Why Sports Matters

Why Sports Matters POSING FOR THIS PHOTO (by student photographer Ayman Siam) might have been the longest Carly Morris ’19 ever sat ➜ still at Tech. The just-graduated, two-sport athlete says playing lacrosse and soccer gave her “a go-go mentality.” “Go-go” to Carly (now a freshman at the University of Edinburgh) means more than running fast: it is a mindset overfl owing from the playing fi eld to the classroom, propelling her to academic success. “Super-high energy and super goal orientation,” she calls it.

PHOTO: AYMAN SIAM

CARLY’S SELF-OBSERVATIONS refl ect one stripe in a theme painted by her classmates, alums of all ages, and experts in education, psychology and business: playing scholastic sports yields benefi ts, in academic and life skills, that reach far beyond the fi eld and last a lifetime. “Scholastic sports sets the template for college and beyond. It sets you up for success.” notes Tech principal David Newman, (who ran high school track at, ahem, Bronx Science) .

Jim Di Benedetto ’71 coached Tech’s football team for 21 years, and was Athletic Director for a decade: “We talk to student athletes about goal-setting, practicing and preparing. Being responsible and on time. Fair play, respect, and honesty. Think, don’t react. Make smart moves. Accept the outcomes of your decisions.

“They come back ten years later and they say, ‘All those things you told us – they’re all true.’”

Ex-footballer Brian Delle Donne ’76, a longtime applicant interviewer for his alma mater Brown University, believes sports prowess alone does not explain why athletes are admitted disproportionately to competitive colleges: “Schools clearly favor students who understand commitment, dedication, and competitive drive.” [continued next page]

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YEHIA ELLIS ’19 Fencing Pharmacy Major

› Now a freshman at N.J.

Institute of Technology › His medals (L to R): PSAL individual gold, PSAL team citywide champions,

BTHS fencing MVP,

PSAL team silver, PSAL individual bronze › “Fencing is three minutes of shutting out everything else. If you don’t focus, you get hit. I apply that to standardized test taking.

It’s easier for me to stay on track.” LEILA FILIEN ’19 Stunt* Chemical Engineering

› Now a full-scholarship freshman at Penn State › “This can be a dangerous sport. I am responsible for making sure the ‘fl yers’ land properly from their jumps without getting injured.” › “You watch their hips – that’s how you can tell if they’re having trouble.

You catch them in any way possible.” › “This is the fi rst time in my life I have been that responsible for another person’s safety. It is a learning experience.” * similar to cheerleading but more structured and a competitive PSAL sport

[continued from page 9] WE ASKED SOME OF TECH’S nearly 1,000 student athletes, and some alums. We consulted experts. The broadness and depth of lifelong non-athletic benefits they attributed to high school sports surprised us. Here’s what we learned: › High School athletes tend to get better jobs that pay more, a Cornell University

research study found. › Scholastic sports teach students to collaborate, perform individually within a group, and manage time effectively –three essential life skills, according to the National Federation of State High

School Associations (NFHS). › Student athletes outperform nonathletes in grade average, NFHS found. › Women have benefi ted in the Title IX era of gender parity in scholastic sports.

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T E C H T I M E S FALL 2019 A study found that 55 percent of top female business executives played sports in college and presumably high school, compared with 39 percent of lower-level female managers. › The benefi ts last a lifetime. The Cornell study found that ex-scholastic athletes in their 80s and 90s “possessed greater prosocial behavior” and donated more time and money to volunteerism and charitable causes.

“At the time,” says Brooklyn Tech’s own Clyde Doughty ’76 ( basketball), now vice president of athletics at Bowie State University, “you don’t realize what it means – you’re just having fun. But high school sports is more than games.” ■

Jim DiBenedetto ’71 and Susan Mayham ’76 contributed significantly to the development of this story.

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CARLY MORRIS ’19 Lacrosse (Captain), Soccer Social Science Research

› Now a freshman at

University of Edinburgh › “Sometimes you have to go out in the cold and play.

You don’t want to, but people are counting on you.” › “Playing two sports made me more productive academically. It comes with the mental structure.” › “Because of sports I am super high-energy and super goal-oriented. Being able to put all else aside and focus on one goal is useful when you have to write a long paper.”

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ALUMS REFLECT:

BRIAN DELLE DONNE ’76 Football President, Talent Tech Labs › “It seemed like a normal pursuit to set a high goal and not quit until you achieved it. High school sports set me on a track of goal orientation and perseverance.”

BETH SHAPIRO ’89 Basketball Language Pathologist › Her coach, Jay Russinoff, was instrumental in her applying to and attending NYU, where she played basketball. “He helped me see NYU was the best combination of academics and sports for me.” › “Having success on the court at

Tech brought me happiness, comfort, and stability at an unstable time of my life.” NICHOLAS RICCIO ’20 Baseball Law & Society

› “I’ve noticed that I do better on tests after practice days. Playing alleviates my stress about schoolwork so I can focus more on studying.” › “Baseball makes you think faster and trust yourself.

I apply that to testing. If two answers look right on the SAT, I trust myself to go with my gut instinct.” › “I write faster, and I become more thoughtful more quickly, since I started playing.” › Consistently on Honor Roll since freshman year, grade average jumped six points after joining baseball team.

SHARON MUNROE ’76 Track Walmart Executive › Learned two life lessons from track: How to “constantly examine your performance for incremental improvement,” and how to take constructive criticism: “Your coach (boss) will deconstruct your performance (job) and may not give you the praise (promotion) you think you deserve. Shake it off. Get your head back in the game.”

HERVÉ DAMAS, MD ’90 Football Doctor, Ex-NFL Player › “I literally took my football training schedule and applied it to medical school: I stayed for extra reps after class like it was practice. I went to the lab for extra reps like I used to at the gym. I studied with others and asked them to push me: ‘Ask me diffi cult questions; make me better.’ Just as I had done with football.”

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EDWARD LI ’22 Kung Fu

› “When you get more experienced at Kung Fu, you get an opportunity to teach and coach others. I volunteer helping elementary school kids thanks to that opportunity”. › “I think that is something that will transfer into the rest of my life.” SIDNEY MILDEN ’77 Track Longtime Track Coach, Retired MTA Supervisor › Learned from Tech Track how to keep “composed and focused in diffi cult situations.” › Drew on the experience years later, as commander in a subway derailment: “My ability to act under pressure enabled me to communicate [and] evacuate everyone on the train in a calm manner.” TYRELL ESCOFFERY ’06 Football Sponsorship Executive › Heads Run 31 Foundation, inspired by memory of teammate, the late Brandon

Cherington-Desir, to develop and support student athletes. › “Football was the fi rst time in my life I learned to visualize an end goal, and use that in my daily motivation to be the best student and athlete I could be.” AMINATOU DIALLO ’20 Soccer, Lacrosse, Basketball (Captain) Biological Sciences Major

› Commutes to class and practices from The Bronx: “I do homework on the train.” › “As captain I am sometimes a buffer between my teammates and the coaches when we have issues to resolve. That develops my skills in leadership, confl ict resolution, problem solving, and

communication.”

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KARI SKAR HARVAT ’76 Swim Intensive Care Unit Nurse › Lost her dad at age three and her mom as a Tech freshman: “Swim team gave me confi - dence and support at a time I really needed it. Will always be grateful.” › Served in a Saudi hospital ICU during theGulf War missile attacks; drew on a swim team life lesson: “You learn how to do it the way it has to be done.”

VY VIVIAN VU ’15 Wrestling Computer Science Student/ First NYC Female Wrestling Referee › “After Tech, I got a Facebook internship that had a 10% acceptance rate.

It led to a job there. I would not have done it without the work ethic that wrestling drilled into me, and the guts to apply when my chances were so slim.” › “Without wrestling I never would have believed I was good enough to accomplish anything. I would never have stepped out of my comfort zone.”

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