The “InsideOut Coaching Initiative”, supported by the NFL Foundation in partnership with the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals, with the direct involvement of the Ohio Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (OIAAA) and the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) is gaining momentum in schools across the state. The InSideOut Initiative focuses on transforming the culture of the high school “win-at-all-costs” mentality. 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.

 

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 engages stakeholders in strategic conversation to re-define the role of interscholastic sports in the lives of students and communities.  


“This initiative is something that we’ve talked about for several years”, stated OHSAA Executive Director, Dr. Dan Ross.  “Now, we’re seeing it come to fruition.  This is needed in today’s society and will help us reemphasize what the real purpose is for interscholastic athletic programs, which is to provide educational opportunities.  We’re certainly pleased that the InsideOut Initiative is in Ohio and will provide guidance for our schools.”

 

Bruce Brown, the Executive Director of the OIAAA stated, “Our school administrators have desired to get back to ‘true north’ of the mission and purpose for education-based athletics in our schools.  This initiative will provide an on-going conduit to train, re-purpose and grow our students, coaches, administrators, parents and the school community as to ‘why’ we provide sports within our schools.”

Over the course of the past 12 months, training and workshops have been conducted in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati with well over 150 school districts represented at these sessions.  From these workshops, several schools have progressed in establishing study and internal group sessions to engage their coaches with InsideOut transformative coaching.

 

Ohio schools and administrators who have progressed to heightened levels of InsideOut training include:

 

Edgewood HS (Greg Brown)

Kenton Ridge HS (Kris Spriggs)

Granville HS (Matt Durst and Kevin Jarrett)

Loveland HS (Julie Renner and Brian Conatser)

Maysville HS (Mark Rider)

New Richmond HS (Doug Foote)

Northeastern Local School District (Dr. John Kronour)

Northmont HS (Jim Smith)

North Olmsted HS (Mike Ptacek)

Rocky River HS (Mark Wagner and Michael Murray)

Strasburg HS (Gary Spinell and Brett Hershberger)

Strongsville HS (Andy Jalwan)

St. Ignatius HS (Rory Fitzpatrick and Brad Ganor)

 

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/.