The big news in Westfield is that parents, athletes and coaches are all working towards a better way of life for our students. The new program is called “Life of an Athlete.” This program aims to promote positive changes to help reduce underage drinking in our community, especially for our athletes. John Underwood is an elite athlete who designed “Life of an Athlete” after working with athletes on all levels. He has worked with many college and high school programs as well as the Navy Seals and Olympic athletes. Underwood highlights the difference between how a teen brain and an adult brain respond to alcohol. If a teen is training for a sport, they can lose as much as 14 days of training time after one episode of drinking. The program asks students to consider if it is really worth two weeks of sweat and hard work thrown away to celebrate the win or drown the loss with alcohol.
Westfield started its fall sports schedule with two mandatory parent meetings, which is Underwood’s way of making sure that parents have knowledge, understanding, and acceptance of the athletic code. Parents also met with coaches to discuss expectations for the year. Sandy Vogel, Westfield Neighborhood Liaison, reports that the meetings were very successful, with about 300 parents attending on August 1st and then another 50 on August 17th.
Westfield is in the process of adopting changes to their athletic code. The idea behind the changes isn’t to just punish kids who violate the code, but to educate both the student and their parents to help them be the most successful they can be. High school is only four short years of a student’s life, but it is a crucial time to help a student make the best life choices possible. Athletes can’t perform at their best when drinking and the same is true for students, so we as a community need to work together to educate both parents and youth about the impact of drinking on students’ ability to succeed.
More mandatory parent meetings will be held as the year goes on, so watch for them in the newspaper so you can help your student perform like an elite athlete.
Visit John Underwood’s website at www.americanathleticinstitute.org for more information.