How to Become an InsideOut School

What is the InSideOut Initiative?

The InSideOut Initiative is a nationally recognized, evidence based, professional development platform (Possibly consider integration of ISOI 2019 impact report) for athletic directors, school administrators and coaches. The program is designed to align school communities around a central idea that the purpose of education based athletics is to provide students with the opportunities and experiences that they will need to ultimately become the best version of themselves. The goal of the InSideOut Initiative is to create InSideOut Schools, by transforming the current “win at all costs” sports culture where success is often defined by a scoreboard into one that promotes sports as a human growth experience.

A coach’s ability to develop the character of his or her student athletes through the process of planning and preparing for excellence in competition should set the standard for evaluating the success of an athletic department. This professional development opportunity gives schools the tools they need to support their coaches in this endeavor while aligning all stakeholders (parents, teachers, school administrators, superintendents, school boards, community leaders) around the core values established by a school’s athletic programs.

How Does Our School Become an InSideOut School?

Becoming an InSideOut School is a five-step process designed around a system of creating awareness, alignment, action and accountability in an athletic department.

First and foremost is the importance of reading of Joe Ehrmann’s Book, InSideOut Coaching: How Sports Transforms Lives. Without the book as background, it is extremely difficult grasp and understand the common language that is so essential to the InSideOut Initiative. Words such as Goals, Purpose, Transformational and Transactional serve as the foundation for creating space in the culture for education-based athletics and the book explains each of these ideas in great detail.

https://insideoutinitiative.org/2018/01/16/begin-just-start-somewhere/

Book, ebook, audiobook, bulk orders

Regional training sessions are available through TSSAA to provide athletic administrators and coaches the support they need to create the culture that they are seeking to infuse into their school communities. In addition to these regional training sessions, schools have the opportunity to access to an online platform called Participate which provide school administrators and coaches the training they will need to implement the program at their schools.

Once the leadership team of your school is comfortable with the concepts found in Joe Ehrman’s book you can begin focusing on taking your community through the following steps:

Step 1: Develop a Common Language for your School Community

Step 2: Create Transformational Purpose Statements

Step 3: Create a Collective Purpose Statement

Step 4: Create a Definition of Success

Step 5: Create a Coach’s Job Description

Partnership for Transformational Athletics

This work would not be possible without the collective support of the Tennessee Titans, the InSideOut Initiative staff, Tennessee Athletic Coaches Association, the Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents, the Tennessee School Board Association, and the Tennessee Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.