- By Dan Veaner
- Around Town
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In Part 1 of our interview with Lansing Athletic Director Ed Redmond he discussed the athletics program and his role in it. In this week's installment we discussed what drives the program. When you look on the district web site the goals of the Athletic Program are laid out, stressing development, morale, teamwork and spirit over simply winning or losing. In this section we talked about this philosophy, and how the program fits within the district and the community at large.
Lansing Star: When we spoke on the phone you talked about winning not being your primary goal, but teamwork...
Ed Redmond: Yes, there are a number of things we try to stress, and I think it's in our philosophy (that is posted on the district web site). We like to think of the field or the court or the pool as an extension of the educational day. We like to think of it as a classroom. And in that classroom we can teach a lot of things that cannot be taught in a regular classroom. We can teach cooperation and competitiveness, sportsmanship... All those things you can teach in athletics we feel like as coaches and as an athletic department we can get across to kids as an extension of their day. Coaching is teaching. We believe that we still need to continue to teach, and our coaches do an excellent job. No question.
LS: Do you think that contributes to the winning, or is that more due to the culture of Lansing?
ER: Well, I think it's a mix. The kids sense that you care about them, and I think if the kids are motivated and they feel like they're cared about they're going to compete harder for you as a coach. If they develop a connection with you kids will generally play harder for you. So I think that's a piece of it, that they realize that even if we lose the coach is still going to be with us. They're still going to support us. We're still gong to practice the same way we've practiced the next day. I also believe it's a part of the culture here. It's something I've had to work on here. You try to educate people that winning is not the be-all end-all. But some people do see athletics as just win, win, win. The more you preach it, the more you talk about it, the more it becomes a part of the culture of the community.
LS: It does seem like sports is Lansing's "politics," you know what I mean?
ER: Oh yes, it's bantered about, but you know the good thing about that is people are concerned enough and care enough to talk about it. If they weren't talking about it, then I'd be concerned. It's often talked about in the coffee shops and in the grocery stores... it's a hot topic, Lansing athletics. Call it what you may, I just think people are concerned about what happens within the athletic arena here and are willing to talk about it.
Most of the people who have concerns are pretty good. They come to me and they talk to me about their concerns. If they think a child is being mistreated or misused in any way we can get those concerns out. I believe it's probably as big as anything in the community.
LS: Are you on the High School administrative staff or the District staff?
ER: As the Athletic Director I'm really District, as the Dean of Students I'm High School. So you can see the split. I handle most of the discipline here in the High School with our Principal, Miss Stone. That part of my day is High School. Then as the AD I'm district, which is really 7-12, because we star kids in athletics at the modified level in grade seven.
LS: The reason I wanted to ask you about that was that I wanted to ask whether you feel you are supported by the District.
ER: I get support from the regular staff, from the Business Administrator, from the Superintendent of Schools, the Board of Education. They're all very supportive of our programs. Here in the High School as the Dean of Students I answer to the High School.
LS: So do you (and Principal Stone) play "good cop, bad cop?"
ER: Sometimes we do. We're fairly consistent with how we treat kids. We have a similar philosophy on education, and we generally are on the same page.
LS: The Superintendent search is obviously of concern to everybody in the district. Do you think it will make any significant difference to the athletic program?
ER: The search or the person we hire?
LS: Both
ER: Well, I think Lansing's one of those communities that's going to land on it's feet. And certainly it would be great if we had a superintendent come in here that was "gung-ho sports" and all that. But I think that the community supports it. I think the Board of Education supports it, the present administration supports it, and the bottom line is the kids are good at it. I think Lansing athletics and, in general, the school district will land on it's feet. We've been through... this will be our fourth superintendent, i believe... I've lost track. I just come in and do the best I can do every day. The school district's in great shape, and that's the result of the staff, the kids and what goes on within the internal framework of the district. What a lot of people don't see is the internal workings, day to day, and I think we're going to be just fine.
Next week, in Part 3 of 3 Ed Redmond shares his thoughts about the school's sports facilities, his family and coaching. If you missed Part 1 search on the word Redmond.
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