score posted, except for the 1/13/2009 Dallas Academy game where they simply posted a W. And these rascals have not been strangers to running up the score, previously defeating Ursuline Academy 139-48, Terrel High School 133-79 and Prince of Peace Christian School 147-51.
My question to The Covenant School coach and AD would be as follows:
How do these results fit in within your schools published Athletic Program Goals?
1. To enable Covenant student/athletes, coaches and spectators to glorify God and be witnesses for Jesus Christ.
8. To build Christ-like character traits and develop servant leadership skills through discipline, and physical and mental training.
From the Dallas Academy web page I learned that the Dallas Academy defines their mission as: "restores the promise of full academic enrichment to students with learning differences." And they report their results as "by incorporating a strong curriculum, team sports and a wide variety of extra curricular student activities, Dallas Academy strives to prepare our students for further study (80% to 90% of DA's graduates attend 2 or 4-yr colleges) and more importantly a successful and satisfying life."
It sounds as if the Dallas Academy understands what the "true spirit of sports and competition" means better than The Covenant School does.
Therefore, I believe that the Dallas Academy should reconsider its cancellation of the January 30th game. And I believe that The Covenant School should take the time in between to re-examine its goals, philosophies and priorities and demonstrate that they have learned something that goes beyond wins and losses.
-------------------
UPDATE: APPARENTLY WE HAVE A WIN-WIN SITUATION
I e-mailed my concerns to the headmaster of The Coventry School and here is their response. Apparently, the school has been doing appropriate soul searching since the game was played and formulated a very equitable response. So the Dallas Academy will get an additional "victory". And The Covenant School gains a "greater" victory as well. GREAT NEWS.
Mr. Slavik,
Thank you for your email. I appreciate your honest feedback. Please know that we are truly sorry this happened. Below is our extended response to this situation.
Sincerely,
Kyle Queal
Head of School
Statement Regarding Dallas Academy Game
1/22/2009
The Covenant School , its board and administrators, regrets the incident of January 13 and the outcome of the game with the Dallas Academy Varsity Girls Basketball Team. It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened. This clearly does not reflect a Christ-like and honorable approach to competition. We humbly apologize for our actions and seek the forgiveness of Dallas Academy , TAPPS and our community. The school and its representatives in no way support or condone the running up of a score against any team in any sport for any reason. The school’s board members, Head of School Kyle Queal and Athletic Director Brice Helton have acted to ensure that such an unfortunate incident can never happen again.
Covenant school officials have met with and personally apologized to Dallas Academy Headmaster Jim Richardson and Athletic Director Jeremy Civello and wishes to extend its highest praise to each member of the Dallas Academy Varsity Girls Basketball team for their strength, composure and fortitude in a game in which they clearly emerged the winner. Accordingly, The Covenant School has contacted TAPPS and is submitting a formal request to forfeit the game recognizing that a victory without honor is a great loss.
Kyle Queal
Head of School
Todd Doshier
Board Chair
Kyle Queal
Head of School
The Covenant School
7300 Valley View Lane
Dallas , TX 75240
214-358-5818 Office
214-358-5809 Fax
www.covenantdallas.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Charles Slavik [mailto:theslav1959@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2009 1:36 PM
To: Kyle Queal; Kyle Queal
Subject: DALLAS ACADEMY GAME
It is apparent from this story that your school as represented by your girls basketball program has lost its way in representing Christian values.
You need to
1) seek forgiveness from the Dallas Academy
2) reinstate the January 30th game
3) demonstrate that your program is back on the right path in the rematch
And by the right path I mean glorifying God and not yourselves, your program or your school.
I pray you and your school will find the strength to make the right decisions going forward.
No comments:
Post a Comment