Implementation ofFreshmen Football by Jose Luis Salazar A project submitted to Sonoma State University in partial fulfillment ofthe requirements for the degree of MASTERS OF ARTS III Education with a concentration in Education Leadership Dr. Paul Porter, Chair Mr. Valintino Verhunce Copyright 2012 By Jose Luis Salazar ii AUTHORlZATION FOR REPRODUCTION OF MASTER PROJECT I grant penmSSlOn for the reproduction of this thesis in its entirety, without further authorization from me, on the condition that the person or agency requesting reproduction absorbs the cost and provide proper acknowledgment ofauthorship. DATE: ~ II" ")tJ/2­ iii IMPLEMENTATION OF FRESHMAN FOOTBALL Project by Jose Luis Salazar ABSTRACT Purpose of the Project: I plan to implement freshman football in the Santa Rosa City School District (SRCS). I am developing a freshman football program that I believe would benefit many young men we serve at the high school settings. SRCS does not offer any opportunity for freshmen to play on a freshman-only football team. SRCS is the only local district that participates in the North Bay League in the Sonoma County League that does not offer a true freshman program. Freshmen are forced to tryout and compete against sophomores and juniors for starting positions on the junior varsity (JV) football team. Procedure: I arranged weekly meetings with Richard Swain and Rod Lund to address issues, discuss concerns, decide who to contact, delegate the next steps, reviewed updates, etc. We met with Russ Peterich, the SRCS high schools' Athletic Director Coordinator SRCS and Assistant Commissioner in the North Bay League (NBL), and with Doug Bower, who is the SRCS Associate Superintendent in the Business Services delegated to the district financial decisions. We met with all five SRCS high school sites in meeting that included administrators, athletic directors, and coaches. Findings: The first objective of the meetings was to confirm a guaranteed "iron clad" self­ funding Freshman Football Program by reallocating a paid assistant football coach's salary of $2,551 to pay each new head freshman football coach. The second objective was to gain support/buy-in from each site's administrators, athletic directors, and coaching staff. The third objective was to provide a self­ analysis regarding the impact offreshman football on student movement between schools. The fourth objective was to provide an estimation ofa roster count that freshman football could generate. Finally, the fifth objective was to explain the general benefit that the implementation of freshman football would create. Conclusion: Implementing freshman football might potentially help many youths in the Santa Rosa City School District; however, the ultimate decision regarding this simple attempt to provide additional support to many adolescent males district-wide will iv be made based on availability of funds. The annual budget is the primary driving force influencing school boards and district offices. Although site administrators, athletic directors, coaching staff, parents, school board members, and non-profit organizations involved in school athletics all see the benefits of implementing freshman football, funds may not be made available. During times of economic recession, low test scores, and decline in overall student achievement, it is difficult to make a case for supporting boys playing football when there are so many Ot dS on limited bu~ets Chair: --------~---- -- Signature MA Program: Education Sonoma State University Date: ---b~~~-------- v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT To begin with, I would like to thank Dr. Porter for his guidance and direction throughout my M.A. project. I would like to express appreciation to Val Verhunce and Chris White, my M.A. committee members, for their trust and their commitment to this project as well. In addition, I am extremely grateful to Richard Swain and Rod Lund for their dedication to youth sports, for their endless hours of volunteer time, and for their vision in freshmen football. I would also like to thank the Santa Rosa City Schools' high school principals, athletic directors, coaches, Booster Clubs members, and Schools Plus for their time and willingness to work with me on this project. Finally, I would like to thank my family ... my lovely wife, Shannon, for her patience, love, and understanding. I would like to thank my daughters, Jessica, Ana, and Angelina. for being wonderful. I also would like to express extreme gratitude to my sister, Rosie, for her constant support in editing and suggestions. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page List of Figures ............................................................................................................viii List of Tables ............................................................................................................ .ix Chapter 1. Introduction...................................................................................................... 1 2. Literature Review ............................................................................................. 12 3. Description of Procedure .................................................................................27 4. The Project .......................................................................................................63 5. Conclusion .......................................................................................................74 References ..................................................................................................................81 vii List of Figures 1. Sample Meeting Agenda ....................................................................................... 40 viii List of Tables 1. SRCS High School Summary for 2010-11 ............................................................34 2. Disciplinary Hearing and SARB Data, School Years 2009/2010, 2010/2011, & 2011/2012 .............................................36 3. Tentative SRCS Freshman Football Program 2012-2013 School Year .................66 ix 1 Chapter 1 Introduction A passage from A Time to Lead/or Duty, Honor, and Country by Wesley K. Clark (2007) states, Public schools are the crucible ofthe nation. Training and testing grounds where standards are set and norms established. They are crucially important in shaping and solidifying the personalities and character traits ofthe young people who pass through them. Sadly, most young people today don't claim the experience ... fixing this is one of America's most urgent problems. (p. 42) By pursuing the goal of my project, I am willing to help start to fix this problem. My objective is simple: I plan to implement freshman football in the Santa Rosa City School District (SRCS). I want to shape and solidify the personality and character traits of the many young men who will be involved in this program. For my master's project, I am developing a freshman football program that I believe will benefit many young men we serve at the high school settings. Currently, SRCS does not offer any opportunity for freshmen to play on a freshman-only football team. In fact, out of all the major high schools in Sonoma County, SRCS is the only district that does not offer a true freshman program. Freshmen are forced to tryout and compete against sophomores and juniors for starting positions on the junior varsity (lV) football team. For many young men, this is a difficult annual process that must occur under the current district policies. It is a completely unfair process to require all incoming freshmen to compete against sophomores and juniors for starting positions. In addition, once freshmen have made the lV rosters in the SRCS high schools, then they must compete against sophomores and juniors from other schools during games because the other schools have freshman football. There are many distinct differences 2 between freshmen and older students. Young men between the ages of 13 and 16 are experiencing drastic changes in their attitudes and body compositions. Second-year players or sophomores develop much more in the weight room, make incredible leaps in their knowledge ofthe game, physically mature in their awareness on the field, and have a greater understanding ofthe fundamentals that they are expected to acquire. At Montgomery High School (MHS), many freshmen never bother to try out for JV football during their freshman year because they feel it is pointless to try to compete against older students. Those students fall behind in learning the fundamentals of football. They lose the opportunity to develop and build a cohesive core group ofplayers that will play together for the following four seasons. They are also unable to fully experience an adequate strength and conditioning program that will maximize their true physical potentiaL At Santa Rosa High School (SRHS), Elsie Allen High School (EAHS), and Piner High School (PHS), many freshman players tryout for football, but do not bother to come out again as sophomores due to frustration or because of having a negative first-year experience. Nobody likes to be cut or turned away, so for the players, this process can initially be difficult to accept. At MHS, many freshmen are cut from the team and are encouraged to join local youth football organizations as an alternative; however, those freshmen view the youth football alternative in a negative light instead of seeing it as a positive opportunity to develop as players. Other freshmen quit because they realize that they will not be able to have any playing time and conclude that they