IHSAA Commissioner Reflects on Life Lessons of Sports
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowAs he prepares for retirement, Indiana High School Athletic Association Commissioner Bobby Cox says he hopes his emphasis on sportsmanship has a lasting impression not only on student-athletes, but their parents as well.
Cox, who has served as IHSAA commissioner since 2011, recently announced his retirement. He is only the eighth commissioner in the history of the high school sports organization.
Reflecting on his tenure, Cox says high school student-athletes are receiving lifelong lessons they cannot learn in a classroom, including sportsmanship.
“High school sports are emotional, but we need to keep that emotion in check,” explained Cox to Inside INdiana Business sports contributor Bill Benner. “You have to learn how to win with grace and lose with dignity. And the reality is sometimes that’s hard to do.”
Cox has been with the organization for 20 years. Prior to his time with IHSAA, Cox was an administrator, teacher and coach for Carmel Clay schools.
During that time, he witnessed the emotions of competition spilling out on the hardwood, on the gridiron, and in the stands. It wasn’t always positive.
“We’ve moved our emphasis away from student-athletes, and really looked at adults. You know, we need to be better role models as adults. And so subsequently, we spend a lot of energy and resource on that. And I feel really good about where we’re at with our sportsmanship today,” says Cox.
Cox will retire August 1, but he says he’ll remain involved in high schools. He says the experience of high school sports is critical to the development of young people.
“For so many young people, the high school experience athletic experience is their final. That’s their final destination when it comes to competition athletics,” says Cox. “We spend a lot of time talking about that with our members, school institutions, and what is important about high school sports and making sure that it remains relevant, and it remains important in the high school experience.
Cox currently serves on five different boards of directors including the National Federation of State High School Associations, the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, the Indiana Sports Corp., the Council on Standards for International Educational Travel and the IHSAA Foundation.