Shades Mountain Christian School

Participation in athletics is a privilege, which carries with it varying degrees of honor, responsibility and sacrifice. Since competition is a privilege and not a right, those who choose to participate shall be expected to follow the rules established by the Athletic Department and other specific coaches' rules for their sport. Each student-athlete represents the Body of Christ and the school community. It is the student athlete's duty to conduct himself or herself in light of this manner.

The Athletic Department will enforce all rules and regulations as described in the Athletic Handbook. Parents and athletes are asked to sign an acknowledgment document located at the end of the handbook stating that they have read and understand the information included in the Handbook and that the athlete is subject to disciplinary measures should he or she violate the rules and regulations set forth in this Athletic Handbook.

The following athletic teams, dependent upon student interest, are available for...

Middle and High School Girls: Basketball, Cheerleading, Cross-country, Golf, Soccer, Softball, Tennis, Track, and Volleyball.

Middle and High School Boys: Basketball, Baseball, Cross-country, Football, Golf, Soccer, Tennis, and Track.


Athletic Philosophy
The stated Mission of Shades Mountain Christian School is “to assist Christian parents in their responsibilities to equip their children with spiritual, academic, physical, and social excellence in order to serve God effectively in fulfilling His will in their lives.” At the heart of this mission is a desire to see SMCS glorify God by preparing students spiritually, intellectually, emotionally, and physically to represent God with excellence in whatever capacity He may call them to serve Him. It is our explicit and foremost desire to see each student express saving faith in Jesus Christ and to demonstrate a growing character that is formed in His likeness. It is our belief that athletics can be a useful and impactful tool to help fulfill this desire and mission. To this end we acknowledge the following distinctives and principles to define our program and our approach to interscholastic athletics. Because we recognize no qualitative difference in race or gender, the following will be applied equally in all athletic programs at SMCS:
 
1. The athletic program, like the rest of the programs at SMCS, exists to glorify God. Thus, we will first measure our success not by our wins and losses but by the character of our program.
 
2. Our first concern is the heart of the student-athlete.

• Does the student-athlete know Christ? This is our first priority because we are more concerned about the eternal destinies of our student-athletes than any other single factor.
  
  
• Are they motivated to bring Glory to the Giver of their gifts and talents (1 Corinthians 4:7)?
  
  
• Do they see athletics in the scope of the Christian worldview?
  
  
• Do they give their best in practice and in competition as unto the Lord (Colossians 3:17)?
  
  
• Do they have the opportunity to become their best because they and we are dedicated to excellence?
  
  
• Do they know that success is not only achieved in winning and that in winning they may not achieve success?
  
  
• Are they growing? Are they becoming more like Christ? Are they more mature as an athlete and a human being?

Therefore, it is our philosophy that coaching and athletic leadership is first and foremost a ministry. Hence, our leaders and coaches will seek to cooperate with God’s work in the heart of each student-athlete by facilitating not just team goals but individual ones that have to do with the heart. The head coach and his or her assistants are proactive partners in God’s work through athletic competition for each team and each student.
 
3. We will measure our success on the character and conduct of our coaches, student-athletes, and fans. While we plan and prepare to win the contest, winning is not the chief or sole measure of success. The ultimate measure of our success shall be the character qualities our coaches, students-athletes, and fans display and are developing. We define success as the consistent and growing display of such qualities as love, integrity, humility, loyalty, courage, commitment, respect, servanthood, encouragement, inclusion, empathy, perseverance, taking responsibility, honor in victory, and grace in defeat.
 
4. We will do our best, as unto the Lord.

• We will plan, prepare, practice, and compete to win.
  
  
• We will provide the best equipment we can afford.
  
  
• We will hire the best coaches we can find and afford.
  
  
• We will secure and provide the safest and best facilities we can afford.
  
  
• We believe the best will require a healthy and harmonious partnership between church staff, school staff, students, and parents.
  
  
• We are committed to excellence and we will measure ourselves by an unwavering commitment to improve for the ultimate purpose of drawing more attention to our program through victory, so that we can in turn redirect that attention to Jesus Christ so that He is glorified.

5. Finally, we will actively seek to share the good news of Christ through athletics. We will not reserve the potential connection between an athletic contest and evangelism for the foreign mission field. We will pray, prepare, and play in such a way that keeps in view both our unspoken and spoken witness to the person and work of Jesus Christ. It is our hope that our play and conduct might draw attention because of its excellence. We will seek opportunities to share our faith with other teams, coaches, and players. This will be accomplished because we are praying about it, preparing for it, and playing in light of it.
 
Because the aforementioned athletic philosophy is easier to say than to do and because partnership and accountability are good allies in sport and life we wish to have each coach, student-athlete, and fan (parents and students) affirm their commitment to this philosophy and approach to athletics by committing to uphold the following "code of conduct". To this end we will encourage, exhort, and hold each other accountable.
 

1. We will seek to honor Christ in our conduct.

2. We will show love and respect to the opposing team and their fans.

3. We will respect the judgments of the officials.

4. We will support and encourage our student-athletes during the game.

5. We will support the decision-making of our coaches.