Ellie VanLandschoot

EDUC 300 Cultural Pluralism

Out of Bounds

Weebly Reading Reaction #5

I chose to write about this article because I love sports and they interest me. One

of my dreams when I become a teacher is to also coach. I have loved going to school

and playing sports my whole life. That is partly due to my amazing coaches and

teachers that I have had that developed my love and passion for school and sports.

“Sports rivalries can energize school spirit. But keeping events respectful takes a

dynamic blend of foresight, leadership and buy- in from the community.” I went to the

Catholic school in Iowa City. Just one town over, not even 10 minutes away, is West

Branch. My school, Regina and West Branch are big rivals and the two towns absolutely

despise one another. There is bad animosity in West Branch towards people that go to

school at Regina. The head football coach for Regina actually grew up and went to

West Branch high school, so yes you can already see it’s all tough love. After one

specific game, one of the Regina coaches didn’t shake hands with West Branch, which

wasn’t very classy and that caused major controversy.

West Branch celebrates extra loud when they beat Regina and vice versa. I wish

this rivalry was more in bounds. My goal is to bring these two communities together, but

I don't know how. This would take fostering the two cultures to respect each other, that

yes we are different, private vs public, and we are opponents, but to place value in each

individual and ask for them to perform at their very best when they play.
 Before every home game at Regina we would say a prayer out loud asking God

to look over this game and keep it safe from injury, calm the players and coaches, guide

the officials and make sure the fans stay respectful. Even if we played an away game, I

would pray for my team and the other, officials, coaches and fans. This is how I showed

my gratitude when I wasn’t in my home gym.

The idea of crackdown vs buy- in when you do have a rivalry game is very

interesting. Crackdown is the idea of explicitly stating the punishments. This would

probably be done by the activities director directed at the fans. Buy- in needs planning

and commitment to reduce tensions between the rivalries. You can plan out the different

sections, visitors and home where people can sit to reduce controversy.

Pep rallies are great for unifying a sports team together before a big game. My

PE teacher at my high school, who actually passed away from COVID this past spring

was tremendous about getting my school pumped up on a Friday before the football

game. He would lead the chant, “For the Blue, Fight, Fight! For the Gold, Fight, Fight!

The last point I want to say is saying at your school that we do things right and

respectful here. This gives clarity to all that visit your school that they must act right to

be at this school.