Stanbridge Academy
  • About Us
    • Message from the Head of School
    • History, Mission and Philosophy
    • Our Teachers
    • Our Staff
    • Our Board
    • Employment Opportunities
    • Contact Us
  • Admissions
    • Our Students
    • Tuition and Financial Aid
    • Visit Stanbridge
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Apply Now!
  • Programs
    • Academics >
      • Lower Elementary (K-2)
      • Middle Elementary (3-4)
      • Upper Elementary (5-6)
      • Junior High (7-8)
      • High School (9-12)
      • High School Bridges Program
    • The Arts
    • Athletics
    • Support Resources >
      • Academic Support
      • Social Learning >
        • Resource & Counseling Staff
      • Speech & Language Services
    • Technology
    • Transitions Program
  • Student Life
    • Community Service
    • Enrichment Programs
    • Experiential Education
    • Our Alumni
    • Student Government and STAR Team
  • Support Us
    • Donate Now!
    • How to Give
    • More ways to support Stanbridge
    • Giving Thanks
    • Gala
  • EVENTS
  • Resources
    • Board Member Login
    • Calendar
    • Common Ground
    • Directory
    • Files, Forms, and Student News
    • Quickschools Login
    • School Schedules
    • Staff Member Login
    • Stanbridge Parent Assn. (SPA)
    • Useful Links
  • About Us
    • Message from the Head of School
    • History, Mission and Philosophy
    • Our Teachers
    • Our Staff
    • Our Board
    • Employment Opportunities
    • Contact Us
  • Admissions
    • Our Students
    • Tuition and Financial Aid
    • Visit Stanbridge
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Apply Now!
  • Programs
    • Academics >
      • Lower Elementary (K-2)
      • Middle Elementary (3-4)
      • Upper Elementary (5-6)
      • Junior High (7-8)
      • High School (9-12)
      • High School Bridges Program
    • The Arts
    • Athletics
    • Support Resources >
      • Academic Support
      • Social Learning >
        • Resource & Counseling Staff
      • Speech & Language Services
    • Technology
    • Transitions Program
  • Student Life
    • Community Service
    • Enrichment Programs
    • Experiential Education
    • Our Alumni
    • Student Government and STAR Team
  • Support Us
    • Donate Now!
    • How to Give
    • More ways to support Stanbridge
    • Giving Thanks
    • Gala
  • EVENTS
  • Resources
    • Board Member Login
    • Calendar
    • Common Ground
    • Directory
    • Files, Forms, and Student News
    • Quickschools Login
    • School Schedules
    • Staff Member Login
    • Stanbridge Parent Assn. (SPA)
    • Useful Links

Bay Area Schools Start New Athletic League

1/26/2016

0 Comments

 
Interscholastic athletic competitions—whether they be badmitten or basketball—are emblematic of the American teenage lifestyle. And yet, despite the seeming pervasiveness of such activities, a whole section of the population is ofttimes absent from the try-outs, pep-rallies, and half-time shows key to the quintessential high school experience. 
 
“We are the tiny schools that the California Interscholastic Federation can’t serve,” said Sterne School Athletic Director Craig Brewer. “We need a different flexibility with all the rules from eligibility to attendance to age to gender to actual game rules and sports chosen.”
 
So what do you do when there is no sports league for your school? You create your own. Enter the Bay Area Small School Athletic League (BASSAL).
 
“The league is still in the creation stages with the most together sport being basketball,” said Stanbridge Academy Athletic Director Mark Kelley.
 
There are currently four schools in the league. In addition to Stanbridge and Sterne, Star Academy in San Rafael, CA and Compass High School in San Mateo are also members.
 
But creating the league was easier said then done. Most of the schools—because of their size—don’t have on-campus facilities to host games or the resources to pay for referees.
 
“Our team consists of 13 junior high and high school students, because we only have 13 uniforms,” said Mark. “Space for holding practices and games has been donated by other local independent schools and organizations.”

Organizations that have donated space to Stanbridge include the YMCA in San Mateo  and Crystal Springs Uplands School in Hillsborough, CA.
 
“Crystal Springs Uplands School is pleased to donate gymnasium space to Stanbridge Academy, because we believe in Stanbridge's mission to help students with learning differences thrive and develop their academic, social, and emotional capabilities to their fullest potential,” said Crystal Springs Uplands School Assistant Athletic Director Rob Cannone. “Stanbridge Academy is a wonderful and unique institution providing a safe, nurturing community to its students and this small gesture on our part is a recognition of their good work.”
 
In addition to having a population of approximately 100 students or less, all of the current schools in BASSAL have one other thing in common: they all cater to students with learning differences.
 
“I knew that the Bulldogs would be the perfect team for me,” said a Stanbridge 9th grader. “It’s easier for me to move around the court and things like that than it would be at a “regular” school or playing against “regular” teams.”
 
Craig says his first principal used to say, “Special education is just good teaching.”
 
“To a large extent that is the case in coaching,” said Craig. “It isn’t that the kids need so much more as so many of them are just less familiar with being in motion.”
 
One Stanbridge 11th grader, who is playing on the team for his third year, said the game has taught him a lot about proprioception, or the relative position of his body to others.
 
“Spacing is one thing that, when I first came to Stanbridge, I couldn’t do,” said the center. “It’s helpful everywhere; my room and stuff is more clean.”
 
Additionally, Craig says the benefits of teaching basketball extend to lessons about time management, dedication, sportsmanship, and self-confidence.
 
“Sometimes I used to be lonely,” said another Stanbridge 9th grader. “Now I have the team, and I’m playing for the whole school.”
 
Craig also says playing a popular sport gains these students access to certain social situations, something he calls the “smoke-filled room phenomenon.”
 
“The fact that kids with social difficulties are insulated in tiny, homogenous populations almost reinforces the problem by not having more interactions with different kids,” said Craig. “Through basketball, they will be able to comment when attending a cocktail party about playing a zone or man-to-man defense, or doing slide drills until their legs cramped. This is about comfort and access into subconscious trust circles in adulthood.”
 
Despite the present make-up, Craig says the league is open to any small school in the bay area and is working to incorporate a number of other local institutions including The Marin School, Lycée Français de San Francisco, and The Phillips Academy.
 
 “We are going to create a group of schools who, even in mistakes, will be trying to do the right thing for personal accountability and self-esteem, not for w’s and l’s,” said Craig. “Maybe we can help our students be part of a more civilized discourse by making them play fairly, if not necessarily equally.” 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Stanbridge Academy is a caring, inclusive K-12 school for students with mild to moderate learning differences and social communication disorders. We use an individualized, whole student approach so that students thrive and develop their academic, social, and emotional capabilities to their fullest potential.
    Learn more!

    Follow us on Social Media

    Categories

    All
    All School Events
    Alumni
    Arts
    Athletics
    Clubs
    Community Service
    Experiential Learning
    Fundraising
    High School
    Junior High
    Lower Elementary
    Middle Elementary
    Social Learning
    Staff
    Stanbridge Parents Assn.
    Summer School
    Technology
    Transitions
    Upper Elementary

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011

Picture
Since 1998, Stanbridge Academy
has been accredited by the
Western Association of Schools
​and Colleges (WASC).
Picture
515 E. Poplar Ave.
San Mateo, CA 94401
​Phone: 650.375.5860
Fax: 650.375.5861
Photo used under Creative Commons from Calsidyrose
✕