In Ted Lasso on Apple TV, there’s one scene that has always stuck with me. If you’ve seen the show, you might remember it. If you haven’t — seriously, where have you been?
In this moment, Ted, the affable and wildly out-of-place American football coach turned Premier League manager, is sitting down with a journalist. He’s expected to flop. The media is ready to tear him apart. But something surprising happens — the longer the reporter listens, the more he begins to like Ted. To root for him.
Then Ted delivers a line that hits home:
“For me, success is not about the wins and losses. It’s about helping these young fellas be the best versions of themselves, on and off the field.”
It’s a short quote. A simple moment. But it’s one that sticks with me — because in the world of athletics, it’s easy to lose sight of this truth. Wins, losses, stats, and scholarships often take center stage. Yet, what matters most might be what we’re missing: the responsibility to shape student-athletes into strong, capable, compassionate people.
The Reality Behind the Dream
We love watching students chase their dreams, but it’s important to keep their feet (and our own) on the ground. According to the NFHS, while nearly eight million students participate in high school sports each year, only a tiny fraction will play at the collegiate or professional levels:
- Just 1% of the 537,000 boys and 1.4% of the 373,000 girls who play high school basketball will reach NCAA Division I.
- Only 3% of the one million+ boys who play high school football will make it to a major college program.
- The odds of turning pro are minuscule. 0.03% for the NBA, 0.08% for the NFL.
These numbers aren’t meant to kill dreams. Rather, they remind us why our focus must stay on what sports offer beyond the scoreboard: resilience, leadership, accountability, and personal growth.
Athletics as a Classroom
Athletics is a powerful teaching tool. Unlike the traditional classroom, sports offer visceral lessons: how to bounce back from a mistake, how to perform under pressure, how to lead without words, and how to sacrifice for the good of the group. These are skills our students will need far more often than a three-pointer or a goal-line tackle.
And it pays off. Surveys reveal that over 95% of Fortune 500 CEOs played high school sports. A study by Ernst & Young found that 90% of female executives were also former athletes, with 96% of those in chief-level roles attributing sports as key to their leadership development.
Shifting the Narrative
This is where ADs come in. Athletic directors set the tone for their programs. You influence what gets celebrated and what gets cultivated. When ADs highlight academic achievement, personal growth, and team-first attitudes just as much as championships, they can elevate the purpose of school sports.
Ask yourself:
- Do our programs teach life beyond the game?
- Are we giving coaches the tools to mentor, not just drill?
- Are we ensuring every student — starter or benchwarmer — feels valued?
A Call to Action
Not every athlete will go on to play pro, not every athlete will play at the college level, but every athlete should be able to take the skills and values they learned from playing sports to become a successful and confident adult. It’s time to recommit making our fields, courts, and gyms extensions of the classroom, where success is not defined by where our students go next, but by who they become.
