Athletics Statement of Philosophy Girls learn much more than mere physical skills through their participation in athletics as they benefit from the values of discipline, dedication, selflessness and hard work derived from team participation. The collaborative experience of pursuing and attaining a common goal in athletics is unique as it is combined with interscholastic competition.
Through this experience girls are able to develop courage as they take risks, strength while displaying finesse, competitive intensity while exhibiting generosity of spirit, and mental as well as physical endurance. While the focus is to facilitate the development of each girl’s athletic potential, the greater hope is to instill motivation to continue in life- long physical activity.
Tigers’ Steps to Success
• Facilitate each girl in becoming a better athlete and player of a given sport by maximizing her individual learning and creating opportunities for successful contributions to the team in a safe environment.
• Increase self-awareness, self-efficacy and self-confidence through athletic participation.
• Have each athlete learn to be her best self both in winning and in losing.
• Understand and act in accordance with being totally committed to the team and to be an exemplary representative of the school.
• Learn to work collaboratively and effectively with others.
• Guide each girl to find her voice as a leader of her peers.
• Find a love for movement activities and to instill intrinsic motivation to continue physical activity throughout one’s lifetime.
Westridge Sports The Westridge Athletics program offers 12 sports and oversees student involvement in Equestrian through the Interscholastic Equestrian League (IEL) and the Saddle Seat and Western School League. Sports seasons are as follows:
Fall Cross Country – JV and Varsity Golf – Varsity Tennis – JV and Varsity Volleyball – Freshman/Sophomore, JV and Varsity
Winter Basketball - JV and Varsity Soccer - JV and Varsity Water Polo - JV and Varsity Spring Lacrosse – JV and Varsity Softball – Varsity Swimming & Diving - JV and Varsity Track & Field - JV and Varsity
California Interscholastic Federation Westridge is a member of the California Interscholastic Federation of the Southern Section (CIF-SS). CIF is the governing body which oversees all sports in California. All rules and regulations pertaining to sports activities including everything from eligibility to playoff parings are overseen by CIF. Postings of playoff progress and information about each sport are located at http://www.cifss.org
League Affiliation Westridge competes in the Prep League for the majority of sports offered. The league is comprised of Chadwick School, Flintridge Preparatory School, Mayfield Senior School, Polytechnic School, Providence High School (Burbank) and Rio Hondo Preparatory School.
The Equestrian program is a member of the Interscholastic Equestrian League (IEL) and participates for Westridge during the four annual shows. Also, Westridge has students who have participated in the The Saddleseat and Western School League of Greater Los Angeles.
Physical Education Credit Girls are required to take six semesters of physical education during their tenure at Westridge. Two sports equate to one full year of credit. Should girls wish to be in one sport, they will need to add another physical education class to fulfill their requirement for a given year. Westridge offers Physical Activity Credit should girls wish to continue with their club sport throughout the year. Additional information can be obtained by speaking with the Director of Upper School or the Director of Athletics.
Commitment to Athletics Each athlete is required to practice Monday through Friday during the season and participate in all competitions. Due to scheduling outside of the Prep League, several sports will have competitions on Saturdays. Families need to plan around the athletics schedule during the season as attendance is mandatory.
While Westridge does not currently require participation during the summer or off- season, it is a requirement that girls arrive to the first day of practice in competition-ready condition. Westridge offers physical conditioning after school year-round. It is critical to the success of the program that girls take advantage of this opportunity. Also, girls are encouraged to participate in sport camps, on club teams and to play their sport as much as possible throughout the year in order to develop their fundamental skills. The pursuit of athletic excellence is a daily commitment.
Eligibility Westridge’s first commitment to each student is to provide an excellent education. In order to ensure that girls are achieving this goal, student-athletes must strive to maintain their GPA while competing. Should a student have a “C-“ or below in any two classes, she will not be eligible to practice or compete on a sports team as she will be on Academic Probation.
Health/Athletic Trainer Certified by the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA), an athletic trainer (ATC) is the member of the allied health community whose role is to care for and help prevent athletic-related injuries. At Westridge School, there is a certified athletic trainer on staff as the safety of our athletes is of the utmost importance. The priority of the athletic trainer is to provide on-site care for practices and contests. The athletic trainer will supply a first aid kit/bag for all sport teams which will include health and emergency contact information.
In the event that an athlete sustains an injury, it is her responsibility to communicate with the coach and/or athletic trainer immediately after the injury is sustained. The athletic trainer will then evaluate the injury and give treatment instructions to the athlete and reiterate them to the parent(s)/guardian and coach. If the athlete’s injury limits her participation in practices or games, the athletic trainer will inform the coaches and parent(s)/guardian and direct the family to seek further medical attention. In most cases, the injured athletes will be required to attend practice as an observer until she can resume full participation.
If the athletic trainer is treating an athlete for an injury, it is that athlete's responsibility to arrange for and attend the treatment session at the designated time. Athletes who need to be taped or treated for an injury must do so in a timely manner prior to practice/competition or before the bus leaves for competition.
If an athlete sees a physician regarding an injury, the athlete must present a signed physician release form to the athletic trainer or Director of Athletics before she is allowed to resume practice or participate in competition.
Strength and Conditioning Westridge offers year-round weight training and conditioning every day after school from 3:15 – 5:15 p.m. For those students who are not participating during a given season, we strongly encourage daily training to better prepare our athletes.
Communication The Department of Athletics wishes to encourage open dialogue pertaining to any aspect of your daughter’s or your experience related to a given sports team. Concomitantly, we wish to empower each girl to represent herself should a conflict occur. Girls are encouraged to first talk directly with their coaches should they have questions or concerns. If the issue is not resolved the athlete may then wish to speak with the Director of Athletics. Should the issue in question continue, at that time it is appropriate for the parent(s)/guardian to be involved.
Expectations for Coaches Coaches are hired to disseminate information pertaining to their sport, assess individual talent, determine game strategies, guide individual improvement, motivate the team, foster leadership and provide a safe environment for our athletes. While coaches are to be positive role models for the girls and friendly in their manner, they are not “friends” of the girls. As such, coaches are not allowed to correspond with student-athletes using personal email, cell phones or be members of social networks with Westridge students. Westridge provides all coaches with a Westridge email address. Coaches are encouraged to foster team-bonding activities during practices or after competitions if scheduled in advance (e.g. In-N-Out Burger after the Chadwick game). Team members enjoy dinners and parties outside of Westridge, but should be aware that coaches are not allowed to participate. Coaches may attend one team event during the season (e.g. pasta party) as long as parents are present, the event is for the entire team and the Director of Athletics has been notified in advance.
Parent Role Parents are our greatest advocates as they inspire excellence in their daughters and seek the same in our Athletics program. We encourage parents to foster their daughter’s athletic passion by enrolling them in camps and clinics as appropriate and to encourage their daughter’s to try several sports during their Upper School years. The most critical role that parents play in their daughter’s athletic development is to be a voice of positive encouragement – girls tend to be very self critical and need ongoing positive feedback to offset this predisposed style. Girls are also acutely aware of “false-positives” which demeans their performance as it is disingenuous. While not every performance can be stellar, constructive criticism housed in positive feedback will facilitate the athlete’s development. Additionally, parents should first and foremost be parents by supporting their daughter’s efforts with positive feedback – coaching during the game should be left solely to the coaching staff.
Parent Liaison This year we are requesting a parent volunteer from each team who is willing to communicate to the Director of Athletics on a regular basis. The goal is to work in partnership with our parents in order to have the best athletics program possible.
Logistics
Forms All parents and athletes will complete the CIF-SS Code of Ethics, Westridge Athletics contract and Concussion Information sheet annually in order to participate in the Athletics program. Forms are distributed at the beginning of each season.
Practice times All sports will practice after school during the school year. While there are rare exceptions on occasion, it is the priority of the Athletics Department to practice five days per week. Practice times for the majority of sports will be from 3:30 – 5:30 p.m. Volleyball and basketball will have at least one team practice during the later slot of 4:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Parent Pick-up Parent(s)/Guardians may pick-up their daughter’s from practice/competitions which are not located on the Westridge campus as long as they have physical contact with a member of the coaching staff (i.e. parents are not allowed to wait in their cars outside or call ahead to have their daughter meet them down the block). All students are to be picked-up by 6:00 p.m. as outlined in the Parent/Student Handbook. Should a sport practice be regularly scheduled past 6:00 p.m., parents must meet their daughters in the gym. If girls return after 6:00 p.m. from a competition, a member of the coaching staff will wait with the girls in the State Street lot until all girls have gone home.
Transportation Girls will be transported to games and practices by school bus or Westridge vans. The majority of the time girls will ride the bus departing from State Street. Release times are posted such that girls will have ten minutes to gather their uniforms and equipment and be boarded on the bus ready for departure. With the goal of remaining in class as long as possible and with traffic concerns, it is imperative that girls expedite their travel time between class and the bus by preparing in advance.
Weekly Email Weekly the athletics department confirms game time and location with the opposition in order to alleviate miscommunication. The weekly email is distributed each Friday afternoon with the upcoming week’s confirmed schedule. While every attempt is made to update schedules in all locations, should there be a discrepancy, the weekly email is the most current informational document.
Finalsite The parent and student portals have an Upper School Athletics page where important dates, coach contact information, ordering instructions for letter jackets and weekly updates are posted.
Sports Schedules All sports schedules including linked directions are posted online at www.westridge.org
MaxPreps MaxPreps is a website which compiles statistical information for schools and sorts by respective leagues. Westridge sports on MaxPreps are basketball, lacrosse, soccer, softball, volleyball and water polo. Go to the following link and type in “Westridge” then proceed to the sport you wish to preview: http://www.maxpreps.com/national/national.htm
Snack Calendar The parent liaison will oversee the calendar. He/she will send you the information for you to sign-up for a game. Parents are responsible for transporting all snacks directly to the competition site.
Varsity Letters All student-athletes competing on a varsity team 50% during a single season are awarded varsity credit and will receive the Westridge “W”. Subsequent years athletes will receive a varsity bar for each year of participation. Student will receive a pin with their sport represented. The Director of Athletics distributes the awards.
Letter Jackets Letter jackets are available to order year-round for all Upper School athletes. Ordering instructions are found on Finalsite/US Athletics.
Letter Sweaters Letter Sweaters are ordered by request. The Director of Athletics will email the pertinent information. Pricing decreases as the number of sweaters ordered increases (basic group discount). The cost is approximately $85.00 based on quantity.
Awards At the conclusion of the season a Recognition Evening will be scheduled on campus. Each team will distribute team awards. Typically, coaches will select an MVP and offer a Coaches Award, Freshman of the Year, etc. Awards are determined annually by the head coach and may differ from year to year. While it is important to give credit to those athletes who excel, the department philosophy recognizes each girl’s contribution as being critically important to the success of the team.
All Prep League Awards At the conclusion of each sports season all of the varsity coaches meet to select the All Prep League teams. Each coach is allowed to nominate girls for both the first and second team. However, girls who are nominated must have supporting statistics to be credible – it does not serve the program to nominate, for example, all starting players. The coaches from all Prep League schools then cast their vote and the girls with the highest number of votes are then placed on the first team. The same process occurs for the second team. The MVP is voted for last and is a member of the first team.
CIF-SS Awards Girls are nominated by Westridge coaches and coaches from area schools. Generally, girls are nominated from the first team All Prep League as their statistics, sportsmanship and contribution to their team as well as their sportsmanship is exemplary.
Extra Information
PLAC The Prep League Athletic Council is group comprised of athletes and athletic directors for all Prep League Schools. The goal of the council is to ensure a respectful and safe competitive environment at all league schools. Girls will apply to be a member of PLAC on an annual basis.
Westridge Tigers Athletes Leadership Council The Westridge Tigers Athletics Council is comprised of athletes in their sophomore through senior year. Athletes apply for membership to the council in the spring of each year. The goal is to work with student-athletes and PLAC representatives to develop leadership skills, discuss current issues and elevate Westridge Tigers’ school spirit.
Physical Education While Westridge benefits greatly from affording Upper School students physical education credit for athletics participation, it is our responsibility to continue to educate our girls beyond the basic sport fundamentals. Coaches will begin to focus on adding sports history, biomechanics, sport psychology and physiological principles into sport practices.
Collegiate Athletics Melanie Horn, Director of Athletics has competed at the NCAA Division I level (UCLA) and has been a junior college (LACC), Division I and III assistant coach (University of Southern California, University of Redlands) and a Division III head coach (Occidental College). With her coaching experience and the expertise of our Director of College Counseling, Lynn O’Grady, we welcome families who wish to explore their daughter’s future as an NCAA athlete. Email Melanie Horn directly to schedule your meeting.
Links California Interscholastic Federation – Southern Section (CIF-SS) http://www.cifss.org/
California Interscholastic Federation – State Office http://www.cifstate.org/
NCAA College Recruiting Information - http://www.ncaa.org/student- athletes/future/recruiting
Women’s Sports Foundation http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/
Positive Coaching Alliance http://www.positivecoach.org/