By Morgan Rode sports@newmedia-wi.com
Shawano Community High School staff, parents and volunteers determined they wanted to improve the athletic culture at the school after a Wednesday presentation led by athletic director Joel Wondra.
That determination was made after Wondra led an exercise — which was designed by Jeff Janssen, a sports pyschologist that Wondra heard speak at the Wisconsin Athletic Director Association meeting in November — that analyzed the school’s productivity and results (winning) and relationships within a program.
Coaches and assistant coaches at the high school were invited to the meeting by Wondra, along with some parents, booster club members and board members that showed interest.
Sticky notes — one for a particular team and a second for the athletic program as a whole — were placed into a chart drawn on a white board that was separated into eight groups of cultures, as defined by Janssen. Wondra did not reveal the eight types of culture until after all the sticky notes had been placed.
All of the team-related sticky notes landed in either the “comfortable,” “congenial,” “competitive” or “constructive” cultures, with none landing in the “cutthroat,” “corrosive,” “country club” or “championship” boxes.
The sticky notes representing the athletic program were not as favorable, with almost each one landing in the “corrosive,” “comfortable” or “country club” culture boxes.
After Wondra revealed the distinctions of each box, about half of those in attendance agreed upon where they placed their sticky notes.
While many did not think they needed to move their sticky notes, many were interested in improving the culture at the school and within the individual teams, which will likely lead to further discussions about the athletic culture moving forward.
“From tonight’s meeting I think most people believe the culture around our athletic programs could use some improvement,” wrestling coach Mike Homan said after the meeting. “I also see a group of people who are willing to help make changes to improve our culture. I’m excited to see where this program can guide our program in the future.”
Wondra said there have been multiple times since the start of his tenure at Shawano that he has had conversations regarding the school’s culture with various stakeholders — parents, coaches, community members and board members.
Wondra made it a point that the conversation would not be dictated by him, hoping instead to lead the conversation and allow the stakeholders to proceed as they wished.
The presentation started with individuals in attendance defining what culture is.
“Culture is important because it’s what you build your program on over the course of time,” said girls basketball coach Ryan Koenig. “It’s about being successful on and off the court while creating friendships and memories with your players and teammates. Culture also shows younger generations what expectations are to be part of the program in the future and hopefully inspires them to be the best they can be.”
“Culture is everything. It can have such a great impact on the school and the community,” said football coach Al Tomow. “It’s important everyone is on the same page and that kids hear a consistent message from coaches during all sports seasons. When standards and expectations are consistent, it makes it easier for the kids to work hard. Everyone is working towards the same goal, not just our individual sport success.”
From there, Wondra’s presentation moved on to discussing Janssen and his book, “How to Build and Sustain a Championship Culture.” The exercise came from the book, which Wondra hopes to get in the hands of each individual leading the culture change.
Wondra ended the meeting by handing out forms, where individuals could write down particular days of the week and times in a day that they could meet again to continue the discussion.
Wednesday’s meeting could have been the only one if those in attendance chose so, but many individuals filled out the forms. Wondra hoped to have the group meet before the end of the school year and then possibly again over summer so that the start of a plan could be in place for the 2019 fall season.
“As I said in the presentation, it’s not my place to come in and tell the community that your culture might be messed up and we need to do something about it. That’s not my style,” Wondra said. “I was hoping that sharing that with the group, that they would agree that they would want to talk more about it and I think that we accomplished that.”