At this link, you will find a copy of our Varsity Student-Athlete Handbook which I review in detail with every team before the beginning of each season. While the NCAA requires that I conduct this review of specifically-designated NCAA rules, I also cover a number of other issues related to students’ involvement in our intercollegiate athletics program.

I forward this document on to you because I know many parents are very supportive of, and very involved in, this part of their sons’ or daughters’ lives here on the Midway.

Consequently, if you have any questions about the items addressed in this manual – or any questions about our athletics program more generally – don’t hesitate to give me and/or the head coach a call, and we will be happy to speak with you.

THE ATHLETICS PROGRAM

Of course, you should be very proud of your child’s participation in our intercollegiate athletics program. He or she follows in a long and distinguished tradition that dates back to Amos Alonzo Stagg and the very invention of college sports competition, extending through Jay Berwanger – the first Heisman Trophy winner – on up to the current day.

We are particularly proud that our student-athletes almost perfectly reflect the larger student body in average cumulative grade point average and have four times gone on to win a Rhodes Scholarship since 1996.

In my letter to the students introducing the Student-Athlete Handbook, I quote G.K. Chesterton and will do so again where he talked about the appropriately balanced life.

"To play a good game of billiards is the sign of a well-rounded education, but to play too good of a game of billiards is the sign of a misspent youth."

I go on to tell student-athletes that we continue to believe – sincerely – in that truly unique balance of mind and body where good athletes and good teams win not only games and championships but academic distinction as well. This is not to say that we devalue athletic accomplishment – only that we achieve it with well-rounded, fully-developed students who take a real interest in their studies and the world around them.

That tradition sustains our primary goal: to supplement the College’s academic mission and provide each student with a rich co-curricular program that will foster his or her growth – broadly defined.

THE COMPETITION FACTOR

An athletics program is – almost by definition – somewhat unique in that it is competitive. That is to say that we keep score; identify winners and losers; sometimes cut students from teams; make decisions about playing time and who starts; determine who receives a varsity letter; and the like. These kinds of decisions are always difficult, and I want to assure you that our coaches make each and every one of them with care and concern, keeping in mind the developmental impact any of their decisions might have on their students.

I also want to remind you – as parents – that the developing adult you have entrusted to our care is not a fragile vase but a smart, competent, ambitious, resilient person who is fully capable of negotiating both the successes and disappointments he or she will no doubt experience during four years of intercollegiate athletic competition here.

We understand better than most that very often your child has a real passion for his or her involvement in competitive sport and that – as our NCAA Faculty Representative often used to observe – "other than academics, it (athletics participation) is often the central organizing principle of their lives."

A PARTNERSHIP

Consequently, I invite you to join me and our coaching staff in partnering to promote your young adult’s growth and success. These four years will be a period of vast developmental change most probably accompanied by some painful athletic disappointments and some soaring personal and team successes.

From my perspective, the best advice I can offer you as a parent is to provide sympathetic, patient support and reassurance as your child makes this four-year journey from incoming first-year student to graduating senior. Along the way, encourage your child to assume responsibility for his or her life as he or she makes new friends and generally becomes the unique adult he or she will be.

The most important factor in your child’s competitive athletic experience here is the head coach.

Head coaches are University of Chicago faculty, in part, because they are indeed more than just a coach, but real educators charged with the intellectual, emotional, physical, and social development of their students. Often, they are involved not only in teaching how to jump higher and run faster, but in counseling on all kinds of issues from course selection to career consulting. They receive faculty appointments based on coaching experience and teaching temperament and are highly qualified (since 1995 our coaches have been named National Coach of the Year three times, Regional Coach of the Year on six occasions, and UAA Coach of the Year 31 different times).

Moreover, each varsity athlete formally evaluates in writing the varsity athletic program and his or her head coach. These evaluations are reviewed by me and the head coach during our bi-annual planning sessions and by the department’s personnel committee when each faculty member is up for reappointment or promotion.

It is an extraordinarily thorough and inclusive process where we pay real attention to the interests and concerns of each of our 600 varsity athletes. THE ROLE OF THE HEAD COACH

Because of the competence of our faculty/head coaches, they assume considerable prerogatives in conducting their respective programs. For example, they:

•select the team and determine cuts (if necessary); •determine playing time and who starts; •establish team guidelines; •determine letter winners; •participate in the selection of team captains (most often in conjunction with team votes); •determine the style of play, game and coaching strategies, and general coaching/training philosophy.

PRIVACY LAWS

We understand that many parents have played a very involved role in their child’s high school and/or club teams, but that level of involvement necessarily changes in college where the emphasis moves not only toward personal growth, responsibility, and maturation, but to competitive success as well. Moreover, it is complicated by federal law regarding student privacy. Our head coaches must balance the confidentiality concerns of their students with their natural interest in communicating with parents.

The College considers students to be responsible, young adults. Conversations between faculty coaches and students are confidential and cannot be shared with parents without students’ permission. Parents who want to know how their students are doing are encouraged to ask their son or daughter directly. As a rule, faculty coaches notify students when they have communicated with parents.

Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the College cannot release information from a student’s "education record" unless it first has the student’s written consent. Under FERPA, "education record" is a broad concept that encompasses more than just paper documents and extends to information maintained by the institution that is directly related to the student.

Exceptions to the written consent requirement include the release of information to other school officials who have a legitimate educational interest in the information, and notification to parents if the College is aware of a health or safety concern that poses a significant danger to the student or to others.

If students have a problem with someone or something in the athletics program, I review with them the different people and offices they can approach for support. Of course, they are encouraged to see me. When they do, I always ask them if they have discussed their problem with their head coach. Mature, open, and candid communication with their head coach is encouraged. Our head coaches are good at it, and it often can solve what might sound on the telephone or over e-mail like the most vexing problem.

Occasionally, students discover that their interests lie elsewhere and determine that they no longer have the time for, or interest in, highly competitive, intercollegiate competition. For some, that discovery is part of the developmental process, and there are an extraordinary number of outlets left to them in our club and intramural sports programs.

THE SKINNED KNEE APPROACH

I encourage you to take the "skinned knee" approach in supporting your child. When they fall and "skin their knee," let them take responsibility for picking themselves up and getting back in the game.

Your immediate and unconditional help with a "skinned knee" can be crippling to their development. Of course, if they fall and experience serious problems, then we want to work with you in addressing those problems. Our coaches are professional, fair, compassionate, and consistent in teaching your child with an emphasis on safety, academics, and honest and open communication as they attempt to provide the highest quality experience possible.

Of course, part of what constitutes a quality experience is achieving progress and realizing some measure of success. You should know that Chicago has chosen to participate in one of the most competitive athletic conferences in the country at the NCAA Division III level, the University Athletic Association.

Your child will most probably face physical and emotional challenges not only in games but in practices presented by his or her peers who have also experienced considerable success at the high school level and want to go on and realize the same kind of accomplishment at the college level. Team success is important to our students which means that everyone must find his or her appropriate team role – which also means, of course, that not everyone will start and/or play.

Richard Russo in his wonderfully funny novel about academic life on a small college campus, Straightman, describes a moment when he is asked to change his role on his faculty softball team.

"My spiritual position is the outfield," I explained. "True, I might be a good target for shortstops to throw at, but I’m most myself ranging in the outfield after fly balls. I no longer have great speed, but I still possess a long, graceful stride. I feel like an outfielder. ‘Left field is my Zen position,’ I continued. "You can damage an outfielder by making him play first. No man should be forced to play out of spiritual position." Sometimes, our coaches will ask students to "play out of spiritual position" for the good of the team.

The challenge of competitive sport often delivers the most authentic rewards as your child struggles to meet it on his or her own terms (but with your patient and sympathetic support) and, ultimately, realizes genuine success with teammates who are going through the same experience. We try to structure that really magnificent journey not to avoid the inevitable "skinned knees," but with a safe, happy, and successful conclusion to four years of competition, growth, and success.

Again, I do hope you find the information in the manual helpful. I look forward to seeing you at an upcoming competition.

With best wishes for success to you and your child,

Tom Weingartner
Chairman, Department of Physical Education &Athletics/ Director of Athletics