By Claude Kasman

My teaching career began more than 30 years ago as a physical education teacher in a Manhattan High School, which is part of New York City schools, a system that I myself graduated from in 1978 at Forest Hills High. After six years as a teacher and coach, I became the assistant principal of health and physical education, however, I continued teaching and coaching and served as the athletic director.

In 1996 I made the transition to Suffolk County where I became the Director of Health, Physical Education and Athletics for the Westhampton Beach School District. In 2000 I became the Director at the Bay Shore School District, which is where I am today.

In my early days I fondly recall teaching five daily physical education and health classes, some of those classes had between 50 and 100 students. My day would continue afterward as I coached all three seasons. I coached volleyball, basketball, softball and baseball.

It always amazed me and continues to do so, the level of commitment, dedication and enthusiasm that student-athletes demonstrate every day. I am in awe of how much pride students and their families take in representing their school and community. Seeing the joy on the faces of student-athletes as they practice and compete is one of the best perks of the job.

Many students are playing with the friends they have known since elementary school. The bond is evident as I observe them laughing and enjoying each other’s company.

Too often I believe people forget that for most high school student athletes, the day begins before 7 a.m., and usually doesn’t end until well past 6 p.m. Students spend all day attending classes before attending practice or contests. Most don’t go home until late afternoon or early evening where they then begin addressing their homework, studying and projects. Most embark on the same routine six days a week, including Saturday.

The interscholastic program provides student-athletes an opportunity to represent their school, community and family within the context of an educational environment. Throughout New York State, a school district’s interscholastic athletic program, under the rules and regulations of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA), provides a level playing field by ensuring students compete in a fair and equitable environment. Only certified personnel that meet NYSED regulations and standards are able and approved to coach an interscholastic team.

In New York an interscholastic athletic programs mission is to promote the qualities of character, competency, civility, and citizenship; the 4 C’s of the NYSED Educational Frameworks for Athletics. Coaches are entrusted to promote these qualities and characteristics in their daily coaching responsibilities.

As we know, most students enjoy participating not necessarily for the goal of achieving a scholarship, but to be part of a team and the camaraderie of playing with their classmates and friends while representing their home town.

The interscholastic athletic program, as evident by the coverage provided by Newsday and MSG Varsity, has become an integral component and the fabric of every community on Long Island. It provides memories and experiences that will last a lifetime. For many of our students, it is the ultimate experience.

Claude Kasman is the Director of Health, Physical Education and Athletics at Bay Shore.

By Jeremy Thode

Being a former high school and college athlete gave me a lens about athletics that was very narrow. I played many different sports over the course of my lifetime. I was a late bloomer athletically and, although athletic, I owe much of my success to hard work, perseverance and dedication. I was never the best athlete in the group but I was rarely, if ever, outworked. I enjoyed the competition, testing myself, and climbing the mountain looking for success. The reality is I wanted to win and be successful.

Once I became a physical education teacher and coach and ultimately an athletic director, my lens on athletics changed. I learned that many times coaches coach based on a foundation of who coached them. That could be good or bad. I learned that you often hear coaches, athletic directors and even parents say that sports teach children teamwork, commitment, hard work, dedication, and sportsmanship. I learned that is not true. You only learn those things if you are taught them by the coach and sometimes a coach has to change their learned behaviors to do what is best for the child in order to teach the correct values in sport.

Athletes need to be invested in. Quality coaches need to take the time to get to know each player, understand their perspective in life and concerning athletics, find what motivates each athlete and design interactions, experiences and scenarios to help each child reach their individual potential. It is not an easy thing to balance, while trying to teach the game, and find success but interscholastic athletics is the most important opportunity to give each athlete at least one moment, and preferably many, that they can be proud of and grow from. Just think what impact that can have on a lifetime! Athletics should be a breeding ground for confidence and self esteem building. Even the least talented player on a team can be proud of what they did, how they improved, what they learned, or just how they stuck it out. Coaching is the opportunity to give something meaningful to each athlete. I know many times I relied and still rely on my athletic experiences given to me through quality caring coaches in my professional, personal and family life. Working as a team, being committed, working hard, dedicating myself and showing sportsmanship/positive behavior have been cornerstones of various successes in my adult and family life. I have also failed and learned how to respond to failure through athletic experiences.

Parents also have to focus on what is best for the child. We are in a society that is fast paced and result oriented. Many parents are investing thousands of dollars for camps, clinics, trainers, travel, accommodations, fees, and equipment. It is wonderful when any parents goes above and beyond to support a child and their child’s interests. Sometimes with that investment, comes stress and expectation. Athletes are stressed with commitment, the investment, pleasing their parents, and keeping up with other athletes. As a parent, I learned early on about putting pressure on my own children as their coach. I had good intentions and wanted them to experience success and the natural high I received during athletics. I realized that my children are not me. I cannot replicate for them where I came from and why I think, feel, and acted the way I did. What I learned was that I want my children to be passionate about something, ANYTHING. Athletics, academics, art, music, reading… it doesn’t matter. I want my children to invest in themselves. I want them to find ways to feel great about themselves and have THEIR OWN success in something THEY want to pursue or become. So my message now to my children is that I still want them to be involved in sport regardless. I believe it is great opportunity to challenge them, have social interactions, compete, and exercise. If any of them experience athletic success, it’s a bonus but only if THEY do the work. I keep reminding them that if they want better grades, or to sound better on an instrument, or more playing time, they need to practice. If they have a good social interaction or experience with a coach we talk about it and tuck it away for future success. If they have a negative social interaction or experience with a coach we talk about it and discuss how to grow from it. Sometimes the bad experiences, regardless of what they are, are the best ones to create resilience for a child.

The X factor in it all, is communication. Coaches need to communicate. Talking to athletes and parents is a powerful opportunity to make a positive difference, to create a legacy. I teach a class for coaches and one of the exercises we do is to raise their hand if they can remember the names of the top three teachers or coaches they had, then raise their hands if they can name the bottom three, and then again if they can name all the others. Everyone remembers the best and the worst. Most can’t remember the others. As a coach, who do you want to be? What legacy do you want?

As a parent, communicating with and learning who your children are is critical. Listening to them and exposing them are crucial. Give your child unconditional support and encouragement, stay away from expectation and pressure. Your child’s performance on the court, field, mat, or in the pool is not a direct reflection of them or YOU. It’s a game and hopefully their success or failure is only a valuable experience for them to grow into strong resilient and healthy adults. I believe we should always try our best, go for the gold, and try to win. No matter what the passion, we need to practice to improve. Preparing to win (or succeed) is more valuable then if we win.

Jeremy Thode is Associate HS Principal/Director of Health, Physical Education, Business, Fine & Applied Arts, & Athletics at Center Moriches.