Who says athletes are dumb?

     We took a break from watching the pros this afternoon to attend a midday celebration for the football teams at Cardinal Newman High School.  The school hosted an informal dessert affair perfect for the guests of honor, dressed in shirts and ties, in the brand new Convocation Center.  Cookies, brownies and plenty of drinks were served while coaches and players gathered together to celebrate a successful season.

     It was a phenomenal football season.  Despite losing in the northern state championship final to San Ramon Valley, no one could be disappointed with a team that went 11-2-1, winning the North Coast Section Championships for the second year in a row and challenging for the chance to return to the state championships down south.  It was, as the coaches reminded the boys, the stuff that memories are made of.

     Today, however, in celebrating the sports accomplishments of the school, a subtext to the proceedings caught the collective eye of those in attendance.   Of a school with just over 425 students, and a combined varsity and JV football team roster of about 60 kids, 32 of them earned the status of NCS Scholar Athletes.  The North Coast Section, the governing entity of high school sports for the north coast, recognizes student athletes that maintain a 3.5 or higher GPA.  These Newman students’ GPAs ranged from a 3.5 to a 4.57, an average only attained through taking AP or advanced placement courses.  In other words, while these young men were performing on the fields of Sonoma County and beyond, they did not lose sight of the fact that academic performance is equally as important as touchdowns, tackles and victories.

     Day after day these athletes attended practices that ran well into the evening.  It was not uncommon for my oldest, upon being picked up from practice, to fall fast asleep in the car on the long ride home, exhausted from the afternoon’s workout.  After recharging the batteries with a hearty dinner, he would head straight to his bedroom to begin the hours of homework assigned to him during the day’s classes.  This same scene was repeated day in and day out in the homes of many of Newman’s football players.

     When I was in college, I remember taking a freshman Geology class that was affectionately known as “Rocks for Jocks”.  Apparently it had gained its reputation as the “easy” course for the esteemed (if not dim-witted) football players at Boston College.   There are no “Rocks for Jocks” classes at Newman.  These boys are doing college prep work, earning 3.5 and higher GPAs while studying AP Spanish, Calculus and Trigonometry, Biology, Chemistry, World History and English to name just a few.

     But Newman does not draw the distinction between “real” education and athletics.  Coach Paul Cronin, in addressing the players and their families, spoke of Newman’s commitment to education, both on and off the field.  “We’re in the business of developing young men,” he went on to say.  “We use the opportunities both in the classroom and on the field to do that.  That’s what I love about coaching here.”

     It’s not lip service.  At the hands of some truly wonderful men, this group of boys is developing into young men.  Not only did they excel on the field but in the classroom as well.  In this age of the overpaid, over-hyped, and over-valued athlete, it’s nice to know that our young athletes, and their coaches, have their priorities straight.