AB Newswire - Athletic Business

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Remembering P.E. Advocate Phil Lawler

Michael Popke

If your organization has received a Carol M. White Physical Education for Progress (PEP) grant sometime during the past decade, you have Phil Lawler to thank. Lawler lost his battle with cancer last Friday at the age of 60, but his legacy will live on for generations.

The architect of a revolutionary P.E. program in Naperville, Ill., that actually improved more than students’ ball-handling skills by incorporating high-tech fitness equipment and detailed health-risk assessments, Lawler went on to share his P.E. methods with hundreds of physical educators and school officials at training sessions in 10 different countries. He became a staunch P.E. advocate on Capitol Hill and helped write the PEP grant, which has awarded hundreds of millions of dollars to enhance and even sustain P.E. programs at public and private schools, YMCAs, Boys & Girls Clubs and other facilities since 2001. And his vision was the catalyst for the creation of PE4life.

It would not be an overstatement to suggest that Lawler — a man I interviewed multiple times — helped changed the face of physical education in this country, making it more accessible to kids of all abilities, and putting greater emphasis on lifelong fitness. As he once said regarding the so-called “new P.E.” movement: “It’s about enabling each student to maintain a physically active lifestyle forever. It means emphasizing fitness and well-being, not athleticism. It eliminates practices that humiliate students. And it assesses students on their progress in reaching personal physical activity and fitness goals. A [quality] program exposes kids to the fun and long-term benefits of movements. It’s really that simple.”

It wasn’t really that simple; the numerous articles AB has published about the challenges of running effective P.E. programs attest to that. But Lawler’s positive attitude made you think quality physical education for every student always was within reach. He maintained that attitude even as his cancer worsened, which made you believe him even more.

Posted At 2:13 PM • Comments (0)

Monday, April 26, 2010

Life-Changing Leadership

Paul Steinbach

Congratulations to Pat Laus, owner and founder of The Atlantic Clubs in Manasquan and Red Bank, N.J., on receiving the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association's Outstanding Community Service Award.

Laus founded Clubs for the Cure in 2006 as a fundraising platform to help fight breast cancer, and within six months her team of Atlantic Clubs members and staff, as well as individuals within the local community, produced the largest donation in the 12-year history of The Avon Foundation 2 Day Walk for Breast Cancer. Within three years, the total amount donated would exceed $1 million.

Pat IHRSAAward.jpg

In 2008, Clubs for the Cure joined forces with fitness pioneer and Life Fitness cofounder Augie Nieto to assist in his personal battle against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Clubs for the Cure/Augie's Quest united more than 1,000 health and fitness clubs through The Power of One campaign, designed to encourage clubs to take one day and host one event for one hour to help one man raise ALS research funds. To date, the collective effort has contributed more than $2.5 million toward the $22 million plus raised by Augie's Quest Cure ALS.

IHRSA president Joe Moore describes Laus as a true visionary and leader, adding that she represents within the fitness industry "a role model that all can follow in making a difference in and beyond their community."

In fact, Laus credits participation in a management-development program focused on self-expression and leadership as her community service catalyst. "My experience with this program was life-changing," Laus says. "It expanded my vision to do more than I previously thought possible."

Posted At 2:27 PM • Comments (0)

Friday, April 23, 2010

'Help Wanted' Help

Paul Steinbach

The National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association knows a little something about competition, and nowhere is competition more intense these days than within the job market. That’s why I dropped into the Career Opportunities Center this week at the annual NIRSA conference in Anaheim, Calif., to learn more about what the association does to help match aspiring recreation professionals with help-seeking employers.

“For students and young professionals, this is the reason they join NIRSA,” says C.O.C. chair Tim Moore, recreation director at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. “I would say 80 percent of them join to get a job.”

The first step on a rec professional’s journey typically takes the form of a paid graduate assistant position. Jessi Hobart secured her G.A. — a two-year, $28,000 stint with University of Tennessee aquatics — through the C.O.C., where she has volunteered during the past four NIRSA conferences. She credits this early exposure to the job-hunt process for helping her land her first full-time position; Hobart officially takes over as aquatics coordinator at the University of Southern Mississippi in July.

On Wednesday, she took me on a walking tour of the C.O.C. (co-sponsored by fitness equipment manufacturer Star Trac) past separate tables filled with file folders — some containing the profiles of job seekers, others the available positions at various institutions — which are constantly being cross-referenced. Some employers rent presentation rooms to expose as many prospects as possible to their openings, and a large schedule board of sessions is posted in the C.O.C. (one Western Kentucky University session drew a full house of 45 prospects). Tables stocked with pens and two-sided appointment-request forms (one side reads “To Candidate,” the other “To Employer”) were available, as were two-dozen computers open to bluefish.com, the job site “Powered by NIRSA” and used by Hobart to connect with Southern Miss. Some students even arrive with their own resume paper, which they feed into one of four available printers. “I am noticing that students are getting more and more prepared each year,” Hobart says.

Finally, tall pole-and-drape spaces are set up for those parties seeking on-site interview privacy, though the hallways outside the C.O.C., located in the Anaheim Marriott, were abuzz with interviewers chatting up interviewees. And while Hobart admits that the C.O.C. helps fill far more G.A. positions with students than it does high-level administrative openings with established rec professionals attending NIRSA, representatives from the University of Arizona and Texas A&M stopped in Anaheim along their quest for the Holy Grail — someone to fill vacant directorships. Says Hobart, “Really, it’s all about the best fit.”

According to NIRSA membership coordinator Kimberly Brandt, final C.O.C. utilization figures will be crunched once the center closes with the conference later today, but her sense is that, after years of growth, the number of on-site job seekers and employers were both down somewhat this year due to the economy. “What has really grown is our job-seeking web site,” Brandt says, “but we still value the face-to-face time and old-fashioned handshake connections.”

Posted At 11:58 AM • Comments (0)

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Reconnecting with Paul Wilson

Paul Steinbach

Opening day of the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association conference is history, and I can't think of a better person to have spent a good chunk of it with than NIRSA historian Paul Wilson, who dropped by the Athletic Business booth to reconnect.

Athletic Business Conference veterans will remember Paul, a longtime AB editorial advisory board member and a fixture at ABC from its inaugural year in 1977 all the way through 2002. Wilson's affiliation with NIRSA goes back even further, to his undergraduate days at the University of Oklahoma, where he eventually ascended to the position of intramural sports director.

He has served as NIRSA historian since 2004, and his appointment as such was recently extended through 2014. In his current capacity, Wilson chronicles (via digital photography and video) roughly eight events each year, including intramural championships in a variety of sports. "NIRSA is truly an organization that becomes family. People connect and stay connected throughout their entire careers," Wilson says. "And I can say the same thing about AB."

Stay connected, Paul.

Posted At 11:12 AM • Comments (0)

Stop the Insanity

Paul Steinbach

I got to talking with an aquatics professional during Day 1 of the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association conference in Anaheim, Calif., when our conversation suddenly made me think of an article that will appear in the May issue of Athletic Business. Written by AB editor Andrew Cohen, "Breaking the Code" addresses how building codes established for public assembly spaces often don't make the strictest sense when applied to recreation facilities.

Turns out the same can be said for aquatics venues. My NIRSA exhibitor friend told me that code often dictates that an emergency stop button be specified on water slides and lazy rivers — even the smallest of slides and the laziest of rivers — based on the view that these features essentially constitute amusement park rides. In all practicality, they don't. Oftentimes, this provision "prices clients out of what they want to do" in terms of their facility's design, according to my source, not so much because installing the buttons is costly, but rather staffing them is. Code likely requires a lifeguard to be within five feet of each button.

Look for Andy's article, which delves into the sometimes nonsensical application of fire code occupancy formulas to racquetball and gymnasium courts — and, come to think of it, indoor pools — in the coming weeks.

Posted At 10:40 AM • Comments (0)

Monday, April 19, 2010

Safe At Home — But For How Long?

Michael Popke

We’ve published lots of stories in recent years about school districts faced with budget crises so severe that administrators were forced to consider (or at least threaten) the elimination of prep sports. But, eventually, they would find a way to salvage at least some programs — whether through reducing or removing athletic director positions, curtailing long-distance travel or finding other creative fundraising solutions. Options, it seemed, were always available.

But last week, the Mansfield (Mass.) School Committee ran out of options — or so it appeared. Members voted to eliminate all high school sports, which would have been a Massachusetts first. Facing a $1.8 million budget gap despite dropping 44 staff positions (including some teachers), school committee members told district residents that their action was no scare tactic. “This is not fake,” committee chair Jean Miller told The Boston Globe. “If you look at the numbers, we just can’t make up that huge of a gap.”

Mansfield boasts state-of-the-art athletic facilities, and prides itself on the performance of its prep teams. So it’s no surprise that reaction was swift. The Globe article alone generated more than 240 wide-ranging online comments. On Friday, the school committee (citing public pressure) and town officials reached an agreement to send $850,000 from the municipal budget to help restore sports programs at the school. As one town official involved in the transaction told WBZ-TV, “We didn’t solve a problem. I think we basically moved money around and bought ourselves time.”

But how much? Regional media outlets are reporting that 22 staff members still will need to be laid off to keep sports alive, student-athletes will be forced to pay a participation fee and important public-works projects — such as the repair of a local dam that is falling apart — will be put on hold (or require funding from alternate sources). Had Mansfield gone through with the original plan to strike sports from the local high school experience, it would have set a major precedent, and a heartbreaking one, at that. But now, the district may find itself leading the charge in a new way for schools to save sports, one in which, as the old idiom goes, it becomes standard practice to rob Peter to pay Paul. Then what happens?

Posted At 10:44 AM • Comments (0)

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Strength of Heart

Michael Popke

My father has three stents in his chest, which help keep the arteries to his heart open. He has been hospitalized for cardiac issues several times during the past 10 years, and the last time was the scariest. Since then, Dad has maintained a consistent rehab/workout routine at his local YMCA, and I gave him my old iPod to help him enjoy exercising even more — and to replace those ugly AM/FM radio headphones he used to wear, the ones with the antenna sticking up.

Even though I’m proud of his progress, I’m not sure he’s ready for next month’s American College of Sports Medicine World Heart Games just yet. So while Dad won't be competing, I’m sure plenty of other cardiac rehab patients are ready for something like this. The Olympics-style competition created specifically for them is slated for May 14-15 at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Ga. Among the several challenging, yet safe and monitored events: basketball, volleyball, tennis, table tennis, golf, bowling, a softball throw, a soccer shoot and specific cardiovascular exercises. But time is running out to register and have a physician fill out the required release form.

Apparently, a variation on the World Heart Games has been around since 1990, when the Georgia Association of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation began sponsoring the Heart of Gold Games. That concept led to the creation of the International Heart & Lung Games, which were held in 2003 and 2006. Now comes the latest incarnation, sponsored by fitness equipment manufacturer NuStep and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca — and presented, oddly enough, by The Coca-Cola Company. It is expected to attract approximately 250 participants. But how cool would it be if enough cardiac patients (and potential sponsors) show interest in this type of competition to lead to the creation of World Heart Games sites around the country — similar to State Games? Some would-be participants may not be able to travel to Georgia, but closer destinations might hold great appeal.

“Cardiac patients often see themselves in a diminished light, with concerns about how cardiac or pulmonary problems likely will permanently limit physical aspects of their lives and lead to more life-threatening events,” says F. Stuart Sanders, chair of the World Heart Games’ organizing committee. “We have seen these games transform patients’ outlooks, generating excitement and confidence about how much they might achieve.”

I’m gonna tell my dad.

Posted At 1:50 PM • Comments (0)

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Venue Bending

Paul Steinbach

With the NCAA crowning champions in three major sports this week, it's clear which among them reigns superior with the ticket-buying public, as evidenced by the adaptation of the host venue to each sport.

In previewing the men's basketball Final Four in Indianapolis, one commentator described Lucas Oil Stadium as "a football stadium built for basketball." With the court positioned dead center on the surface typically occupied by the NFL's Colts, and surrounded by temporary and permanent seating in such a way that the seating chart looked like a study in near-symmetrical arena design, Duke defeated Butler on Monday night before 70,930 fans. That's roughly three and a half times the combined capacities of the combatants' home venues — Cameron Indoor Stadium and Hinkle Fieldhouse, respectively.

On Tuesday night, UConn and Stanford met in the women's basketball championship game in San Antonio's Alamodome, which one could argue is a basketball venue built for football. When it opened in 1993, the NBA's Spurs were the dome's lone occupants, playing their games on a floor positioned at one end of the building. And so it was again this week (the site had served the women's Final Four in 2002, as well), with a crowd of 22,986 witnessing UConn's 78th consecutive victory and a title repeat for the Huskies.

This Thursday, semifinal games in the men's ice hockey Frozen Four will be staged at Detroit's Ford Field, arguably the reigning champion among multiuse facilities hosting major events. The home of the NFL's Lions also welcomed the 2009 men's basketball Final Four, WrestleMania 23 in 2007 and Super Bowl XL in 2006. When selecting the site for hockey, the NCAA had envisioned a centrally located ice sheet and unprecedented attendance potential, but opted instead for venue truncation, with the rink situated at one end. "Taking sightlines and the current economy into consideration, we felt this design was the best for everyone involved," said NCAA senior vice president of championships Joni Comstock in a prepared statement last fall. With Ford Field's hypothetical hockey capacity cut nearly in half, the 36,000 remaning seats are still enough to potentially shatter the previous Frozen Four attendance record of 19,432 set three years ago in St. Louis. In that sense, the Scottrade Center was penalized by the fact that it's an actual ice arena.

I'm not against venues built primarily for one sport being converted to serve another. In fact, the best example I've seen to date was an outdoor WNBA game staged two summers ago in 22,547-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium, the first time the home of the U.S. Open had been used for anything but tennis. Though short of completely filled (19,393 fans attended the game between the New York Liberty and the Indiana Fever), the steeply raked seating bowl appeared to wrap the hardwood every bit as functionally as it does the hard court underneath.

Despite how far-flung some fans might find themselves, there's really no end in sight to the venue bending. Stadium ice hockey is fast becoming commonplace, with a world record crowd anticipated for a college game this December at the University of Michigan's 106,000-seat football stadium. Lucas Oil Stadium, by virtue of its location in the NCAA's home city more so than its food service history, I suspect, will welcome back the men's basketball Final Four in 2015 and the women's Final Four the following year. And this June, the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks will host the Seattle Storm at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. However, in doing so, the Sparks, who drew an average 10,397 fans to Staples Center last season, are actually downsizing, as the multisport complex's tennis stadium seats only 8,000. Perhaps the thought of placing a basketball court on the center's soccer pitch surrounded by 27,000 seats was too big a stretch.

UPDATE: The NCAA men's ice hockey semifinals at Ford Field produced similar storylines — with Wisconsin ripping Rochester Institute of Technology, 8-1, and Boston College overpowering Miami of Ohio, 7-1. According to box scores posted at insidecollegehockey.com, the attendance at each game was identical — 34,954 (sellout) — and a record for indoor hockey. However, having flipped on ESPN to watch my alma mater skate in the first semifinal, which had the unfortunate local start time of 5 p.m., it was clear that the game drew a lot of empty seats. And it was equally clear that the NCAA made the right decision to configure the rink at one end of Ford Field and not smack dab in the middle, a la the men's basketball Final Four at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Posted At 3:50 PM • Comments (0)

Friday, April 02, 2010

Take Me Out to the Ballpark

Paul Steinbach

To welcome the Major League Baseball season, ABCNews.com today offers its list of "America's 7 Best Ballparks." The subtitle of the piece authored by Scott Mayerowitz reads "These Baseball Stadiums Make It a Great Day Out Whether or Not Your Team Wins."

With the help of expert opinion, Mayerowitz lists "super-sized televisions, amazing views and high-end food" as drivers of the gameday experience in today's best parks, and he quotes Sports Illustrated senior writer Jon Heyman, who adds of park design, "They've gotten away from the cookie-cutter park, thank goodness."

AT&T Park home of the San Francisco Giants

Mere mention of "cookie cutter" in describing dated ballpark design nearly makes me want to slash my wrists with one. So I'm not going to go there myself.

But I did go to MLB.com and looked up the 2009 home records of the clubs occupying Mayerowitz's magnificent seven to see which fans were most likely to have a great day out AND see their team win.

Red Sox Nation enjoyed the best odds, as Boston won 56 of 81 regular-season games played last year at Fenway Park — the oldest, quirkiest stadium in the bigs. San Francisco fans faired nearly as well, witnessing 52 wins at AT&T Park. Safeco Field in Seattle, Wrigely Field in Chicago, Citi Field in New York and PNC Park in Pittsburgh weren't as hospitable, with home victory totals of 48, 46, 41 and 40, respectively. The club least likely to cap a great day at a great park with a W? The Baltimore Orioles, the only team on the list aside from Pittsburgh with a losing record at home — in this case, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the design of which is often credited with spawning the retro-park revolution in 1992.

The eventual World Champion New York Yankees owned last season's best home record — 57-24 — and their now two-year-old stadium earned an honorable mention from Mayerowitz's experts. The worst home showing, by the way, belonged to the Kansas City Royals, who went 33-48 at Kauffman Stadium, which got no mention from ABC. Built with unique visual amenities (including a centerfield fountain) in the 1970s, the waning years of the — oh, I'll just spit it out — cookie-cutter era, the park has undergone renovation and incorporated ticketing innovation in an ongoing attempt to attract fans.

To what degree a park's appeal actually puts butts in the seats is difficult to pin down, as stadium capacities vary widely, but I checked ABC's list against team attendance rankings anyway. With league-wide attendance down 6 percent last season, none of the chosen parks cracked MLB's top-five destinations. However, Wrigley, Citi (in its debut season) and Fenway followed at numbers six through eight, and AT&T landed in the 10th spot.

PNC Park, meanwhile, saw fewer fans trip the turnstiles than 27 of the league's 30 teams. So when the Pirates host Los Angeles in their home opener Monday, here's hoping fans enjoy the view of Pittsburgh's skyline and riverfront, even if they lose interest in what unfolds on the field.

Posted At 11:36 AM • Comments (0)