May 16, 2010
We are four years into the
completion of the basic community engagement strategy with NCAA DII schools and
a lot of new things continue to happen. I recently spent quite a bit of time
looking through several things individual schools are doing and noticed a few
really important elements that seem to make a big difference on impact. So I thought I would provide The Check List so
you could see if there are opportunities for your school – and so you can see
how you are doing when it comes to extending your community. I will present them two at a time over the
next several posts. Here are the first
two.
THE CHECK LIST:
·
EXTENDING
BEYOND SPORTS: Staying on campus for
a moment, when you provide opportunities for other people to do things, how
often do you:
o Invite and involve other sports teams to
participate in your team’s activity? (This happens a lot, but how about...)
o Invite non-sports campus groups to work and
participate with you? Think student government, fraternities and sororities, music
groups, drama, student volunteer groups, service groups, art, film, faculty,
staff, alumni
o Promote
the events and activities of other sports and events beyond sports like music,
art and film?
o Attend as
a team or sports group activities beyond sports?
o And going off campus, when you do things with and for
the community, how often do you ask non-sports group to participate with you?
Extending beyond sports will
pay many dividends. Others on campus may think the sports program is off on their own island. Anything you do to focus attention on others will be appreciated – and rewarded
– with great campus support for sports. Think how you would feel if 20 people
from the art program showed up at one of your games. They would feel the same
if you did something more to include them.
·
ENGAGEMENT,
NOT JUST SERVICE: You really get to provide “the fun part” of
life – relief, enjoyment, fun, a break – sports refreshes us. Community engagement is much more about
extending the enjoyment of friendship and social engagement than it is about
work. Don’t get me wrong, community
service is an extremely important part of community and you should continue
doing it, but who is bringing the fun??? It is also very important.
When
we enjoy each other, we like each other more.
When we like each other more, we get to know each other better. When we
know each other better we naturally see what others need. When we see the needs of those we like we
NATURALLY care enough to reach out and meet their needs. In other words, we
naturally provide them “community service.”
Really…. Think about it… there are a ton of groups providing services. Who is fostering relationship through the enjoyment of time
together?
Sports leads the way. Let’s
make the most of it!