Eidson, who serves as the school’s athletic director, is also regional director for the Metro Detroit Charter League. He made an interesting observation about sports participation at his school and came up with a way to get more students involved.
“I felt like we had grown our competitive league enough that it almost seemed like we were turning away more kids than we were keeping, because of tryouts and cuts.”
That prompted conversations with Director of School Quality Nancy Kouba and Principal Ralph Garza about creating additional clubs and activities related to sports.
“We did some fifth- through eighth-grade camps and tried bowling and indoor soccer this year. Indoor soccer ended up being a little more difficult to do in the winter, but bowling went really well, then we finished up with flag football. Flag football ended up being this really big thing because it's not a sport that we offer elsewhere.”
It’s also getting a lot of attention from becoming an Olympic sport for the first time, and the inclusion of National Football League (NFL) players in the competition.
Eidson’s drive comes from his gift of organization and ability to bring people together. He approached other area National Heritage Academies (NHA®) schools and gauged their interest.
“Keystone Academy was one of the schools that I included in the pilot, and they were able to run their own club. Here at South Pointe, we have Achieve Charter Academy right around the corner, so we ran it here with a couple coaches and then Achieve kids were invited to come here.”
His hope is to cultivate three tiers of sports within the school: a competitive league based on tryouts, a league for students in the same age group as the competitive league who just want to play the game and stay active, and a third group that involves more age groups who are just getting a feel for team sports.
“It's about providing opportunities for all those kids who either don't try out, don't make the team, or things like that. So, we run a basketball club for the kids who aren't on the basketball team who want to come and play and practice. It's a little bit less pressure.”
A side benefit has been staff involvement. Eidson said more teachers are getting involved in the clubs, even if they don’t have a sports background.
“You'd be amazed at how many teachers who have no interest in the competitive side of things but would love to come in on a Saturday and work with third and fourth graders doing a volleyball or basketball camp or do bowling. It’s been an awesome experience.”
Congratulations on adding to a great sports culture, Mr. Eidson!
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About South Pointe Scholars Charter Academy
South Pointe Scholars Charter Academy is a tuition-free, public charter school in Ypsilanti, Michigan, serving students in Young 5s through eighth grade. It is part of the National Heritage Academies network, which includes more than 100 tuition-free, public charter schools serving more than 65,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade across nine states. For more information, visit nhaschools.com.
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