A IS FOR ATHLETICS

Durham students find success on and off the field

urham Public Schools is committed not only to academic excellence among its students, but also to supporting the potential of the whole child. As a result, its students are succeeding more and more both in and outside of the classroom, including on the athletic fields.

Many DPS students are learning leadership skills, creating community, and boosting their self-esteem on the fields, tracks, and courts of schools across the district through robust athletics programming.

“In the world today that can be so negative and can just tear you down so much, athletics allows them to be who they naturally and authentically are,” says David Hackney, the director of athletics for DPS. “It allows them to grow. It allows them to learn and just meet different people and build relationships.”

Six of DPS’ high schools participate in athletics programming, as do 10 of its middle schools.

Each school offers different athletic programs. The most popular across the district are football and basketball, though other popular choices include soccer, baseball, softball, and track and field. Many new sports have been added with rising interest from students.

“One of our rising sports would be lacrosse,” Hackney says. “A few schools offer lacrosse, but it is becoming more and more popular. I wouldn’t be surprised if, at some point in time, all of our high schools are offering lacrosse.”

In addition, Hackney says that both women’s volleyball and soccer have grown in popularity in recent years. Field hockey is now offered at Riverside and Jordan high schools. Other offerings include swimming, tennis, wrestling, all types of running sports, and cheer.

“Durham Public Schools prides itself on diversity, but I would also venture to say that that diversity carries over in athletics,” Hackney says. “I don’t think you’re going to get any more diverse than athletics because you have young people from all backgrounds.”

Many students who have played sports in Durham Public Schools have gone on to win scholarships, to play at the college level, to play professionally, and to achieve notoriety. Hackney himself was an athlete in Durham Public Schools, and he went on to play football at N.C. Central University.

Riverside High School alum Jordon Riley now plays defensive end for the New York Giants. Hillside High School alum Rodney Rogers played basketball for Wake Forest University and then the Denver Nuggets. Another Riverside alum, Weslye Saunders, played football for the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Indianapolis Colts, and the Birmingham Iron.

Before they ever graduate, many DPS athletes are accomplishing great things. Lucca Battaglini, a senior at the Durham School of the Arts, is a swimmer who has broken records for 50-yard free swims and 100-yard butterfly swims. He is among the top swimmers in the nation for these competitions.

Amy Green, the athletics director at DSA, says that several students involved in running sports made it to state competitions last year, two girl’s basketball players reached their 1,000-point mark in the last two years, and many students have been recruited to play at the college level.

Joseph Sharrow, the athletics director for Jordan High School, says that more than 20 students from the school received full athletic scholarships last year.

“Durham has a long-standing history of student athletes going on to do great things,” Hackney says, adding that numerous teams from schools around the district have won many state championships. “Although we excel on the field and the court, we also excel academically. Students have earned millions of dollars in athletic scholarships over the years, and it’s because they not only take the athletics seriously, but they take the academics seriously.”

In fact, those who participate in sports at DPS are not called “athletes,” but are specifically referred to as “student athletes.”

“We call them student athletes, in that order, because they are students first,” Green says.

Multiple academic supports are in place to ensure that student athletes succeed, including additional tutoring and counseling, where needed. Green says that coaches and athletic staff regularly check in on students to ensure that their grades are on track.

Hackney says many programs have also implemented some type of study hall, either in the mornings or afternoons, on the opposite side of practices. Student athletes are also required to be present 85 percent of the time.

The strict standards and additional supports have resulted in success. At Jordan, which offers the most sports programs of any school in the district and where about a third of the student body is involved in athletics, student athletes have a collective GPA of 3.4.

“Sports are a lot bigger than just winning games and losing games,” Sharrow says.

“We’re really trying to build the character of our kids, and we’re utilizing athletics to improve academics. In general, our athletes are some of our highest performing students in the school. Last year, our varsity baseball had the second highest team average GPA in the state.”

Sharrow and others agree that athletics doesn’t just help young people become better students, it also teaches them leadership and builds their character, teaching them cooperation, perseverance, discipline, and more.

“It teaches them structure,” Green says. “It teaches them how to work with someone else, so in the future, when they have a job, they show up for that job every day ready to work. They have daily practices and games – they have structure so that the whole team is successful.”

In addition, athletics gives students a positive outlet and a way to build their self-worth.

“It saves many of our students from falling through the cracks, those who are coming from challenging backgrounds,” Hackney says. “It gives them a sense of worth, a sense of pride. It gives them a reason to care about their education.”

“It gives them an outlet,” Green says. “I have a saying for my soccer team: ‘Leave your baggage at the gate. If you want it after practice, pick it up.’ Sports gives them a break from all the stuff happening in their world, which is quite different from when we were growing up.”