| The main insights of this study stemmed from the current trends of high school and youth sports. School sports have changed rapidly over the past 20 years, but its programming may not have kept up with this change. This study identified some of the changes through interviews with school athletic directors; community sports directors, and high school soccer coaches.;The problem this study responded to was the gap in the literature due to limited empirical research identifying specific benchmarks of excellence for interscholastic athletic programs. School sports leaders have begun the conversations with youth/community groups, but this needed to be further explored. This became apparent through the sports director and athletic director interviews.;The purpose of this exploratory study was to develop creative ways to measure interscholastic athletic program effectiveness and its connection to community sports using ecological management theory as a guide, from the text of Bruce Baker and Craig Richards (2004), The Ecology of Educational Systems: Data, Models, and Tools for Improvisational Leading and Learning .;The study found that an exemplary interscholastic athletic program communicates a clear concise philosophy that balances participation and opportunity; competition and sportsmanship; collaboration and ethical behavior; and fiscal fitness. It is the responsibility of the school athletic program to measure its success using the tools that help bring each part together, but also recognizing that the main influence on school sports programs is the community sports program. |
