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New Ohio
Initiative Aims to Combat “Win-at-All Costs” Sports Mentality
OHSAA, National Football League Foundation, Cincinnati Bengals and
Cleveland Browns Among Ohio Supporters
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The InSideOut Initiative focused on transforming the
culture of the high school “win-at-all-costs” mentality is launching in
Ohio with the support of the Ohio High School Athletic Association,
National Football League Foundation and other local and national
organizations. The initiative takes a critical look at interscholastic
athletics by encouraging a system that focuses on the development of
the educational, social and emotional well-being of each
student-athlete.
First piloted by the NFL in Colorado and Texas in 2015, the InSideOut
Initiative encourages educational leaders, state athletic associations
and local NFL teams to partner together to address the brokenness of
the sports culture. The initiative is engaging stakeholders in
strategic conversation to re-define the role of interscholastic sports
in the lives of students and communities.
Ohio is the next state to launch this Initiative, thanks to
comprehensive funding from the National Football League Foundation.
Today (Monday, Oct. 17) in the Columbus suburb of Dublin, the OHSAA and
NFL Foundation are hosting approximately 90 leaders in the educational
and sports communities to discuss the initiative and plan for its
implementation.
“This initiative fits right into the OHSAA’s goal of developing
well-rounded student-athletes,” said Dave Gray, Interim Commissioner of
the OHSAA. “We look forward to launching the InsideOut Initiative in
Ohio.”
Ohio’s local NFL teams will also play a critical role in the
initiative. Both the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns have
endorsed the effort. “We are excited to engage key educational leaders
and sports organizations from across the state of Ohio in a
conversation that reinforces the purpose of education-based athletics,”
said Jody Redman, co-founder of the InsideOut Initiative along with Joe
Ehrmann, the author of InsideOut Coaching: How Sports Can Transform
Lives. “The goal is to win – we play, plan and prepare to win every
game – but this isn’t the purpose of education-based athletics. The
purpose is the human growth and development of the inner lives of
students and connecting them to caring adults in their school
communities.”
In addition to the OHSAA and National Football League Foundation, the
initiative also has support from the Ohio Interscholastic Athletic
Administrators Association (OIAAA); Ohio School Boards Association
(OSBA); the Buckeye Association of School Administrators (BASA); the
Ohio Association of Secondary School Administrators (OASSA), and the
Ohio Association of Elementary School Administrators (OAESA).
More details about the InSideOut Initiative can be found at
http://www.insideoutinitiative.org/.
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