Page 29 - Alumni Horae: Vol. 93, No. 1 Fall 2012

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“The problem is that
everyone thinks
they are in the
running, when the
reality is that it’s a
very small percentage
of high school athletes
for whom athletics
will be a factor in
the college process.”
us away from our mission, and kids are losing out on the
high school experience. If you cut out seasons, you miss
out on the team experience, on the locker room bonding,
on the creativity from season to season. Nobody can play
sports forever – this is the time to do it.”
Relaxed Requirements
and Desire for a Break
Schools share the responsibility for over-specialization.
Though not intentionally fueling the decline in multi-sport
athletes, relaxation of requirements at St. Paul’s and
similar secondary schools has provided students with
an out. The result is this: When there is an option not to
participate, students are taking that option.
In the last decade, athletic requirements have been
relaxed at many high schools. Since 2004, St. Paul’s
administrative policies have required only Third and
Fourth Formers to participate in all three seasons, elim-
inating the third term requirement for Fifth Formers
(Sixth Formers have long been exempt from playing
three seasons). And participation can include club-level
athletics and thrice-weekly fitness sessions. With those
looser requirements in place, today’s teens are anxious
to take a season off – for a variety of reasons.
“We changed our requirements for two reasons,” says
Liesbeth Hirschfeld, who served as SPS athletic director
for 10 years until 2011. “Kids wanted to do other things
– community service, theater. We work together in a
community where you should be able to be an athlete
and be in the play. Slashing one term eased the pain on
the numbers and gave kids other options.”
Hirschfeld also notes the opening of the 95,000-square-
foot Athletic and Fitness Center in 2004 as a factor in
athletic enrollment. The old gym could accommodate
fewer than 15 students in fitness classes in lieu of inter-
scholastic sports each term. With the larger facility, that
number has bulged to 40. And activities such as club
swimming and yoga have provided additional options
for students to fulfill the athletic requirement without
competing interscholastically. Six years ago, drama
rehearsals were moved to the afternoon, allowing stu-
dents to participate in the arts while actually earning
credit for athletics. Since 2009, the School has offered a
14-student “service learning team” option each term in
lieu of athletics. Though not open to first-year SPS stu-
dents, the SLT gives simultaneous credit for the athletic
season and the Community Outreach Program require-
ment, an appealing two-for-one option for busy teenagers.
At Groton, upper-form students are required to par-
ticipate in only two of six athletic seasons, according to
Athletic Director Low.
“Our students have to do something in the afternoon
– conditioning, drama, music,” says Low, who is in his
eighth year as Groton AD after 12 years at Holderness
School. “That’s all good, but that’s contributed to the
decline of the multi-sport athlete. The mission of our
schools is to diversify our offerings to attract the best
kids. That has contributed to the shift in numbers.
Athletic requirements at schools like ours are crucial.
If you can hook the younger kid and force one extra
season, by the time they are juniors they don’t want
to quit. Now it’s too easy to opt out.”
The Survey
Purists such as Loomis Medal honorees Karen
Sawyer ’74 and Laura Clark ’89 and Gordon Medal
recipients Bobby Clark and Jonathan Reckford ’80 say
they didn’t hesitate when it came time to sign up for
the next season, but a survey administered to more
than 1,600 St. Paul’s students from the Forms of 2001
to 2012 shows that the vast majority of respondents
played fewer than three seasons because they simply
wanted more free time – whether to participate in other
activities, socialize, relax, or focus on their homework.