In the latest issue of “IRISH,” Notre Dame’s alumni magazine, NDPMA Executive Vice President and Director of Advancement Andy Guest writes to his fellow alumni about Notre Dame’s recent decision to leave the Catholic High School League.
He discusses student safety and the fact that Notre Dame always will make such decisions with the best interest and safety of its students paramount. He says the school’s teachers, coaches and administrators have a legal and moral obligation to provide the safest environment possible for all its student-athletes.
“When it comes to football,” Guest, a 1984 NDHS graduate, says, “that includes having adequate equipment, teaching proper technique, limiting the amount of ‘hitting’ in practice, implementing concussion protocol, monitoring heat indexes, ensuring athletes get adequate fluids and scheduling games against programs with similar-sized athletes and programs. These are common-sense steps that we can take to ensure that the sport is as safe as possible.”
Read on. . .
Andy Guest is a Notre Dame alumnus and executive vice president, director of advancement at the school.
Dear alumni,
I am sure that many of you saw the news coverage and read the school’s response letters regarding Notre Dame’s decision to withdraw from the Catholic High School League (CHSL) on the grounds of safety. As a former ND football player, athlete of the year, CHSL scholar-athlete (Joe Pascuzzi award), current CHSL coach (cross country/track & field) and administrator, I wanted to offer my perspective on the decision.
The history
The CHSL was formed in 1926 and Notre Dame has been a good league member since the founding of Notre Dame High School (NDHS) in 1954, the co-existence of NDHS and Notre Dame Prep (NDP) from 1994-2005, and the continuation of NDP through 2016. In total, our relationship with the CHSL goes back 62 years. During that period, we have forged rivalries and won (and lost) our share of championships. We have always competed at a high level, held our heads high (win or lose) and never compromised our values of teamwork, spirit and fair competition.
The Catholic High School League (CHSL)
The nature and complexion of the league has changed dramatically over the last several decades. In the mid 1960s, there were 111 Catholic High Schools. Today, the league is comprised of 24 Catholic Schools and three other religious/private schools.
The decrease in the number of member schools has made scheduling more difficult for all sports, but particularly in football, where there are a limited number of games and schools are required to earn at least six victories to qualify for state playoffs. In recent years, the larger all-male Central Division teams have had difficulty in finding other schools willing to play them.
The league’s solution is to require the teams in the medium-sized AA Division to play a crossover game against the larger, more established programs of the central division, thereby allowing the central division teams a better opportunity to qualify for the state playoffs. To compensate for the virtually guaranteed loss for the AA Division teams, the league has offered that the smaller Intersectional Division would also play a crossover game against a AA Division opponent, so that the AA Division could ensure an easy victory as well.
Notre Dame’s position
It is ND’s contention that forced crossover football games, such as those proposed by the CHSL, present a mismatch and increases the likelihood of injury for the athletes in the smaller programs. This opinion is shared by many other schools and state associations and is supported by scores of articles and research that is being conducted throughout the nation.
In fact, the league’s own policy guidelines for league and sectional alignments address the issue as follows:
"Student safety: In contact sports, the number of participants in those sports programs through bonafide eligibility will be considered. This means the number of students actually participating on the varsity, junior varsity and freshman levels. Example: Team A dressed 50 players and Team B dresses only 20 players. This may seriously jeopardize the physical safety of their few players." (The full guidelines can be found at the CHSL website: www.chsl.com/the-chsl/regulations/chsl-policies)
READ ABOUT NOTRE DAME RECENTLY EARNING THE NATIONAL “SAFE SPORTS SCHOOL” AWARD
We understand that other leagues also schedule crossover football games, but that doesn’t mean it is right. We also understand that “playing up” can be a real opportunity for a team and a program in certain circumstances. However, our contention is that the smaller schools should have the ability to choose when these matches occur and that safety of the student-athlete must be considered as a first priority. In other words, the coaches and athletic departments should be the one to determine a school’s readiness to compete at higher levels.
The football argument
Football is a fast, physical, violent sport with high-impact collisions almost every play. Despite its ferocity, it is ideal for forming friendships, building teamwork and teaching values such as hard work, overcoming adversity and getting back up when you are knocked down.
When evaluating a football team’s ability to compete versus another team, you have to look at both the total number of male students in the school as well as the size of the athletes in the program. The Central Division teams generally have 2-3 times the number of male athletes in their programs versus the AA Division teams and the athletes themselves tend to be bigger in size. (A couple of alums have noted that we have scheduled games against some larger public schools. This is okay provided the programs are competitive. Thus, size and competitiveness both have to be evaluated).
Football is a game of physics.: force = mass x acceleration. In a collision sport such as football, the size and speed of the players has a direct effect on the force of the impact at the line of scrimmage and downfield. What happens over the course of a game is that larger, bigger athletes and programs wear down their opponents by applying more force. This is compounded by having more athletes at each position. The number of snaps for players on each team is not equal. That is often why injuries tend to occur later in a game.
Notre Dame has tremendous athletes on the football team. They are multi-talented, student-athletes who participate in a wide variety of athletic and extracurricular activities. Even though they might welcome the opportunity to compete against a Central Division team, the simple fact of the matter is that we don’t have the depth to compete. Even when I played in the early 80s (when ND was in the Central Division), we had six or seven players who would play both ways versus opponents that generally would have athletes only playing one way. Over the course of the game, we would simply wear out. At that time, the number of male students at ND was 827. Today, we have 371 males in our school.
In short, to force smaller teams and programs to compete against larger, more established programs serves no purpose and puts the student-athlete's safety at risk. To paraphrase one of our teachers, “Concussions don’t build character. Concussions mean students miss class and suffer memory loss.” The same goes for torn ACLs, separated shoulders and broken bones.
The playing of crossover football games is not a new idea. Notre Dame agreed to play Catholic Central in 2005-2008. We played four years in a row and lost each game with a combined score of 212-31. The games were not competitive, the amount and severity of injuries were high and neither team benefited from or enjoyed the competition. While Catholic Central got an easy win, our players got injured. Is a win for a Central Division team more important than the safety of the AA Division athletes?
Our responsibility as administrators
As teachers, coaches and administrators, we have a legal and moral obligation to provide the safest environment possible for our student-athletes. When it comes to football, that includes having adequate equipment, teaching proper technique, limiting the amount of “hitting” in practice, implementing concussion protocol, monitoring heat indexes, ensuring athletes get adequate fluids and scheduling games against programs with similar-sized athletes and programs. These are common-sense steps that we can take to ensure that the sport is as safe as possible.
Closing
My father will turn 86 in April. He played offensive guard and inside linebacker for Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central from 1944-1947 and was a captain. He wore a leather helmet and weighing a mere 136 pounds, he was a tough son of a gun. But times have changed.
Athletes are bigger, stronger and faster than ever before. What used to be known as “getting your bell rung” is now known to be a serious sign of injury to the brain.
While we cannot eliminate all risk in football (or any other sports for that matter), we can mitigate those risks by implementing simple common-sense measures, such as responsible scheduling. This is critical in collision-based sports such as football.
It is hard to imagine, but some national pundits are questioning whether football will still be played at the high school level in the future. If we love the game of football, then it is incumbent upon us to take the steps necessary to ensure that we do everything we can to mitigate risk.
Until the CHSL recognizes the legitimacy of our position, we will remain at odds. Our hope is that some day, Notre Dame will once again return to the CHSL. Until that time, Notre Dame, under the guidance of Our Mother, will forge its own path as an independent, Catholic school and stick to our mission of forming Christian persons, upright citizens and academic scholars.
Respectfully,
Andy Guest ‘84 (NDHS)
Executive Vice President, Director of Advancement
Head Cross Country Coach
Assistant Track & Field Coach
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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." The Marist Fathers and Brothers sponsor NDPMA's Catholic identity and manages its educational program. Notre Dame is accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools, the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.