September/October 2020 - 10

some of the other students on the team, and to encourage
these young people to consider joining. This would not
work well on the varsity level but could help to add a few
participants on the lower levels which are, by nature, the
developmental teams. And this also goes back to the basic
reason that young people participate in athletics is to have
fun with their friends. Use this factor to try and attract a few
more players.
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.Host clinics for middle school students and 'introduce'
.a sport, which may be unfamiliar and in need of
participants. Even for popular, well-manned teams, this is a
good technique to promote your athletic program. If you use
your current varsity athletes to help at this clinic, it will also
provide an opportunity for younger students to get to know
and form a bond with your high school team members.
.Help to create middle school and community
.recreational leagues for sports which may have
experienced a decline in athletes trying out. Your part
in this effort would be to put together an organizational
committee, provide ideas and a sample league constitution,
and how to attract and train coaches. In essence, these
teams represent a feeder program which is critical in order
to increase the number of potential participants.
.Schedule informational meetings with middle school
.parents to introduce the philosophical concept of
education-based athletics and what you offer in your
program. With competition from community-based travel
teams, this informative effort is an important step to outline
the benefits of your program. This step may help to ensure
the vitality of your high school program and to maintain or
improve participation levels.
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.Arrange for parent meetings in addition to those in
.which you promote the benefits of your program to also
explain the dangers of specialization. It is extremely helpful
to start these educational initiatives early in the middle
school years and promote the multi-sport approach.
.Involve parents and the community in your fund-.
raising initiatives. The additional monies are vital
to help with the operation of your program and to stave
off the last result of having to use a pay-for-play system.
Explaining the objective of your fund-raising efforts is key to
getting community support which can come in the form of
volunteers, donations, and actual participation in the events.
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.Invite middle school and community teams to
.pre-determined, designated varsity games. In this
manner, young athletes and their parents get to see your
team in action, meet and interact with your players, and
the coaches after the game. This effort obviously has to be
planned and organized so that the youth teams have proper
adult supervision and that you have seating and other
arrangements in place to make a good impression.
To combat a decline in your participation rate, it may
take some creativity, planning, and hard work. But it can be
turned around and it all starts with you.
10 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
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September/October 2020

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