These are from the past. Much of what is suggested still is valid. But, there are some mistakes and updates and debate is welcomed.
One of the most basic questions is, what is SwimISCA.org. CLOH can stand for a number of different themes.
Creating Literate Olympians Here works in the sports realm. Once Pittsburgh, or other places, took aim at creating literate Olympians, then we’d be investing in our youth and telling them that they can compete with the world right here, at home.
The four values that resonate well: Caring, Loving, Open, Honest can be put together to make another meaning for the SwimISCA.org name. You gotta care. We care. It is a sad day when we hear, “I don’t care.” Ugh. To be open and honest is not so easy.
Hope you are not confused yet as the good stuff is still to come.
Sports are games of time, space and relationships. That’s what a friend and author, Kevin DeForrest taught me.
This sports concept map below is not one that I designed. It is from the C-Map archives. All sports are not the same, of course. Some are much better than others. But, different strokes for different folks. Â Click on the image for a larger view.
This is more than 10-years old. It showed a view of aquatics. Spray parks are still a bad joke and an important update in this map is SKWIM. It needs to be inserted with a re-make.
Teams are places for connected learning to occur. And, a team is a focus of teamwork and sportsmanship.
Much of our energy into teams and sports happens in school-based sports, up to the age of 18 or so. Sadly, not much happens with sports and teams for people older than high school. That needs to change. Masters sports, masters teams, and adult leagues are welcome in our landscape. Play is too!
I used the graphic above to talk about PPS H2O in a position paper released after Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent, Doctor Linda Lane, floated the idea of fewer school sports to save some money. We don’t need fewer sports. We need better sports. We need better opportunities. Thankfully, that proposal was avoided.
The “City League” and the “WPIAL” have not always been on the same field. PPS Athletic Reform came, for a while, in Pittsburgh and some of our teams in some of the city schools got to join the WPIAL. The Obama Varsity Swim Team won its first WPIAL Section Title in its first year in the WPIAL Class AA in 2013. That year the squad had 13 seniors. In 2016, an Obama Boy Varsity Swimmer, Sead Niksic, grade 10, won the 100 fly in the WPIAL Championships, giving the city its first ever “gold medalist” in the WPIAL. There have been flashes of sports glory in our city in various schools and teams throughout the years. But, all has not been rosy.
Always something to look forward to. With Venture Outdoors on our team, we have high hopes.
Literacy efforts include being able to write on a wiki.
