Commerce Raiders Football:

By Dr. Albert Petipas, Springfield College Professor of Psychology and Director of the National Football Foundation Center for Youth Development through Sport & Kelly O’Brien, Project Director for NFF Center for Youth Development through Sport.

As the 2002 defending Super Bowl Champions, the High School of Commerce Raiders certainly know how to be successful on the football field. Now, as part of the Springfield College and National Football Foundation’s Play It Smart program, they are also becoming superstars in the classroom and in their neighborhoods. This effort is just one of 40 programs and outreach efforts that Springfield College students and employees are involved in that impact our local community.

Commerce is one of 88 high schools across the nation that participates in Play It Smart, a program that tries to transform football teams into learning teams. For Commerce, it began two years ago when Lori Houlihan was added to the coaching staff. Coach Houlihan is a different kind of coach, an academic-coach. She works with the student-athletes during the entire academic year and assists the Head Coach, Todd Kosel, in making sure that each player is striving to excel, not only on the football field but also in the classroom and community.

In all, over 6,000 student-athletes in 55 inner city high schools across the United States are refining their academic skills and scoring points in the classroom as part of Play It Smart.

The key to the success of Play It Smart is the academic coach who works with school and community leaders to identify resources that enable student-athletes to gain confidence in their abilities and to begin planning for the future. Participants use skills and attitudes that they have acquired through sports and learn how to transfer them to the classroom. The Play It Smart program also provides opportunities for student-athletes to use their leadership skills in various community service activities, working with younger children at local Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCAs, Special Olympics’ events or schools.

Play It Smart began in 1998 with four pilot schools and has now grown to include 88 schools across 30 states. These schools have posted some impressive numbers. Thus far:

• 87% of Play It Smart participants are going on to college;

• Participants are taking the SAT/ACT exam at twice the rate of their peers;

• Over 26,000 hours of community service have been completed.

Locally, members of the High School of Commerce football team also are posting some impressive statistics. Under the guidance of Academic Coach Houlihan, the players have increased their team GPA (grade point average) from last year’s 1.70 to 2.10 after their first marking period. Each week, the student-athletes attend two study halls, work out in the weight room, participate in a life skills workshop, and bond together through team-building and social events. For example, team members get up early on Saturday mornings to volunteer at the YMCA. They also have taken part in regional events, such as a leadership conference in Philadelphia, PA, a college coach’s fair in New Haven, CT, and the NFL players’ draft held at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

In sum, the student-athletes at Commerce are working hard and hitting the books, and through it all, they are gaining confidence in themselves and taking pride in their school and neighborhoods. n