Sports and our Mission

            On Sunday, I was out at the electronics store, and one of the salespeople commented that the place was empty due to the Sunday football games.  Certainly, sports command a central role in our broader culture.  In a different way and for different reasons than that salesmen at Best Buy may suspect, physical education and athletics play a vital role in our work at St. Matthew’s.  In students’ own words, here’s a glimpse into why:

It’s football season in our Middle School as well, and our flag football teams have had their first games.  Even with only 48 Middle School boys, we have two teams!  See the photos at right of last weekend’s games.  I asked the students for a report on their young season:

“Football is awesome.  We love playing with our friends.”  (from Chase and Javes, Grade 6)  The coach added, “Our teamwork and communication are improving each week.  On Saturday, we won our game against  Pinewood 25-12.” 

“This season we have shown potential and we continue to improve.  Our team was very productive against Crystal last week.  The special teams scored two of our three touchdowns, and our defense gave up no points.”  (from Wyatt and Elliot, Grade 8)

You can see so much here:  the growth from Sixth to Eighth Grade and the focus on learning, togetherness, and fun.

You can also see the end point of our Mission Statement, leadership:  we prepare students to become leaders of positive change.  The skills of heart, mind, and spirit –compassion and persistence, communication and strategy, teamwork and grace – are called upon and developed through our interscholastic athletics program. Experiences in sports prepare students for collaborative endeavors of all kinds, throughout life. 

As an expression of our mission, we are members of Positive Coaching Alliance, www.positivecoach.org, an organization whose goals are very consistent with our community.  Middle School parents received a taste of their program at Back to School Night; in my role as a Seventh Grade parent, I enjoyed the dialogue about the reasons we want our students to play sports:  to learn life lessons, to increase physical fitness, to have fun and learn to be part of a team. 

I look forward to seeing you on the sidelines.  Go Mustangs!