FLATIRONS aCADEMY ATHLETICS

Trust

We (players, coaches, parents, administration, and faculty) develop a trust in the competency, integrity, and motivation of each other.

Commit

We are faithful to our teammates, our school, and our community; we do what we say we are going to do, including the willingness to sacrifice other good things for the sake of the good of the team.

Compete

We give our best effort to win for the glory of God, the love of our team, the joy of the game, and the dignity of our opponent. We do so with honor and humility.

 

Flatirons Academy Values in Athletics

SALT: Preserving Against Decay through Athletics
We emphasize commitment over convenience, the competitive experience itself over its utility, the team over the individual, and maturity over winning. This is counter cultural athletics grounded in Christian theology.

LIGHT: Proclaiming the Gospel through Athletics
We want athletes to engage their sport for the glory of their Creator, the cultivation of good culture, and their individual flourishing. Athletics are a microcosm of life, especially its trials with the benefits of faithfully enduring. They are a tool for learning the process of maturing, and open the door for Christians to engage the process of maturing spiritually.

FAMILY: Reinforcing the family through Athletics
With thoughtful scheduling, the school can demonstrate the reality that families, not athletic teams, are the primary structure of society. Athletes can learn to engage full commitment to a team without sacrificing the priority of the family.

COMMUNITY: Cultivating Community through Athletics
The community gathers around athletic events and athletes make connections through their teams. Athletes belong and engage with their team by being physically, emotionally, and psychologically prepared to be at the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing.

 

Flatirons Academy Athletic Distinctives

Formative Athletics
In a single sports season, students establish habitual discipline, endure the suffering of physical exhaustion and mental strain, experience failure, and enjoy success. This happens in an environment designed to norm behavior oriented to the God of the Bible. Athletics are a domain for shaping values where the consequences of failure are low, but the value of the life lessons are high.

Team First
Flatirons Athletics works to develop individual potential for the purpose of program improvement. The focus promotes broad student involvement; however, It does not mean equal playing time or a recreational sports atmosphere, as neither would primarily benefit the team. We work to avoid anything that is focused on exalting the individual rather than the team.

Sports Performance Training
Starting in 6th grade, Flatirons Academy offers a sports performance program with designated facilities and a dedicated sports performance coach to help students learn body control, maximize athletic potential, and prevent injury. With increasing rigor as students grow older, the sport performance program is integrated into high school practices.

Multi-sport Mentality
Programs are designed to create aligned schedules to encourage two and three sport athletes. Even off-season training is designed to compliment in-season participation. Coaches encourage participation in multiple school sports.

Uncommon Consistency
Athletes are expected to be at every practice and every game. Any exception is evaluated based on what is best for the team according to the athletic department and the coach.

Respect for the Game
Nothing additional is needed to make a game special; it is special in itself. Public address announcements, banners, special t-shirts, balloons, and other pageantry are sometimes fun and appropriate, but not necessary for significance. Competition is genuinely difficult; playing hard, finishing well and shaking hands with an opponent afterward is truly significant and real success.

Thoughtful Scheduling
Schedules, seasons, and patterns are designed with the intent to provide space for families and the possibility of balance.

High school schedules involve high commitment, but the school plans around GO Week opportunities, accounts for summer vacations, and weighs every scheduling decision for how it will impact the student academic experience and the family.


Middle school athletic practices are scheduled to partially overlap PE times during the end of the school day so practices are completed by 4:00 PM. The schedule preserves family dinner times with greater frequency, provides student athletes more flexibility for completing homework, and makes it possible for parents to make a single trip to school, even if they are picking up students in both elementary and middle school.