SMC Sports: What's It Gonna Take to Get The Athletic Teams Better?

If you've been to any Santa Monica College team sports game within the past year or two, you know things haven't gone our
way. Why is this so, you might ask? Well, it's not so simple to answer. There are various factors to consider before fully answering such a profound question.

First off, I like to add that the following material you're about to read is solely based on the opinion of the writer and not
the newspaper that is publishing these ingenious words. With that being said, let's proceed with the analysis of our teams' recent hardships.

The first thing that can be said about the whole situation is that our teams needed to start a process of change, just like the country i s now doing with President Obama and his administration. The kind of change that starts within the teams' management
and eventually "trickles down" to the players. Still with me so far? If yes - good. If not, don't worry, you'll understand soon enough.

"CHANGE." What does that mean in our case? In our case, folks, it means getting rid of the old and replacing it with the new. See, we have a little problem here at SMC. The problem we have is not the funding the
school needs or the time it takes to buy a book sold for hundreds of dollars by the teacher you're learning under. No. Not that kind of problem. That's the kind of
problem every hedge fund heir would wish to have.

The problem we have is that our entire athletic institution is one big disarray, or mess for the simple minded ones.
As my momma always would say, "You got to get your [act] together before you can become successful!" The same ideology
applies to our school's athletic department.

While on one hand the department boasts dedicated coaches, managers and assistants
that work around the clock to better the team, but, unfortunately on the other,there is no set system that allows their team to
be successful without a major struggle involved.

Take for example an event in the department's history that happened this past fall semester. Dr. Rhonda Hyatt, a one
time Senior Associates Athletic Director at Cal State University, Northridge, resigned as Athletic Director for no recorded reason
that left an empty space in the institution and had everyone scrambling to fix the situation.

Soon after Hyatt took off, she accepted the job offer to work as director of the College of the Canyons' Recreation Management program, which happens to be one
of SMC's rivals. Believe me folks, things of this nature doesn't bode well with the
sporting gods.

When there is a constant flow or structured system that can support such a grandeur institution as this one, then we can see our short comings transforming to virtuousness.

Granted, there is no certainty that success will follow the path of change. However, it's definitely a progressive step towards a better state that all teams would prefer
to be in, to say the least.
Once the foundation is corrected, momentous and positive progression can soon reverse the curse and lead the teams to a path
of success. Management is where
it all starts but it ends with the
players.

The management needs to find a better way of preparing their players against higher ranked teams during the season. Whether
that means retooling their practice
techniques or making sure every
student-athlete gets the personal attention they needed - something needs to be done.
These athletes tend to slack off as the season winds down thus slowing the productivity of the team. Management needs to boost their athletes' energies in
order to sustain a constant flow of the season, which will prove more invaluable than perceived as momentum plays a huge factor for a team in the final stretch of
their season.

Here are a couple of suggestions they should consider doing: -Take the team out to a fun event where they can just relax and not worry about the challenges
awaiting them. -Do whatever seems spontaneous that can ease the pressure that's put upon the team and can lighten up the locker room in the process. When this task is accomplished, a certain shifting of the team mood will provide the extra step
in ensuring a better and more productive season.

The next and final change that truly needs to occur ASAP is getting better players to work with.
Now I don't want to be seen as knocking down on our men's and women's teams, but I've covered tons of games for a variety of
teams from different sports and you must know there is a vast difference in talent from the key players to the role and bench
players. The key players every team has,
whether they are good or not, for the most part, try to outdo themselves when playing the game.

The role players, on the other hand, don't do enough to help their team win or even get far enough to try to win. Sure, there
are days when the role and bench players outshine the key players, but it doesn't always happen. The truth is, this is due in part by the consistent inconsistency
most teams show, which hurt their
prospects from being successful.

It also doesn't help that the players' confidence lowers as their troubled season progresses either. A way to solve that is to put them through rigorous drills
before the start of the season and weed through the ones that can blossom and the ones that just can't.

By doing this, the management can see what their dealing with and map out a plan that can work around whatever talent they have
to become at least somewhat of a successful team.

Another way is to recruit. Now, after speaking to a few coaches, recruitment is a factor most of them are working towards
implementing into their system.
Unfortunately for them, SMC is a community college, which, and let's be honest here, doesn't usually attract top-notch athletes
to play here.

However, there is something most people tend to forget. Santa Monica College happens to be one of the largest community
colleges in the nation, enrolling approximately 33,000 students at the start of every school year. When you think about it, most Division I athletic teams don't
even have that many people enrolling at their universities.

Why so? Because unlike other community colleges, this college hires faculty that is either currently active in the subjects they teach or provide their students with a
hands-on-approach that attracts so many people to apply. Another reason so many people attend SMC? How about one of
the highest transfer rates to UC/CSU schools and USC that SMC boasts?

This aspect should be an extra lift for coaches to use during their annual recruiting process. Until the management can figure out how to change or refine themselves along with their techniques in dealing with their players and actually bettering their players all together, they
will continually see their teams
spiraling down hill when little to
nothing can be done to "reverse the curse."

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