DrewVT6
07-13-2007, 07:44 AM
Brian Hillabush of the Batavia Daily News did a story recently on local codes of conduct for Section Five athletes.
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By Brian Hillabush
bhillabush@batavianews.com
Most schools require student-athletes and their
parents to sign a code of conduct before participating
in sports.
The reason schools do this is to protect the students
and help them make good decisions on and off the
field.
For some athletes, the code of conduct is a good set
of guidelines. For others, it’s just a piece of paper
they sign in order to play.
“I think (the code of conduct) is a great thing
because when you get to college there is more risk,”
said recent Byron-Bergen grad Alyssa D’Errico, who
will be playing volleyball at Penn State next year.
“It’s a good start for kids that want to do things in
the future. The consequences in college are huge,
you’ll get kicked off the team. It’s a good starting
step for kids that are looking to move on and do
bigger things.”
But the code of conduct issue isn’t cut and dry. Some
schools do not make students sign one and each school
has different penalties for different offenses.
There have been instances of kids that don’t get in
trouble being penalized because other players do get
caught drinking or doing drugs. Teams with sectional
title hopes can have them crushed with one or two key
suspensions.
And many of the athletes only sign the document
because they can’t play sports if they don’t sign it.
Schools are always going to have students sign a code
of conduct, but some wonder if changes need to be
made?
Different Rules for Different Schools
Individual schools dictate the rules in which their
athletes are expected to follow when it comes to
issues like drinking, smoking and drug use.
Some schools have similar rules, but some are far
apart.
Batavia will suspend an athlete for 20 percent of the
season (with a minimum of two contests) for a first
offense, like being at a drinking party.
The student must attend sessions with the Batavia City
School District student assistance councilor during
that time.
A second offense over the next six consecutive sports
seasons will result in a suspension for the rest of
that season.
A third offense during nine consecutive seasons — or
three years worth of sports — will result in a
permanent suspension from all athletic teams.
“I think our school’s code is very fair,” said boys
basketball coach Buddy Brasky, who has had one player
suspended for a first offense in recent years. “We
spent a lot of time trying to come up with a code that
had some bite, but isn’t just a punitive thing. This
gives an athlete a chance to get educated about what
they did, learn and grow from it.”
Notre Dame is another school that uses a percentage
for a first offense.
A Notre Dame student-athlete will miss 50 percent of
the season for a first offense, which can be reduced
to five games if the student attends classes at
Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance
Abuse.
The student is out for the season with a second
offense within four years and is kicked out of school
after a third offense.
“Our whole program is to discourage use and find out
if somebody has a problem,” ND athletic director/boys
basketball coach Mike Rapone said. “That’s why we put
the (GCASA) part in there. By being evaluated it can
tell us if it is something that needs more attention
or somebody just made a stupid choice.”
Attica has a somewhat complex situation for a first
offense.
A student-athlete is completely removed from his or
her team for one week and must attend classes at
GCASA.
The athlete cannot practice or play during the second
week, but is allowed to attend games and scrimmages
with his squad during that week.
He/she must attend GCASA or another drug and alcohol
treatment program and will be cleared after they
fulfill that agreement.
A second offense would result in removal from sports
for one year and a third time would end the athlete’s
high school sports career.
“You could be guilty just by being at a party,” Attica
athletic director/baseball coach Denny Leyden said.
“You have to have the sense to walk away. It’s a tough
point to get across, but it’s what school is all
about. Athletics should be an extension of the
learning curve. It’s a learning experience, not in a
classroom but on a field or court.”
Holley suspends an athlete for a couple of games on a
first offense, but will allow the student to get back
to competition sooner if they enter a drug and alcohol
abuse program.
“They need to know No. 1 that it’s illegal at their
age and No. 2 that athletes need to have higher
standards. They are definitely role models, whether
they like it or not,” Holley athletic
director/wrestling coach John Grillo said. “No. 3,
they need to know the health benefits. It says right
on the package (of cigarettes or alcohol) that it
isn’t good for you.”
All of those schools require students and parents to
sign a Code of Conduct.
Genesee Region League school Wheatland-Chili — which
is located in Monroe County — is on the other end of
the spectrum. A W-C athlete is not required to sign a
code of conduct prior to the season.
Instead, all students at the school must sign a
document that specifies how they are expected to
behave while attending the school.
“It’s an expectation,” said athletic director/boys
basketball coach Tom Dooling. “In our regular school
days, kids don’t sign a code of conduct saying they
aren’t going to cut a class. But they will still pay
the consequences.”
Even though students don’t sign a document, they face
some pretty harsh penalties. A student-athlete will be
suspended for the rest of the season after a first
offense for drugs or alcohol.
A second offense would mean a suspension for the rest
of the season and one more. If an athlete is caught
for a third time, he or she is done playing high
school sports.
Wheatland-Chili does not have students sign a code of
conduct, but has similar rules that all students are
expected to follow.
But there is some room for interpretation, depending
on the severity of the offense. The school might give
a lesser suspension for smoking a cigarette than
getting a DWI.
“You hear things about different schools,” Dooling
said. “We think our policy is pretty good and fair,
but you hear that another school will have a kid get
caught drinking and will miss a game or a practice. It
might not be a bad thing to have a set criteria.”
Section 5 Involvement
The New York State Public High School Athletic
Association and Section 5 both have no set policy
about drug and alcohol use for teams participating in
the tournaments.
It is Section 5’s policy that it is something that
should be left up to the individual school.
“We have a policy for kids getting ejected from games
for unsportsmanship,” said executive director Ed
Stores. “As far as drinking and violating a school’s
code of conduct, schools have to deal with that on
their own.”
Stores was the long-time superintendent at Attica and
has held the position at Caledonia-Mumford, Wyoming,
Perry, Avon, Geneseo and Keshequa on an interim basis.
He understands that some schools will punish some
athletes more than other schools will and doesn’t feel
that Section 5 should be stepping in at this point.
“I don’t have a lot of sympathy. Some schools have the
death penalty (meaning the athlete can never play
after one offense),” said Stores. “I don’t believe any
of my schools had the death penalty, but I wouldn’t
want to second guess any other administration or Board
of Education. It’s their decision.”
Stores says that the section has not looked at
adopting a universal code of conduct, but says that if
enough schools were interested, it would be something
to look into.
Some people believe it isn’t fair that schools have
different penalties for similar offenses, especially
because an athlete that did nothing wrong can lose a
shot at winning a championship because his teammates
do get in trouble.
There is an executive committee of 15 people and there
is an athletic council that would have to bring this
up at a Section 5 meeting to get things rolling.
“If a majority of schools were interested, we
definitely would sit down and do something,” Stores
said. “We take our direction from the schools. It’s a
democratic process.”
While some would favor a universal set of rules, the
logistics of setting something up are mind-blowing.
Section 5 has 115 schools and it would be very
difficult to get all of those schools to agree on one
set of rules.
“My firm belief is that you are representing your
schools, not Section 5,” said Leyden, who is the
president of the GR League. “It’s Attica versus
Alexander. You realize that all the schools in Section
5, if they were going to adopt a policy, you’d be in
the same boat. You have representatives for 115
schools sitting in a room trying to work out an
agreement. Everybody isn’t going to walk out in full
agreement. If Section 5 were to adopt a blanket
(policy), I’m willing to bet a number of schools would
disagree with it. They would have to change policies,
which they may have had success with. They may feel
it’s an infringement on them and they don’t want their
kids to be put in a spot where they could be in
trouble (when they wouldn’t before).”
“I don’t think it’s realistic,” Rapone said. “I don’t
think you are going to get agreement across the board
with 115 schools on what the penalties should be.
There are some schools with zero tolerance and some
with lesser penalties than ours. I think most schools
want to legislate on their own.”
Part 2 Coming Soon...
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s319/SectionVTalksback/BataviaDailyNews_220.jpg
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s319/SectionVTalksback/BrianHillabush.jpg
By Brian Hillabush
bhillabush@batavianews.com
Most schools require student-athletes and their
parents to sign a code of conduct before participating
in sports.
The reason schools do this is to protect the students
and help them make good decisions on and off the
field.
For some athletes, the code of conduct is a good set
of guidelines. For others, it’s just a piece of paper
they sign in order to play.
“I think (the code of conduct) is a great thing
because when you get to college there is more risk,”
said recent Byron-Bergen grad Alyssa D’Errico, who
will be playing volleyball at Penn State next year.
“It’s a good start for kids that want to do things in
the future. The consequences in college are huge,
you’ll get kicked off the team. It’s a good starting
step for kids that are looking to move on and do
bigger things.”
But the code of conduct issue isn’t cut and dry. Some
schools do not make students sign one and each school
has different penalties for different offenses.
There have been instances of kids that don’t get in
trouble being penalized because other players do get
caught drinking or doing drugs. Teams with sectional
title hopes can have them crushed with one or two key
suspensions.
And many of the athletes only sign the document
because they can’t play sports if they don’t sign it.
Schools are always going to have students sign a code
of conduct, but some wonder if changes need to be
made?
Different Rules for Different Schools
Individual schools dictate the rules in which their
athletes are expected to follow when it comes to
issues like drinking, smoking and drug use.
Some schools have similar rules, but some are far
apart.
Batavia will suspend an athlete for 20 percent of the
season (with a minimum of two contests) for a first
offense, like being at a drinking party.
The student must attend sessions with the Batavia City
School District student assistance councilor during
that time.
A second offense over the next six consecutive sports
seasons will result in a suspension for the rest of
that season.
A third offense during nine consecutive seasons — or
three years worth of sports — will result in a
permanent suspension from all athletic teams.
“I think our school’s code is very fair,” said boys
basketball coach Buddy Brasky, who has had one player
suspended for a first offense in recent years. “We
spent a lot of time trying to come up with a code that
had some bite, but isn’t just a punitive thing. This
gives an athlete a chance to get educated about what
they did, learn and grow from it.”
Notre Dame is another school that uses a percentage
for a first offense.
A Notre Dame student-athlete will miss 50 percent of
the season for a first offense, which can be reduced
to five games if the student attends classes at
Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance
Abuse.
The student is out for the season with a second
offense within four years and is kicked out of school
after a third offense.
“Our whole program is to discourage use and find out
if somebody has a problem,” ND athletic director/boys
basketball coach Mike Rapone said. “That’s why we put
the (GCASA) part in there. By being evaluated it can
tell us if it is something that needs more attention
or somebody just made a stupid choice.”
Attica has a somewhat complex situation for a first
offense.
A student-athlete is completely removed from his or
her team for one week and must attend classes at
GCASA.
The athlete cannot practice or play during the second
week, but is allowed to attend games and scrimmages
with his squad during that week.
He/she must attend GCASA or another drug and alcohol
treatment program and will be cleared after they
fulfill that agreement.
A second offense would result in removal from sports
for one year and a third time would end the athlete’s
high school sports career.
“You could be guilty just by being at a party,” Attica
athletic director/baseball coach Denny Leyden said.
“You have to have the sense to walk away. It’s a tough
point to get across, but it’s what school is all
about. Athletics should be an extension of the
learning curve. It’s a learning experience, not in a
classroom but on a field or court.”
Holley suspends an athlete for a couple of games on a
first offense, but will allow the student to get back
to competition sooner if they enter a drug and alcohol
abuse program.
“They need to know No. 1 that it’s illegal at their
age and No. 2 that athletes need to have higher
standards. They are definitely role models, whether
they like it or not,” Holley athletic
director/wrestling coach John Grillo said. “No. 3,
they need to know the health benefits. It says right
on the package (of cigarettes or alcohol) that it
isn’t good for you.”
All of those schools require students and parents to
sign a Code of Conduct.
Genesee Region League school Wheatland-Chili — which
is located in Monroe County — is on the other end of
the spectrum. A W-C athlete is not required to sign a
code of conduct prior to the season.
Instead, all students at the school must sign a
document that specifies how they are expected to
behave while attending the school.
“It’s an expectation,” said athletic director/boys
basketball coach Tom Dooling. “In our regular school
days, kids don’t sign a code of conduct saying they
aren’t going to cut a class. But they will still pay
the consequences.”
Even though students don’t sign a document, they face
some pretty harsh penalties. A student-athlete will be
suspended for the rest of the season after a first
offense for drugs or alcohol.
A second offense would mean a suspension for the rest
of the season and one more. If an athlete is caught
for a third time, he or she is done playing high
school sports.
Wheatland-Chili does not have students sign a code of
conduct, but has similar rules that all students are
expected to follow.
But there is some room for interpretation, depending
on the severity of the offense. The school might give
a lesser suspension for smoking a cigarette than
getting a DWI.
“You hear things about different schools,” Dooling
said. “We think our policy is pretty good and fair,
but you hear that another school will have a kid get
caught drinking and will miss a game or a practice. It
might not be a bad thing to have a set criteria.”
Section 5 Involvement
The New York State Public High School Athletic
Association and Section 5 both have no set policy
about drug and alcohol use for teams participating in
the tournaments.
It is Section 5’s policy that it is something that
should be left up to the individual school.
“We have a policy for kids getting ejected from games
for unsportsmanship,” said executive director Ed
Stores. “As far as drinking and violating a school’s
code of conduct, schools have to deal with that on
their own.”
Stores was the long-time superintendent at Attica and
has held the position at Caledonia-Mumford, Wyoming,
Perry, Avon, Geneseo and Keshequa on an interim basis.
He understands that some schools will punish some
athletes more than other schools will and doesn’t feel
that Section 5 should be stepping in at this point.
“I don’t have a lot of sympathy. Some schools have the
death penalty (meaning the athlete can never play
after one offense),” said Stores. “I don’t believe any
of my schools had the death penalty, but I wouldn’t
want to second guess any other administration or Board
of Education. It’s their decision.”
Stores says that the section has not looked at
adopting a universal code of conduct, but says that if
enough schools were interested, it would be something
to look into.
Some people believe it isn’t fair that schools have
different penalties for similar offenses, especially
because an athlete that did nothing wrong can lose a
shot at winning a championship because his teammates
do get in trouble.
There is an executive committee of 15 people and there
is an athletic council that would have to bring this
up at a Section 5 meeting to get things rolling.
“If a majority of schools were interested, we
definitely would sit down and do something,” Stores
said. “We take our direction from the schools. It’s a
democratic process.”
While some would favor a universal set of rules, the
logistics of setting something up are mind-blowing.
Section 5 has 115 schools and it would be very
difficult to get all of those schools to agree on one
set of rules.
“My firm belief is that you are representing your
schools, not Section 5,” said Leyden, who is the
president of the GR League. “It’s Attica versus
Alexander. You realize that all the schools in Section
5, if they were going to adopt a policy, you’d be in
the same boat. You have representatives for 115
schools sitting in a room trying to work out an
agreement. Everybody isn’t going to walk out in full
agreement. If Section 5 were to adopt a blanket
(policy), I’m willing to bet a number of schools would
disagree with it. They would have to change policies,
which they may have had success with. They may feel
it’s an infringement on them and they don’t want their
kids to be put in a spot where they could be in
trouble (when they wouldn’t before).”
“I don’t think it’s realistic,” Rapone said. “I don’t
think you are going to get agreement across the board
with 115 schools on what the penalties should be.
There are some schools with zero tolerance and some
with lesser penalties than ours. I think most schools
want to legislate on their own.”
Part 2 Coming Soon...