(Note:  The following appeared first in the March 2006 MHSAA Bulletin and is republished
in Lasting Impressions, which appears in the MHSAA's online Library)

I speak often about the need to make the most of the ways school sports are different from non-school sports programs and attract the interest and involvement of students and communities.  I’ve mentioned pep bands, pep assemblies, cheerleaders, letter jackets, homecomings and the like.  Kept in proper perspective, all of these things and more can draw excitement and loyalty to school sports that non-school programs rarely experience.

Recently I learned of the way the absence of a pep assembly did more to promote the core beliefs of educational athletics than most pep assemblies have.  It happened last fall.

On the Friday before a huge football game, a school stuck to its guns that school time is for school work and refused pressure to schedule a pep assembly.  In defending its decision to the public, school representatives were able to remind constituents that school is a place of education.  It was also noted that this place of education was striving to avoid an environment where athletes are placed on pedestals and the athletic program is exalted over other school programs.

Seizing the teachable moment, the school’s football coach reminded players that their game was Saturday, and Friday was opening night for the school play.  “How would those in the play feel,” he asked, “if there was a football pep rally on their opening night?”  And he encouraged them all to attend the play that night and show support for the activities of their classmates.

How great is that!  What a perfect perspective for the place of sports in schools.

I’m a great fan of pep assemblies – those that show support for all sports and all levels of teams and involve the entire extracurricular program.  But the absence of a pep rally on a day last fall may have gotten the message across better than I ever have.