SFS Organized Sports
General Information for parents and participating students
The 3 C’s - Community, Culture, Communication - Ultimately we strive to create an athletic community within SFS in keeping with our culture of inclusion that encourages open communication.
The goal of SFS Athletics is to provide the opportunity for our students to learn and benefit from the experience of team sports and to provide a vehicle for individual sport competitors. The measure of which is the opportunity to compete and to show the results of their labor.
Long term goals are to expand the experience to provide sport specific educational instruction and training to support individual student athlete growth and development within each sport offered.
AIPL -Structure
Grade level and age
Lower Middle School (LMS): 5/6th grades – Students must be younger than 12 years old as of September 1
Upper Middle School (UMS): 7/8th grades – Student participants must be no older than 14 years old as of September 1
Competition groups
Both LMS and UMS student participants are segregated into competition groups within each hierarchy. The purpose is to balance the spectrum of competition within each group (LMS and UMS).
Formerly referred to as A Team or B Team and so on. This has been renamed into grouping assignments A to 6A.
Student Athletes are allowed to move up to higher AIPL competition groups, but not down.
The system assumes the less A’s the higher the level of competition. This can result in disproportionate playing time depending on the competition in any given game.
SFS Athletics Philosophy
We strive for our athletes to learn physical and mental skills, self-discipline and sportsmanship, while motivating them to strive for excellence. The value of participation in sports is broad and life-long, as athletes develop teamwork, organizational and leadership skills.
Everyone plays - We don’t “cut” or exclude anyone from participation
Get better - We want our kids to learn from the experience
Have fun - Everyone’s definition of fun is different. Our goal remains to provide a space in which teamwork, comradery, and support are nurtured.
Characteristics of the athletic competition
Size, Speed, Agility, Sport specific knowledge and application methodologies (Sport specific IQ)
Some of these characteristics can be improved through participation and physical growth. However, overcoming such elements within a specific sport takes tailored coaching and training at the individual level that today cannot consistently and regularly be delivered within the current framework of SFS 2
Growth and participation has presented a real challenge that we are working to address.
We are working to improve our ability to support such changes at the individual level.
Specifically knowledgeable coaching resources
Skills Assessment
Participating students are evaluated based on the following:
Rules – Maximum number of active players allowed in the competition at one time:
- Basketball = 5 Volleyball = 6, Soccer = 11, Flag football = 8
Roles – Job within the sport which provides the best opportunity for the individual student to be successful. I.e. a (Quarterback, Center, Point Guard, Goalie)
SFS Participants - Number of participating students grouped within the AIPL guidelines and SFS philosophy
Team Assignments
The following is the framework of SFS Team assignment for any team sport:
- AIPL structure
- SFS philosophy
- Characteristics of the athletic competition (specific game environment)
- Skills assessment
Assignment is evaluated consistently and regularly. It can and does change over time. Sometimes that timeframe is very short, sometimes it can take much longer.
It is our practice not to immediately solidify team assignments in order to see if the individual advancement takes place and warrants reassignment.
Communication
We encourage discussion - If anyone is unhappy with a child’s team assignment, we want to have open honest communication. We share in each individual child’s development goals and want to support them in all things including athletics.
Coaching Resources
Identification - Identifying and securing coaching resources for the various sports SFS offers is a constant effort.
Qualification - Historically Coaches have been engaged based 1st on basic individual sport knowledge and 2nd on availability to meet the practice and game competition schedules.
Availability - The time commitment required is significant. On average between practice and games the average Coach spends 10 hours per week, per team for every week of a sporting season which averages between 10 and 13 weeks. Some sports (Basketball) have on average 10 teams.
Competition - We compete with the other schools in the AIPL to secure our coaching resources.
Solutions - Implementing a SFS Coaching Internship Program in order to leverage the Coaching opportunity to College Students and Community members as a job training program (like student teaching) in order to better serve each individual athlete.
1. Competition example: If the competition is very fast in a certain game or situation, then the response will need to be equal in order to compete. I.e. faster players will likely receive more playing time.
2. The number of participants, the availability of space, and coaching resources restrict concentrated, consistent, and practice/repetition opportunities for the individual athlete. We offer Camps and Clinics in an attempt to provide specialized individual coaching and training.
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