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Tackling eligibility at Quincy High School
Editor’s Note — This article, written by QHS football coach Stephen Wallace, appeared in the Winter 2011 edition of The Washington Coach. It is reprinted with Wallace’s permission.
By Stephen Wallace
QHS football coach
The year before I was hired at my previous football program, I watched as the team finished the season with 11 players. I came in and focused heavily on recruiting as many players as I could. We began the season with 34, however, when the first grade check came out we lost 18 of those players. We lost two more after the second grade check and ended up finishing the season with 14 players. We needed a better game plan.
The following year, we implemented a study table program like we had in college for athletes with low grades. We made it mandatory for all players. The following year, we began the season with 29 players and ended with 22. Success! Over the next four years, the percentage of players remaining academically eligible got steadily higher. Not only did the numbers of eligible players increase, but our team’s overall GPA rose from 2.4 to 3.1 In addition, we had more players eligible for winter and spring sports because of the new study skills and attitudes toward academics. The ultimate payoff came when my first group of freshmen graduated and all of them went on to further their education; some to colleges, some to technical school and one enlisted in the Marines. The discipline they learned at the study table served them well beyond their high school years.
When I was hired as the football coach in Quincy, I implemented the same study table program and the results have been similar. In two years, the overall team GPA has risen from 2.85 to 2.95. The varsity GPA improved even more from 3.03 to 3.24. During those two seasons, our turnout has increased as well as our number of academically eligible individuals who finished the season. The study table builds commitment both on and off the field. What started out as my selfish desire as a coach to have more eligible players turned into a personal learning experience about how to use athletics as a tool to improve academics.
Our coaching staff has embraced the belief that we must develop students first and excellent athletes will naturally follow. Our team practices begin at the study table. We begin every player/parent meeting with academic topics first. At the end-of-the-season banquet, we begin with academic awards for individuals. grade levels (9-12) and teams (C-squad, JV and Varsity) with the best GPA’s. We are consistent in demonstrating to our players the importance of being a student first and then an athlete.
Study table runs Monday to Thursday from 3 to 3:45 p.m. At the beginning of every season, we inform the parents that their student athletes will be home later than normal, but we also assure them that their students will be mostly, if not completely, done with their homework. Study table is like our players’ seventh-period class. They have five minutes to get from their last class to study table in the school library or they are considered tardy, which results in team OSI’s (opportunity for self-improvement). This is strictly enforced.
Study table is not a place to socialize or study football plays. The atmosphere is serious and work gets done. Once in session, study table is much like a regular class. Students must sign in on arrival and must have a pass to leave. Students may go to any teacher’s classroom for extra help, but they must present a pass to go, sign out, and bring back documentation verifying how much time was spent and what was accomplished.
Most students need help with basic study skills: learning to prioritize tasks and time, accepting responsibility to complete daily homework assignments, organizing notes and notebooks and studying for exams. Many need an insistent adult voice reassuring them that school work is important. Some student-athletes would rather fail and have their coaches and peers think they are lazy than admit they need help and risk being considered “dumb.” The mandatory study table does not let the student-athletes have the option of choosing whether or not to seek help. The expectations are clear: school work will be done and help is readily available.
Academic competition and study table are not always enough for some students, therefore every year I put together a list of student-athletes who need to be watched based on their previous grades. Our coaching staff tries to make almost daily contact with these students using simple statements — always positive and sometimes joking — but always about academics. We want our players to know we think it is as important to be focused in the classroom as on the field. While there is no “cure-all” for the problem of ineligible student athletes, we are having fewer problems with that because of the emphasis we have placed on academics first and the impact that study table has made.
