Institute for International Sport

Dan’s Corner Blog Entry

2011-02-04T08:04:00.000-08:00

From January 20-22, the Institute for International Sport collaborated with Middlebury College in the administration of a series of World Youth Peace Summit activities on the Middlebury campus. The program was aimed at fostering thoughtful discussion on the role of sport and the arts in the peace process. View the schedule of the highly successful events that took place.

Institute staffers Kim Kennedy and Heather Neuwirth are both '08 graduates of Middlebury – and two of the finest young professionals we have ever employed. In mid-October, Kim and Heather visited their alma mater to present the concept of the World Youth Peace Summit to the Middlebury Student Athlete Advisory Committee. Following that meeting, the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, with the great help of Middlebury Athletic Director, Erin Quinn, and head women's tennis coach, Mike Morgan, developed the three-day program. I was present at the various sessions, and felt it was one of the most successful initiatives we have ever been part of. One of the many exciting results is that this concept can now be replicated on other college campuses.

Following the program, I remained on the Middlebury campus to work with students in Professor Jon Isham’s January term class entitled: “21st Century Challenges.” The objective of Jon’s class was to develop a strategic plan for our forthcoming Center for Social Entrepreneurship. I was struck by Jon’s masterful teaching skills, and the brilliance and commitment of the young people in the class. All of us at the Institute for International Sport, including Alan Hassenfeld, look forward to reviewing the strategic plan, which I am confident will be superb.

Then, for the 12th straight year, I addressed the Middlebury January term Sport and Society class, co-taught by Donald “Dee” Rowe, my former coach and lifelong hero (and Middlebury graduate) and Bill Beaney, Head Men’s Hockey Coach at Middlebury, and one of the Institute’s 100 Most Influential Sports Educators in America. Working with the tremendous young people in that classroom was inspiring.

The trip ended with Dave Donahue, Special Assistant to Middlebury President Ron Liebowitz, and I meeting with Governor Peter Shumlin and his Chief of Staff, Bill Lofy. Governor Shumlin expressed strong interest in the future of the World Youth Peace Summit and Center for Social Entrepreneurship. He is eager for Middlebury College and The State of Vermont to play a key role.

Special thanks to Middlebury President Ron Liebowitz and his wife, Jessica, two terrific people. And, of course, to Dave Donahue, Jon Isham, Mike Morgan, Erin Quinn, Liz Robinson, Mike Schoenfeld, Georgia Wright-Simmons, the many students who helped make this happen – and so many other wonderful people I met over the period of my stay.

And finally, to Alex Wolff, senior staff writer at Sports Illustrated. Alex did a brilliant job moderating the opening panel on January 20.

2011-01-07T08:34:00.000-08:00

Institute for International Sport Selects Three Books as
2010 Sports Education Books of the Year

The Institute for International Sport at the University of Rhode Island has selected three acclaimed books as the Institute’s “2010 Sports Education Books of the Year.” The Institute created this award to recognize exceptional sport-themed books that contribute to the education of youth and adults, and to the American sports culture. The annual award was instituted in 2008 with the selection of “Game On” by Tom Farrey. In 2009, the Institute selected “Losing Season,” a series of sport poems by Jack Ridl.

2010 Winners

Willie Mays: The Life, the Legend by James Hirsch (Simon and Schuster) was selected for the author’s wonderful attention to detail and for his splendid job in capturing Mr. Mays's underappreciated but significant contribution to race relations.

The High School Sports Parent: Developing Triple-Impact Competitors by Jim Thompson (Balance Sports Publishing) was selected for its concise and significant delivery of a game plan that parents can use to help their children make the most of their high school sports experience.

How Lucky You Can Be: The Story of Coach Don Meyer by Buster Olney (Ballantine/Random) was selected for the depiction of Don Meyer’s dedication to coaching in the face of life-threatening injuries and terminal illness, and for capturing the inner workings of a coach’s relationship with his family and his players.

Dan Doyle, Founder and Executive Director of the Institute for International Sport, stated, “It is a privilege to recognize these three wonderful books, for they perfectly fulfill our objective of honoring books that have a profound impact on sport as a vehicle to educate.”

2010-12-23T08:41:00.000-08:00

INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL SPORT NEWS: December 2010

ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU, VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE,
GENERAL COLIN POWELL AND AUTHOR GREG MORTENSON
COMING TO CONNECTICUT TO SPEAK AT
THE WORLD YOUTH PEACE SUMMIT!

Colin Powell	Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Vice President Al Gore	Author Greg Mortenson

View details announced at December 14 press conference hosted by
Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell.

2011 World Youth Peace Summit tickets/registration go on sale in January. Details
will be included in the January newsletter.

Please consider a year-end tax deductible donation to the
Institute for International Sport and the World Youth Peace Summit.
Make your contribution here.

MOMENTUM BUILDING FOR WORLD YOUTH PEACE SUMMIT AND
WORLD SCHOLAR-ATHLETE GAMES

"Bringing sports and the arts together in a program that promotes world
peace. This is such a great idea." -Senator Scott Brown at his World Youth
Peace Summit Peace Lecture on November 14

Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray and Senator Scott Brown at the World Youth Peace Summit Peace Lecture

Read front page Worcester Telegram story on

Senator Brown's outstanding speech.

Dan Doyle is now on

• Watch Dan Doyle's recent appearance on ESPN's Outside the Lines. Dan discussed
USC'soffering an 8th grader a college football scholarship.

A Major Middlebury College
World Youth Peace Summit Program

Middlebury College plans a special World Youth Peace Summit
program which will become a national model. Read details of this
groundbreaking program, which will take place

January 20-22, 2011.

• We are pleased to welcome the National Society of High School Scholars and the

National Association of Independent Schools as strategic partners of the World
Scholar-Athlte Games and World Youth Peace Summit. Scholar-athletes and
scholar-artists from both of these esteemed organizations are encouraged
to apply to the Games and Summit.

Register for the World Scholar-Athlete Games

Registration is now open for the
2011 World Scholar-Athlete Games

National Sportsmanship Day
Our 20th Anniversary

We are now preparing for the 20th anniversary celebration of National Sportsmanship Day on March 1, 2011. The celebration will include the naming of honorees who have fostered the practice of fair play in the following categories:

20 Living Americans

20 Deceased Americans

20 Organizations

20 All-American Sportsmanship Schools

Nominations for any of the categories above can be sent to nsd@internationalsport.com.

2010-09-13T09:01:00.000-07:00

THE CHANCE TO TRANSFORM A LIFE
BY: DANIEL E. DOYLE, JR.

Over the next several weeks, an annual athletic rite will begin anew. Thousands of school coaches will have the opportunity to make a meaningful and, in many cases, profound impact on the millions of eager student-athletes under their watch. The best of these coaches will incorporate into their “lesson plan” not merely a textbook knowledge of their sport but a commitment to impart valuable life lessons.

Coaches can begin this chalk talk by encouraging their student-athletes to be school citizens – to take part in non-athletic activities. Like Finn Hudson and the cheerleaders on “Glee,” athletes in school are highly visible, but they should not allow themselves to be seen as a clannish, elite group, who are excused from special assemblies, car wash fundraisers and other kinds of school-wide activities; rather, coaches should channel their high visibility, their prominence, into pursuits like peer tutoring or helping set up for the Science Fair. A well-developed school athletic program fosters this objective and eschews any notion of separation. If a key principle of varsity sports is being part of something bigger than oneself, athletic directors and coaches must ensure that this principle encompasses athletes supporting other school initiatives.

A second goal is one that is surprisingly neglected by many coaches – connecting the competitive sports experience with lifelong fitness. Coaches should help their student-athletes recognize that team sports are but a first step in a life-long journey of physical fitness. A coach can draw a parallel between the two experiences by focusing not merely on the satisfaction of successful play but on the long-term objective of a full, healthy life aided by a regimen of regular fitness.

A third coaching objective is to help parents understand the parameters of their involvement. Coaches should inform parents of a core principle of positive sports parenting: on matters of playing time and strategy, dad and mom should stay out of it. By contrast, on matters of ethics or injuries, parents have not only the right but the obligation to weigh in. School administrators should join coaches in reminding intrusive parents that their “lobbying” is not only unfair to other team members but robs their own child of the opportunity to employ the sports experience as a helpful means to achieve self-reliance. When a child is concerned about playing time, the wise sports parent acts as a counselor of wisdom, that is, guiding the child on how to deal maturely with the coach on the matter – rather than picking up the phone or sending an ill advised e-mail in an attempt to solve the problem.

A fourth consideration is that so-called tough love is an invaluable component of the sports culture, and a primary reason why so many former athletes revere their old coach. Coaches must be sure this firm, insistent counsel is based on a genuine caring for the players and the awareness that leaders are there to serve not be served.

And finally, the coach is obligated to foster an atmosphere of fair play and respect for opponents. Encouraging gamesmanship (a polite word for bending the rules) to win can make a child assume that shortcuts are an acceptable practice in other phases of life – problematic for a youngster trying to develop an ethical code. Encouraging malice toward opponents, by coaches, parents or fans, has no place in amateur athletics, a concept that Japanese baseball icon, Sadaharu Oh understood when he wrote, “The opponents and I are really one. My strength and skills only half of the equation. The other half is theirs.”

Coaches who impart these and other lessons often find themselves atop their athletes’s reference list at graduation, and atop their thank you list decades later.

Daniel E. Doyle, Jr. is Founder and Executive Director of the Institute for International Sport and author of the “Encyclopedia of Sports Parenting,” winner of the ForeWord Book Award and the Independent Publisher’s “Living Now” Book Award. Mr. Doyle is now writing “The Master Coach Manual” which will be published in 2011.

2010-06-23T08:20:00.000-07:00

A TRIBUTE TO A RENAISSANCE MAN
CHARLES “CHUCK” HAMBLET
APRIL 21, 1941 – JANUARY 9, 2010
DISTINGUISHED TRUSTEE OF THE INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL SPORT

“The best use of one’s life is to spend it on something that outlasts it.” -William James

From 2007-2010, Chuck Hamblet, Headmaster Emeritus of St. George’s School in Newport, Rhode Island, served with great distinction as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Institute for International Sport. On January 9, 2010, Mr. Hamblet passed away after a courageous two-year battle with brain cancer. The following is a tribute to a beloved member of the Institute family.

MESSAGE FROM DAN DOYLE

I first met Chuck when he was the outstanding head boy’s basketball coach at Phillips Exeter Academy and I was the assistant men’s basketball coach at Brown University. We immediately struck up a friendship that would endure for over three decades.

By the time the Institute for International Sport decided to administer the World Scholar-Athlete Games in Newport in 1993, Chuck was already practicing his enlightened thinking as Headmaster at St. George’s. Prior to the decision to hold the ‘93 event in Newport was announced to the public, I approached Chuck to seek his advice. As I fully expected, his wisdom played a great role in our inaugural event, and from there, our friendship continued to grow.

On many occasions over the last seventeen years, whether it was a tennis match at St. George’s, attending a local basketball game, having dinner, or, at a later stage, visiting Chuck and Carol in North Carolina during his tenure as Headmaster at Westchester Country Day School, the more time I spent with him, the more I appreciated that Chuck Hamblet was one of the finest men I had ever been privileged to know.

One special day in March, 2008 will always stand out in my mind. Chuck and Carol invited me to visit Westchester Country Day to address the student body and, later that evening, the school parents. It was a wonderful day, full of various activities. Yet what struck me most about the experience were my conversations with Chuck’s board members, and other school parents. It was wonderful to hear how, in such a short period of time, Chuck had exerted such a profound effect on a school and community.

Three years ago, Chuck joined the board of the Institute for International Sport. He was a magnificent trustee, bringing to the board his wonderful combination of wisdom, civility, integrity, and goodwill. And we shared the same view of governance: caution, creativity, tolerance/latitude, moderation/discipline. These qualities, and so many others, were in evidence at the inspiring memorial service at St. George’s, one of the most poignant tributes I have ever attended.

It was an honor to have known Chuck Hamblet. He personified the ideal of the scholar-athlete, and he was the embodiment of a true friend.

MESSAGE FROM TIM FLAHERTY

Tim Flaherty was the first employee to be hired by Dan Doyle at the Institute for International Sport. Tim, and his older brother, Joe, both played for Chuck at Phillips-Exeter. Tim is now the Managing Director, U.S. Senior and U.S. Women’s Open Championships for the USGA.

I think Dan Doyle had people like Chuck Hamblet in mind when he created the Institute for International Sport. While Mr. Hamblet’s success at the helm of St. George’s speaks for itself, he was, at heart, a teacher and a coach. An educator first, he always knew the proper balance between academics and athletics. But he knew that basketball mattered to his players, that it was an important part of their lives. The competiveness he brought to practices and games made all his players realize that it mattered to him as well. As a teacher, coach and administrator he embodied and promoted the true spirit of the student-athlete; all of which the Institute seeks to highlight and encourage.

MESSAGES FROM MARTY BURCH AND ADOLPHE COULIBALY

There is a strong connection between Marty and Adolphe, and Chuck Hamblet, as there is a strong connection between these two splendid young men and the Institute for International Sport. Both Marty and Adolphe are graduates of the Scholar-Athlete Games, and both young men were recommended to Chuck and St. George’s by Dan Doyle. Marty and Adolphe compiled brilliant records as scholars and athletes at St. George’s. Marty went on to graduate from Davidson College and is now a financial representative with Northwestern Mutual Life. Adolphe went on to graduate from Amherst College and is now a teacher and boy’s basketball coach at Rocky Hill School in Rhode Island. On January 16, Adolphe and Marty joined Dan as ushers at Chuck Hamblet’s memorial service at St. George’s.

Chuck Hamblet was the most dignified leader I have been around. He was a leader who did not just speak, but one that shone in his actions. More can be said about Mr. Hamblet by the loyalty he fostered when he was not around. His presence inspired, and everyone in his community knew that their best interests were being tended to. Mr. Hamblet's legacy is one of caring; genuine caring and concern for everyone he taught, coached or led.
-Marty Burch

The famous African writer Amadou Hampate Ba once said “when an old man dies, it's a library burning”. Mr Hamblet’s expertise and wisdom were taken away from me too soon, but his impact on my life will forever remain. To me, he is an angel who positively influenced so many lives including my own. I certainly miss him and I do believe his legacy will never burn out.
-Adolphe Coulibaly

THREE BRILLIANT EULOGIES

The January 16, 2010 memorial service at St. George’s was an inspiring tribute to Chuck. The service included three profoundly meaningful eulogies. The eulogies were delivered by Chuck’s son Todd, and dear friends, Chris Harlow and Betsy Michel.

• View Todd Hamblet’s eulogy.
• View Chris Harlow’s eulogy.
• View Betsy Michel’s eulogy.

The Institute for International Sport extends our condolences to the Hamblet family over the passing of a truly great human being.