Is St. John's Becoming an IMG?

[Anonymous]

Wow. I am surprised by how few people really understand the move SJC is making. This is an agressive move to shift the athletic program at SJC and will have some level of impact on the school as a whole.

It's going to interesting to watch. They will likely have move toward boarding student athletes in this push to create a national program. I've known about the football for the past few months (good friends with a football mom who has been filling me in). I'm very curious if they're starting with just football and will move to other sports or if they will be pursuing this two-tier athletic program across other sports.

Read the subject line. This is akin to putting a mini IMG into the existing SJC structure. There will be two varisty football programs - the one that is all recruited top athletes playing the big national programs - IMG, Don Bosco, etc. And the existing program playing in the WCAC. Will this come to basketball? To soccer? Baseball? Lacrosse? Which girls programs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have multiple kids at SJC. They play a variety of sports. None of the other sports teams like the football team. They destroy the locker rooms, behave poorly, trash oyher teams gear, and get all sorts of perks (meal cards, new uniforms, etc) that other teams don’t. This is disappointing news.

How or when would they have access to the other team’s gear? That makes no sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I am surprised by how few people really understand the move SJC is making. This is an agressive move to shift the athletic program at SJC and will have some level of impact on the school as a whole.

It's going to interesting to watch. They will likely have move toward boarding student athletes in this push to create a national program. I've known about the football for the past few months (good friends with a football mom who has been filling me in). I'm very curious if they're starting with just football and will move to other sports or if they will be pursuing this two-tier athletic program across other sports.

Read the subject line. This is akin to putting a mini IMG into the existing SJC structure. There will be two varisty football programs - the one that is all recruited top athletes playing the big national programs - IMG, Don Bosco, etc. And the existing program playing in the WCAC. Will this come to basketball? To soccer? Baseball? Lacrosse? Which girls programs?

Why would they want to do this? How is this beneficial to the school and it's mission?

IMG is for-profit. It's a very different animal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I am surprised by how few people really understand the move SJC is making. This is an agressive move to shift the athletic program at SJC and will have some level of impact on the school as a whole.

It's going to interesting to watch. They will likely have move toward boarding student athletes in this push to create a national program. I've known about the football for the past few months (good friends with a football mom who has been filling me in). I'm very curious if they're starting with just football and will move to other sports or if they will be pursuing this two-tier athletic program across other sports.

Read the subject line. This is akin to putting a mini IMG into the existing SJC structure. There will be two varisty football programs - the one that is all recruited top athletes playing the big national programs - IMG, Don Bosco, etc. And the existing program playing in the WCAC. Will this come to basketball? To soccer? Baseball? Lacrosse? Which girls programs?

Other schools already have multiple varsity teams (hockey in WCAC already comes to mind). Good on SJC for adding football, but expect others to join them in short order. The model already exists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't this end up dumbing down the curriculum?

Why do you assume student athletes are dumb?

Because most are. There are a minority of students who are strong academic performers, but that is extremely rare.

Antiquated thinking. The world has changed. Colleges have learned that robust athletics programs enhance school culture. This is no different, just at the high school level. Anyone that knows SJC knows it's a large school with diverse offerings and strong academics.

The bold is antiquated thinking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't this end up dumbing down the curriculum?

Why do you assume student athletes are dumb?

Because most are. There are a minority of students who are strong academic performers, but that is extremely rare.

What’s your source for this? “Dumb jock” is a stereotype. Most of the kids, football included, I know who are top athletes are also great students. They have tight schedules and focus their time around those schedules.

Like I said there are some smart athletes...but a school will tolerate poor academic performance for strong athletic performance. It happens in many high schools and universities (not all). But SJC is definitely one of them. That is why they have such a strong football team. Same with a lot of SEC schools. That's the reality of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a parent of an applying Scholar considering SJC for next year, I can't say I'm pleased to hear this. I mean, for one sports team to have more recruits than the Scholars program seems wrong for a school. Fine for a sports club, of course, but wrong for an academic institution.

This 100%.

[Anonymous]

The school has invested a lot of money into its music and art programs, which are amazing and only get stronger every year. The theater program has been revitalized by the current director. There is no shortage of music, art and theater kids at SJC!

The Scholars program is competitive and the school continues to add more Honors + AP classes and academic electives every year. There are dozens of high achieving kids who are in not in the official Scholars Program but who take the same classes. School leadership has spoken at parent meetings about expanding academic opportunities, not cutting them back. Quite the opposite. They have recently added faculty housing to attract the best teachers.

Even if there is a change in the football program, I don’t see that taking away from the other arts and academic programs that SJC has been working hard to build over the past few years.

[Anonymous]

Really sad to hear this- SJC just re-started their annual fundraising gala to support scholarships. I will be very disappointed to learn the money raised will be used to fund more football. I have students active in the arts program, Varsity sports, and Cadet Corps which are all great programs. There is enough emphasis on sports, especially football already. And interestingly the games are poorly attended by the student body.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The school has invested a lot of money into its music and art programs, which are amazing and only get stronger every year. The theater program has been revitalized by the current director. There is no shortage of music, art and theater kids at SJC!

The Scholars program is competitive and the school continues to add more Honors + AP classes and academic electives every year. There are dozens of high achieving kids who are in not in the official Scholars Program but who take the same classes. School leadership has spoken at parent meetings about expanding academic opportunities, not cutting them back. Quite the opposite. They have recently added faculty housing to attract the best teachers.

Even if there is a change in the football program, I don’t see that taking away from the other arts and academic programs that SJC has been working hard to build over the past few years.

SJC has recently revamped their Cadets Program too, which is a core part of the school’s identity and has been very popular the last few years. I don’t see that going anywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really sad to hear this- SJC just re-started their annual fundraising gala to support scholarships. I will be very disappointed to learn the money raised will be used to fund more football. I have students active in the arts program, Varsity sports, and Cadet Corps which are all great programs. There is enough emphasis on sports, especially football already. And interestingly the games are poorly attended by the student body.

As a parent involved in fundraising, I can reassure you that the money raised at the Gala is not for the football program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really sad to hear this- SJC just re-started their annual fundraising gala to support scholarships. I will be very disappointed to learn the money raised will be used to fund more football. I have students active in the arts program, Varsity sports, and Cadet Corps which are all great programs. There is enough emphasis on sports, especially football already. And interestingly the games are poorly attended by the student body.

As a parent involved in fundraising, I can reassure you that the money raised at the Gala is not for the football program.

Money is fungible. Gala funds that go to other programs just frees up money for the school to spend on football.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a parent of an applying Scholar considering SJC for next year, I can't say I'm pleased to hear this. I mean, for one sports team to have more recruits than the Scholars program seems wrong for a school. Fine for a sports club, of course, but wrong for an academic institution.

My child is also an 8th grader applying as a scholar. DC is also a recruited athlete by SJC in their sport. Of course the Scholars program is small - that is what it is for, and it would not be the program it has become if it were the size of even 1 football team.

I will keep my fingers crossed that the other Scholars’ families are more welcoming of athletes and what they bring to the school by way of culture, achievement, and awareness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't this end up dumbing down the curriculum?

Why do you assume student athletes are dumb?

Because most are. There are a minority of students who are strong academic performers, but that is extremely rare.

What’s your source for this? “Dumb jock” is a stereotype. Most of the kids, football included, I know who are top athletes are also great students. They have tight schedules and focus their time around those schedules.

Like I said there are some smart athletes...but a school will tolerate poor academic performance for strong athletic performance. It happens in many high schools and universities (not all). But SJC is definitely one of them. That is why they have such a strong football team. Same with a lot of SEC schools. That's the reality of it.

Their program is pretty "mid".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a parent of an applying Scholar considering SJC for next year, I can't say I'm pleased to hear this. I mean, for one sports team to have more recruits than the Scholars program seems wrong for a school. Fine for a sports club, of course, but wrong for an academic institution.

My child is also an 8th grader applying as a scholar. DC is also a recruited athlete by SJC in their sport. Of course the Scholars program is small - that is what it is for, and it would not be the program it has become if it were the size of even 1 football team.

I will keep my fingers crossed that the other Scholars’ families are more welcoming of athletes and what they bring to the school by way of culture, achievement, and awareness.

My DC is a Scholar and has told me that most of the students in the Scholars Program are also athletes. The Program wants students who show that they are not just smart but well-rounded and can juggle academics, service and other activities. Showing you can work as a team and push yourself is huge. The idea that athletes are less smart is outdated. So many honors students also play sports.