Michael Jordan is a pretty famous sports personality and wasn't too bad a basketball player. When he was in grade 9, he was cut from his school basketball team, he persevered, made the team the next year, and the rest is history.
We have 30 grade five/six boys and another 30 grade five/six girls that have come out to play basketball for the school team this year. It would sure be a lot easier to coach if we reduced those numbers to about 12 players on each team, but what would the negative side of that be? It would mean that a lot of students wouldn't get a chance to participate in a physical activity, they wouldn't get the opportunity to represent their school, and they wouldn't have the chance to engage with their school in a different way. For many students the relationship with their school is tenuous, and as they go through the grades, if they don't have a "hook"; something that engages them, then the chances of losing them increase significantly. For some, athletics is a nice distraction to the really important things in life, but for others, it is the important thing that allows them to hang on school. It is precisely for this reason that we take all comers and try to give them the skills and attitude to carry on with sport in their life.
I am proud of the commitment that our staff has to our students and to ensuring that they have great opportunities to connect with their school. Athletics serve a very important part of our school community. We are fortunate to have such great involvement.
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