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Saline Joins VNN And Hits The Ground Running
With a full sports calendar year under the belt of VNN now, the Michigan based company that set up shop in West Michigan is now expanding it’s horizons and moving across other regions in the state. The first east side school to join the network is Saline. Just about 10 minutes south of Ann Arbor, Saline High School has exploded in growth over the past 15 years. In 1996, the school had just over 900 students. Today, the Hornets are double that size and their Athletics program has seen the same type of growth.
The Hornets previously had a website that was cutting edge but they wanted to take what they were doing well and take it to the next level. Athletic Director Rob White recently did an interview with an online local newspaper, the Saline-Milan Patch and had this to say. “Technology continues to change and it provides us more opportunities.”
When AnnArbor.com cut back on its sports coverage, White saw a need that wasn’t being met.
“High school sports coverage isn’t where I’d like to see it—especially for some of the less mainstream sports like tennis, water polo or lacrosse. We wanted a site that would help bring our athletes the recognition they deserve,” White said.
White has big plans for the site this year which was quoted in the article as well, “Starting this fall, aspiring writers, journalists, videographers and photographers from Saline High School will be on the sidelines taking notes, asking questions and shooting pictures and video. White hopes the students will cover four or five athletic events each week. Students will do the work for extra credit.”
The Hornets also will be making a big push to promote and integrate their own spirit store, where parents can purchase Hornets clothing, gear and accessories in just a few clicks.
Saline is just one example of a school utilizing all of the efforts we have put forth to develop new features on a monthly basis. The network is growing in coverage and in capabilities. Saline will also be using the site as an informational tool for vital programs, such as Pay to Play and online handbooks for coaches and parents.
White finished the article with this quote that sums it up, “I think it will make things more convenient for parents, for the coaches, for the students and the parents.”
Thanks Rob, this gives great meaning to the old Field of Dreams mantra, “If you build it they will come.” Yes and in the the case of Saline, they will not only come but when they get here, they will take full advantage of all the tools and pump out a winner that leads by example.
School Sports teaches what students really need to learn
This post was originally written on VNN Co-Founder Ryan H. Vaughn’s blog.
The education system in Michigan is struggling right now, thanks to budget cuts of hundreds of dollars per student. This puts the onus on educators to make some very tough decisions about what is important for a student to learn, and who should a “successful high school student” be upon graduation.
Priorities have long ago been established that a graduate should be able to read, write and perform mathematic calculations at a basic level. Much lower on the perceived scale of importance, school sports are often among the first educational tools that schools discuss cutting.
As a former high school athlete, I look back at my brief career in jerseys and sneakers as the origin of much of who I am today. My competitive drive, my discipline, and any leadership abilities that I can claim all stem directly from my time on the hardwood. Anything important in today’s world can only be accomplished with a team, and you certainly don’t learn how to function as part of a team, much less build and manage a team, from a book.
One of the most important thinkers in today’s economy, Seth Godin, wrote a blog post recently on what he thought we ought to be teaching high school students. All but three (reading critically, the scientific method, personal finance) are most directly learned through participating in a team sport:
- How to focus intently on a problem until it’s solved.
- The benefit of postponing short-term satisfaction in exchange for long-term success.
- How to read critically.
- The power of being able to lead groups of peers without receiving clear delegated authority.
- An understanding of the extraordinary power of the scientific method, in just about any situation or endeavor.
- How to persuasively present ideas in multiple forms, especially in writing and before a group.
- Project management. Self-management and the management of ideas, projects and people.
- Personal finance. Understanding the truth about money and debt and leverage.
- An insatiable desire (and the ability) to learn more. Forever.
- Most of all, the self-reliance that comes from understanding that relentless hard work can be applied to solve problems worth solving.
Sports can teach us so much, and for most of us without a 50″ vertical leap we have only four years to soak it all in before that opportunity is gone.
Or we can choose to eliminate school sports because of budget cuts. And then we’ll need to learn how to lead a team in math class.
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