Those of us who went to KC in the '70s and before will recall that some of our detractors used to say that we were a sports school. No doubt they were envious of our success on the sports field while at the same time extremely ignorant of our academic achievements. As Wally Johnson once said, “All KC teams feel that they have a God given right to win every competition!” In those days KC teams won so many inter-school sports competitions that outsiders were sure to wonder if we did any academic work at all.
I reckon however, that less than 10 percent of the student population represented KC in any sport or played any sport at all. I had classmates who did not know how to hold a cricket bat and the only football many of us played was money football on the teacher’s desks and box football under the pavilion during the lunch break. This will not be the situation in Toronto’s new school, which is scheduled to open its doors in September ‘08.
I first heard about this ‘sport-focused high school’ about a month ago as I listened to the radio on my way to work. The discussion was so fascinating that I almost stopped to make notes. The host of the programme was interviewing a lady who introduced herself as the principal of the school, which will be accepting students for the first time in September. According to her, the school is hoping to attract youngsters who desire to be professional athletes and those who want to pursue a career in a sports related field. The goal apparently is to develop healthy, active students who will be attracted to careers in sports, health care, coaching, teaching, sports administration and other sports related disciplines. The principal explained that she and her staff would be providing an environment where sports would get equal billing with academics. When I heard this I turned up my radio. Was I hearing correctly? Was I in Toronto where schools have little or no organized extra curricular activity?
As I listened further I learnt that this school would have a modern eight lane athletic track, an indoor swimming pool, three gyms, weights room, library and much more. The staff will be teachers from other school who will be assigned to this school for a fixed number of years before rotating back to their old school. These teachers will be expected to take special interest in ensuring that the students get a good education while pursuing their athletic ambitions.
The principal also talked about her own student days when few teachers at her high school seemed to care that her hair was always wet every morning at the beginning of school. As a competitive swimmer she had to train before and after classes, five days a week. Few in her school knew that and those that knew it didn’t seem to care At the new school, according to her, things will be different as the teachers will have direct knowledge of each student’s training programme, competitions and so on. She talked about having regular contact with the coaches and I gathered that some of the coaches would be on staff. She mentioned that she realises that student- athletes have a much longer day than the average student since they often train twice a day not reaching home until late at night in many instances and are the too tired to do homework. In this school provisions will be made for these students as teachers will assist them with time management so that they can get their academic work done. The principal expects that most will graduate and go on to university if they wish to do so. It’s a revolutionary idea for a relatively conservative place like Toronto and if it succeeds I am sure that we will hear about others in other parts of the country.
Would I go to such a school? No I would not, on account of the fact that I have ‘two left foot’ and once ran the 200 meters in class 3 in 40 seconds flat! Although I can bowl a cricket ball a bit and play a decent TT game I wouldn’t want to consider earning a living from either. But would I send my son to such a school? If the school is successful, I probably would. Just ten years old he wants to be a professional soccer player! A Dino Zoff! Or a basketball players like Kobe or LeBron. Failing that he says he would consider becoming a veterinarian instead. Wouldn’t it be great if he succeeded at both? The late great Dr. Lennox Miller, dentist and double Olympic medalist, showed that it was possible. This school wants to show that it is still possible now. As someone affiliated with this school said, “So many athletes are put into positions of having to choose between academics and athletics, we need to demonstrate that the two can go hand in hand.”
On that score I will make a report four years from now.
