Bloomsburg Area High School

The Bloomsburg Area School District Board of School Directors believes individual students will benefit through opportunities to grow physically and intellectually through their experience in self-discipline and their contribution to team effort, made possible through competitive interscholastic sports.

It is the Board’s policy to provide students with interscholastic athletic competition in a variety of sports. Students will be allowed to participate in athletic competition on the basis of their physical condition and desire. Qualified personnel shall be provided for coaching and supervising individual sports.

The purpose of athletics is both educational and recreational. The athletic program should encourage participation by as many boys and girls as possible, and should be carried on with the best interests of the participants as the first consideration, including concern for academic achievement.

It is recognized that a well-organized and well-conducted athletic program is a potent factor in the morale of a student body, and an important phase of good community-school relations. Too great an emphasis on winning contests, or too consistent a record of losing them, are both harmful to the development of good attitudes among students and the public.

BLOOMSBURG HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC PHILOSOPHY

Bloomsburg Area School District (BASD) has a long and proud tradition in athletics. Bloomsburg’s athletic program has had great success, with teams winning league championships in almost every sport. This success has also produced state champion programs in wrestling, track, and swimming.

At BHS, we believe in the value of athletics for the entire student body. Coaches feel the responsibility not only to teach their players the skills and strategy behind the game, but also to instill a respect for the tradition of the game including honorable behavior. Learning to honor the game builds a sense of responsibility and the maturation of moral reasoning. Coaches realize that what they are teaching their players carries far beyond the field into the classroom, into the home, and eventually into adulthood. Coaches encourage their players to focus on their level of effort and personal improvement in addition to the final score. Our coaches’ help student-athletes recognize that mistakes, sometimes failures, are inevitable and an important part of the learning process. The key to success is being able to rebound from mistakes/failures with renewed determination.

Our coaches are expected to embrace two goals in all athletic endeavors: the first goal is to teach life lessons through sports, and the second is to win. These goals will help create an understanding of competition, both within the team and within our scheduled events. Athletics are seen as an important part of the total learning experience at Bloomsburg High School. Those lessons are invaluable and help in the overall development of an individual. Sportsmanship, commitment, teamwork, competition, cooperation, and fair play are learned when students are taught to respect the game and bring dignity and self-control to the contest, win or lose. Athletic participation also plays an important part in helping each student develop a healthy self-image as well as a healthy body.

At Bloomsburg, we believe that all students should have the opportunity to participate in interscholastic athletics during their middle school years. There is a place for athletes of all skill levels to represent the Panthers in athletic competitions.

Successful independent school athletic programs depend on a large percentage of student participation. This fact encourages multi-sport athletes. Our coaches will not pressure players to give up other sports in order to secure a winning season in a particular program. Maintaining a culture where positive character traits are developed in our players must come first. When the game is on the line and tensions run high, we will teach our student-athletes invaluable lessons by helping them focus on the two primary aforementioned goals.