Hyde Park Promotes Healthy Living through School Sports
A rising epidemic: sedentary behavior and a lack of exercise among teens has led health professionals to deem obesity a global health crisis. Today, 20.6% of American teenagers ages 12 to 90 meet the criteria for obesity. The Hyde Park Central School District strives to combat this lack of daily movement among teenagers with a widespread and accessible school sports program.
“Exercise, friendship, teamwork, sportsmanship, friendship,” says Alex Trocino, health teacher, modified football, and track coach at Haviland Middle School, on the benefits he’s witnessed among students from the Hyde Park athletic program. School sports offer athletes a positive stress outlet, a support system of coaches and peers, and an incentive to uphold academic achievement. “Students are ineligible to play if they are failing 3 or more subjects and I have seen students keep their grades up to remain on the team,” Torino includes.
However, athletics enrollment has been steadily on the decline across all sports offered at Hyde Park Central School District. This was accelerated by the 2020 quarantine as online schooling for a year led to a decreasing interest in athletics as teens found new hobbies to fill their year without recreational activity. More and more adolescents are turning to sedentary lifestyles, along with inadequate nutrition putting them at risk for obesity and reciprocal physical and mental health problems down the line. The correlation between symptoms of depression and obesity can lead to students struggling with mental health and with academics. According to Dr. Laurence Steinberg, Ph.D., this correlation between depression and obesity among teenagers, targets these students as common victims of bullying, negatively impacting their school environment and academic performance.
Haviland Middle School does its best to implement positive behaviors and role models at school to nurture healthy habits among its students. The middle school begins by introducing after-school intramurals for 6th-grade boys and girls where they can dabble in a variety of different sports offered to them on a competitive level beginning in seventh grade. This intramural program gives students an encouraging environment to gather after school and learn about new activities they can look forward to pursuing throughout high school.
Hyde Park CSD also hosts programs starting in elementary school. The elementary running club works with varsity Cross Country and Track & Field team members and coaches at F.D. Roosevelt High School. Additionally, JV and Variety coaches support the Hyde Park Youth Football League. In these programs, elementary schoolers are able to connect with high school role models gaining achievement awards and a fun interest in track or football.
Beginning in seventh grade, students at Haviland Middle School are able to join modified sports teams. “PE classes make planned announcements giving descriptions of the sports being offered and they discuss when and how to sign up three times a year before fall, winter, and spring sports,” says Trocino. Sports meet after school and the district provides most, if not all, equipment and transportation, Trocino explains, making it more accessible for low-income families. While students are welcome to use their own bats or helmets for sports such as baseball, Hyde Park CSD provides equipment so all students are able to participate. As players get older, Hyde Park CSD works with students looking to be recruited to teams at the collegiate level, and F.D. Roosevelt High School organizes college signing events for the community to celebrate. “I have seen these signings motivate my younger athletes,” says Trocino, who expressed the positive impact athletics have had on his student-athletes’ academics.
Well-supported school sports across Hyde Park CSD ensure students are meeting their recommended daily activity, offer support networks and a sense of school community, and motivate academic achievement. Meanwhile, there is still some work that can be done to ensure students from all socioeconomic and home backgrounds are able to participate in school activities. “For some students, a big issue is not having a ride home after practice,” says Trocino suggesting a 5 o’clock late bus may alleviate this stress and allow more students to enjoy after-school sports.
