Clover Park gains academic coach thanks to NFL
Grades are even more important than touchdowns for the Clover Park High School football team. For players, that means mandatory study hall, motivational speakers and help applying for college.
The extra support is possible this year thanks to a grant from the National Football League’s foundation.
“I want these young men to have as many options as possible when they graduate,” said head football coach Jon Randall. “Football is that instrument to help them get the grades and keep them interested in school.”
The Lakewood school is one of two in the state to win a spot in the National Football Foundation’s Play It Smart program. The two-year grant provides $15,000 annually for an academic coach to work with high school football players throughout the school year.
The initiative aims to raise players’ grades, graduation rates and college entrance exam participation while developing life skills and community involvement. After starting with four schools in 1998, the program has grown to 160 high schools in 78 cities and 33 states, assisting 10,000 student athletes.
The grant is considered seed money, with the goal of schools finding their own funding to continue the program.
Clover Park, a school in a high poverty area that has struggled with test scores, applied for the grant last spring and started the program in September.
It has seemed to make a difference for the Warriors, who just ended their football season.
More players met the district’s academic eligibility rule: Maintain at least a 2.0 grade-point average, equivalent to a C average, and have no Fs, to qualify to play games.
At the midquarter grade check, five weeks into the semester, 38 of the team’s 98 players were ineligible two seasons ago, said Clover Park High athletic director Scott Nordi. Last season, 30 out of 88 players were ineligible. This year, the number fell to 19 of 100 players.
Players scored higher grades, too.
Two seasons ago, the team’s overall GPA at midquarter was 2.40 and last season, 2.41. This season it’s 2.72.
“I have no choice but to attribute it to the program because of the change in study hall, the emphasis on citizenship and community service,” Nordi said.
EVERYBODY HELPS OUT
In past years, players struggling academically were supposed to spend some of their practice time getting help from teachers, Nordi said. But in a lament common among high schools, coaches had trouble arranging consistent study times or ensuring players actually showed up in other teachers’ rooms after school.
With the Play It Smart funding, Gus Lawlar, the team’s academic coach, monitors players’ grades and talks with teachers about struggling students.
He arranges and oversees the one-hour study halls in a classroom four days a week after school. With the practice and the study hall, players usually stay at school until 6 p.m.
“It gives us a chance to take care of some of the homework,” said junior Bobby Daly, one of the team captains. “That way when we go home after practice, we’re not all tired and we can’t do homework.”
Sophomore Tana Pritchard said he thinks the study halls have helped him earn higher grades this fall. So far, he has a 4.0, compared with last year’s 3.6, he said.
“It’s like a big study hall, with everybody helping each other out,” Pritchard said. “People who are better in a class will help the people who are weaker in a class, and vice versa.”
‘I BELIEVE IN THIS PROGRAM’
Has the program helped the team on the playing field? With a team record of three wins and seven losses, Nordi said, “I don’t know that it’s shown (success) yet. But we’ve had more kids on the football field because they’re eligible.”
Lawlar persuaded the school to apply for the grant last spring after learning about it from the Rainier Beach High academic coach. Lawlar, who previously coached the Warriors’ defensive backs, said he often saw players who had the potential to play college or high school ball but couldn’t meet the academic eligibility minimums.
During the study halls, Lawlar stresses the importance of good study habits, such as spending 15 minutes a day per class reviewing notes and terminology.
“My goal is to have a 3.0 team GPA. It won’t happen overnight,” Lawlar said. “We’re trying to change a whole culture at Clover Park.”
A prime focus, he added, is to nudge the teens to think about their future. Besides assisting teens with college applications, Lawlar prepares tapes of individual player’s game highlights and sends them to colleges to increase their chances for a scholarship. He invites community members to talk to the team about sexual harassment, personal hygiene and leadership.
The 48-year-old Puyallup resident also relates his experiences as a defensive back at Weber State University in Utah and later finishing his bachelor’s degree in management at the University of Phoenix.
“I believe in this program enough to where I quit my other job to do this full time,” said Lawlar, who used to direct a drug and alcohol rehabilitation agency.
‘IT HELPS A LOT’
Although the football season ended last week, Lawlar will continue the academic support for the rest of the school year.
That’s the kind of help Spencer Su’a needs. Since the defensive and offensive back must watch his little sister and cook and clean for his family, the senior has little time to study at home.
“For the last couple years, my grades in the season were steady enough to play. After the football season, it just kind of went down because I didn’t have encouragement and a coach to push me to do my homework,” he said.
“It helps a lot to have time to do homework here,” the senior said.
Nordi, the athletic director, hopes to eventually extend Play It Smart to other sports at the high school, and Lawlar is seeking funding.
“It’s showing our kids we can be successful, whether on the scoreboard or on the report card,” Nordi said. “It’s having a positive impact on our school and on our kids and our community.”
Debby Abe: 253-597-8694
By the numbers
Here are examples of the football team’s academic performance this season with the Play It Smart program, compared with the two previous seasons without the program. These grades are from the midquarter grade check.
Total players Players below 2.0 GPA Academically ineligible Classes failed Team GPA
2006 98 30 38 47 2.40
2007 88 21 30 57 2.41
2008 100 10 19 34 2.72
Source: Clover Park High athletic department Get involvedTo help the Clover Park High School football team’s Play It Smart program, call the school athletic office at 253-583-5520.
