ACAC VB Champions!

Tonight the Volleyball team finished the ACAC Regular Season 6-1 and were in a 3 way tie on top of the ACAC. So, they are Co-Champions in the ACAC.  This is our first ACAC VB championship and our first conference championship since 1993. I guess we need another Banner!

Tonight they played a fantastic game, completely dominating a VERY good Heritage team, 25-17, 25-15, 25-12. We honored Jordyn Knott and Katie DePew before the game because of the records they have set this year. Katie DePew got her 1000th assist earlier in the season and Jordyn Knott got her 1000th kill last week. Both of these girls and senior Laura Moynahan have been major contributors to this program. Laura is close to breaking the single season record for digs (held by Katie Depew). Tonight all of these girls played with a lot of passion and never lost the momentum tonight!

We are so proud of these girls and wish them the best in the ACAC tournament next week. Roll Big Train!

Another ACAC Win!

Well it wasn't pretty. But, it counts the same in the Win column. Garrett defeated a good Adams Central team tonight in 5 games. Adams Central won the first game easily. We won the second game easily. They won game 3 and we won game 4. Game 5 was close until the end but we came out on top.

Next Up Leo! They are a really good team and we need to make sure everyone is there to help support our Volleyball program in its quest for an ACAC Championship!

Tuesday - Scoreboard

What a busy night at GHS tonight.

The Boys and Girls Cross Country teams were defeated by Leo, but they defeated Bluffton tonight in the first ACAC action of the year. The girls were led by Amanda Stump and Ariel McCoy placing 3rd and 4th in the meet. The Boys were led by Jaron Somers and Kendal Slabaugh who finished 1st and 2nd in the meet.

The Volleyball teams also saw their first ACAC action tonight defeating Bluffton 3-0 in the Varsity match and 2-0 in the JV match.

The Boys Soccer team defeated Angola in the Varsity game 2-0. The JV tied the Hornets 0-0 in the JV half.

The Girls Soccer team was defeated by Leo tonight 8-0.

The JV Football team destroyed West Noble by the score of 24-6.

All-in-All a good night to be a Railroader!

How to Talk to Your Child's Coach

Truth #1 = Coaches are not evil.

Truth #2 = You can communicate with your coach.

This is a great video that endorses our Athletic Department policy on Coach/Athlete/Parent communication.

Watch the video for tips and ideas from someone outside our school. I think you will see our philosophy is not unique!

If you as a parent have a question or problem with your coach, there is a proper way to communicate. In short, our policy is to follow this process:

1. The first step is to encourage your athlete to talk to their coach personally and privately. One of the most popular questions is about playing time. The best way for an athlete to handle this question is to ask, "What can I do to increase the amount of time I get to play in games?" I have never, ever heard of a coach that won't take the time to answer this question of a player. We want our student-athletes to learn through their participation in sports. One of those learning experiences is to learn how to communicate properly with adults who have authority over you. This is not always a comfortable situation, but it is great for them to learn. The question doesn't have to be about playing time. ANY conversations about questions or problems that come up during the season should start with a Player / Coach discussion. 95% of the time this is the only discussion that needs to occur. As the video says, students can become responsible for their own experience.

2. If this meeting does not go well or if issues are not resolved, it may become necessary for the athlete/parent to set up a meeting with the coach to discuss the issue. As with the player/coach meeting, this discussion needs to be in private and NOT after or before a contest. Most schools use a 24 hour rule. This rule says that a player or coach will not talk to a coach within 24 hours of a contest. This gives some "cooling off" time. Cooling off time is important because parents are passionate about their kids, and they should be! But sometimes emotion can get in the way of problem resolution. Follow the 24 hour rule, it works!

3. The 3rd step is for the Athletic Director, ME, act as a mediator for resolution of the problem. I can tell you that every single one of our Coaches at GHS talk to me about issues that come up on their teams, DAILY! There are very few problems I am not aware of (however, sometimes it does occur!) After going through the first two steps, if your son or daughter does not feel the problem has been resolved, I should be contacted. Re-read that statement. Make sure it isn't just a problem YOU have. If the athlete is satisfied, let it drop. If not, I will schedule a meeting with all the interested parties and we will come to some type of resolution. That doesn't always mean we can fix it to a parents or athletes satisfaction. Sometimes we just have to agree to disagree about the resolution of a problem But, we are committed to doing what we think is best for the kids at GHS.

4. The 4th step is to forward this problem to the Principal. He/She will also set up a meeting to talk about the situation with all the parties involved. Again, if the problem is not resolved to your satisfaction.

5. The final step is to set up a meeting with the Superintendent.

I was a parent of a couple of GHS students at one time. I am proud that my kids graduated from GHS! They participated in many sports and extracurricular activities. I know how much it hurt me when my daughters were upset about how things were going on their team or at school. But, try to take the emotion out of it. Try to look at both sides of the issue. Our coaches care deeply about your kids. They want what is best for your son or daughter. The Coaches want and want what is best for the team. You may disagree with their decisions, but they do it with a good heart. No one can say our coaches don't care about their players. No one can say they don't want the best for their team. I love our coaches, athletes, and parents at GHS. Roll Big TRAIN!