Rehan Staton is a 27-year-old Harvard Law School graduate. However, his path to that degree was not typical. As a child, his mother abandoned the family and his dad struggled with gainful employment. In other words, Rehan grew up poor. To make it, he worked as a sanitation worker (that’s trash man to you and me). His grades were never very good in high school. As a young adult, he enrolled at Bowie State University, and later transferred to the University of Maryland. While going to school, he worked many blue-collar jobs in the service industry.

Upon graduation, Rehan was accepted to Harvard Law School. While there, he saw all kinds of support staff who did the thankless jobs at Harvard. He did something that most students and faculty did not do – he thanked them for their time and their service. He didn’t stop there. He created the Reciprocity Effect, which recognizes the people who clean the glass, take out the trash, cook the food… In an event that rivaled the Oscars, he provided awards to the best workers on campus. After a successful launch, he spread this program to other universities and other businesses.

Joe’s Perspective: How many people in your life do you take for granted? These people get paid for their work, but more often than not, they remain invisible. Very infrequently are they ever appreciated or recognized for their contributions. Listen to the voices of the Harvard employees, “You didn’t realize how unseen you were until you were seen. Oh, this is kinda nice.” While you don’t need an award night at your school, a thank you to the bus driver, custodian or lunch worker could go a long way.  Give it a try.

Your Turn: Take the challenge. Name the 3 people you will thank. Spend a week recognizing and thanking the support staff at your school and report the results here next week.

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Zack Conti is a senior offensive lineman for Eastern Michigan University. When he arrived on campus four years ago, he was a “walk-on,” which meant that he received no reduction in his fees to attend school. To pay for his tuition, he has always worked. He works a lot of construction jobs. He also has had to donate his plasma to pay bills. It’s been a long road.

Earlier this fall, Zack was considering the transfer portal. He thought that perhaps another school might put him on a scholarship. He shared this news with one of his teammates, Brian Dooley. Brian did not want this to happen. After all, Zack had become a starter. Brian knew how hard Zack had worked and knew he was a valuable component of the team. Moreover, to Brian, Zack was like a brother.

Since the coaches at EMU did not have another scholarship to offer Zack, Brian thought of another option. He talked it over with his family and then he talked it over with his coaches. Brian then made the decision to donate his full-ride scholarship to Zack.  When he did so, Brian hugged Zack and said, “Love you brother.” Zack responded, “Love you back.”

Joe’s Perspective: This is an excellent example of what sports can teach. One teammate recognized the struggles of his friend and wanted to provide a kind gesture to alleviate some of these struggles. Brian appreciated all that Zack had contributed to the team and he wanted to pay him back.  A one-year scholarship is worth over $40,000, which includes tuition, housing, food and money to pay living expenses. This is money that Brian’s family will have to pay this year so that Zack can attend school for free. In a recent interview, Brian said:

“Some people say, ‘why do it?’  It’s because I know Zack. I’d do it again for him. He’s a brother to me. I just couldn’t let him walk away from something that he built here.”

Your Turn: What are your thoughts after reading/hearing this story? Does it inspire you to do something positive for one of your teammates?

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Allen McClosekey has lived his entire life in Galveston, Indiana. He is now 89 years of age. He has had one job, that of a grave digger at the local cemetery. He has had that job since he was 19. He doesn’t want to retire because he is afraid that someone else will not do the job as well. He is a quiet unassuming man. He was married to one woman and has 3 children. His passion in life is helping people. He routinely performs odd jobs for people and for the city – paint this, fix that, move this… He does it out of the kindness of his heart. How do we know this to be true? He doesn’t provide a bill for his services. At the completion of the job he frequently says, “I’ll bill you later,” or “I’ll catch up with you later.”  Later never comes.

Joe’s Perspective: The man who always gave of himself and asked for nothing in return was given a surprise party just to celebrate the character of Allen McCloskey.  The place was packed. The speeches were long. The people of Galveston could not thank him enough. One man tried to put his life in perspective: “Allen has figured out what life is all about. It’s not the money that makes him happy. Allen has figured out where ‘enough’ is at.” In other words, he found purpose in helping others and in being a decent human being. He gets fulfillment from the appreciation of others. No payment necessary.  Allen, that is a job well done and a life well lived.

Your Turn: It’s not a question that I pondered until I was about 40, so I don’t expect profound answers, but think on it for a minute. What provides you with purpose and meaning in this life?

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Last year, Nebraska Women’s Volleyball Coach John Cook set a goal to reclaim the record for the most fans to see a women’s volleyball game, equating to just over 20,000 fans. Trouble is, the University of Nebraska doesn’t have an indoor facility that could house that many fans.  So, university officials decided to hold the match in Memorial Stadium… and they decided to aim a little higher.  The world record for most fans to ever watch a female sporting event was the women’s World Cup Finals, played on July 10, 1999, when 90,185 people watched Team USA defeat China at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

So, when the tickets went on sale in January, they asked the Nebraska faithful to help set a new world record. Within 3 days, 82,000 tickets were sold. Over the next 9 months, another 10,000 were sold. And, when the official number of spectators was announced for the August 30th game, the official attendance was 92,003 – a new world’s record.

Joe’s Perspective: Crowds have been growing for women’s sports for the past several decades. It began with the Women’s World Cup and has continued with the WNBA. Just look at the attendance of the Women’s Final Four in basketball each year. I think this event at the University of Nebraska also shows that people do care. As team captain, Lexi Rodriguez said, “It was something bigger than just a volleyball game. It’s going to go down in history. It’s putting volleyball and women’s sports on a bigger map.” Indeed, women are putting a solid product on the table. Who knows what attendance at women’s sporting events will be in 10 or 20 years.

Your Turn: What do you think this event means for women’s sports?

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Belle Lindsley, is a senior volleyball player from Ellsworth High School. Recently she had some serious medical issues. She cannot play her senior year because of a brain bleed she encountered before the season. This week, their opponent, Republic County, gave Belle flowers to show their respect and support of all that she’s been through. The card on the flowers read, “We are thinking of you Belle across the state of Kansas!” Please watch the 30-second video below.

https://www.facebook.com/sportsinkansas/videos/227621186571107

Joe’s Perspective: As we get into the intensity of the fall schedule – rivalries, competition and the desire to win – let’s not forget that other things matter more. Things like sportsmanship, compassion and kindness. When someone else is struggling, lend a helping hand. When someone else is hurting, show them that you care. To the players and coaches at Republic County High School, kudos to you. This was a class act.

Your Turn: What are your thoughts and reactions to this gesture by Republic County Volleyball team?

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This is the first blog post of the 2022 school year. Typically, this is about a current event related to sports, but today I just want to hear from you.  I also want to introduce you to this program – an app-based program we call the Student Athlete Program.  This program is designed to improve the character, sportsmanship and leadership of high school athletes.  This program should be fun and engaging. It is not supposed to be “one more thing” or “something you have to do.”

Each week, we ask you to complete the five lessons. It will take you approximately 12 minutes per week. This is a minimum expectation that creates maximum benefit. We release these 5 lessons each Sunday. We expect you to complete the lessons and answer one reflective question after each lesson. Your responses will go directly to your coach’s app. Your coach will select one of these five lessons and bring it into practice once a week to lead a meaningful conversation with the team. Week 1 focuses on goal-setting. Each week thereafter focuses on a different trait.

To teach each trait, you will receive 5 daily lessons via our app. Each day of the week is different and the format looks like this.

• Monday Life Lesson – Powerful pre-recorded life lessons delivered by coaches and athletes.
• Tuesday Sports Blog – Dr. Hoedel authors a sports-based blog about current events related to character and leadership.
• Wednesday Role Model – Students read about a sports role model that exemplifies the traits covered in the program.
• Thursday Dilemma – Students respond to sports-related ethical dilemmas to teach decision-making skills and ethics.
• Friday Movie Clip  –  Segments from character-based popular sports movies are viewed and discussed.

Purpose of Blog: Every week I will write about a sports-related current event about character and leadership.  In the blog, I usually provide my perspective, a video link and discussion questions. The purpose of this blog is to make a simple point – character and leadership matter today!  Some of these stories will be inspirational and some will teach tough lessons. Sometimes it will be about someone who ruined his/her life with one bad decision and sometimes it will be about a selfless act that positively changed someone’s life.

My Hope – Read It, comment and be inspired:   To be honest, I spend 2-3 hours every week researching and writing these blogs. For each post, I will provide discussion questions. Respond to them and let me know what you think about the story. Be articulate. Don’t just say you disagree – say what you disagree with and back it up with a solid rationale. Keep it clean. Don’t swear or put down other students’ views. This is a character and leadership site, so I will filter comments that are non-productive. I hope that these blogs will inspire you and that one or many of them will change the way you approach life.  I believe that students can be inspired and want to be inspired. People and stories can be the source of that inspiration.

Your Turn:

1. Tell me what state you are from and the name of your school.
2. How do you think improving your character and leadership will help you in athletics and in life?

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