Esko schools plan renewed focus on sportsmanship

The Esko athletic department is developing a new sportsmanship initiative to help educate and encourage athletes, along with establishing guidelines and consequences for actions that don’t “represent who Esko is.”

Activities director Chad Stoskopf presented an outline for the new sportsmanship initiative to the Esko school board at its meeting Monday, June 13.

The initiative, Stoskopf said, is focused on educating athletes and coaches to prevent any unsportsmanlike behavior. It will include the reinstatement of the mandatory all-sports meeting, which will be held Aug. 9; video modules that all athletes will be required to complete; mentorship programs led by former Esko athletes and current Esko athlete leadership groups; and various program speakers.

These tools will teach leadership, online safety, mental health training, and the expectations of what sportsmanship looks like at Esko schools, Stoskopf said.

School board members voiced concerns about the specifics of the initiative and stressed the importance of sticking to consequences for unsportsmanlike actions by athletes, coaches or fans.

Stoskopf assured board members that setting the tone for next season is of the utmost importance to the initiative, but that outlining specific rules and consequences will be different for every situation. Consequences may come from a coach, the activities director or other administrators.

“Changing the behavior starts with education on Esko’s standards,” Stoskopf said. “We don’t want to put consequences before setting our standards.” He also told the board that the initiative will be “fluid” and if it isn’t working or needs to be expanded, it can be updated.

The push for a new sportsmanship initiative comes after three years without an all-sports meeting for athletes and parents due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

It also comes after an incident last fall, when school board member Jeff Salo stepped down from his position as chair after he approached an unnamed student athlete after a football game and was “overly critical and said some hurtful comments.” Public details of the interaction were sparse, but a coach was there and intervened, according to Esko superintendent Aaron Fischer. At the time, Salo accepted responsibility for his actions and acknowledged that his handling of “the issue on the field” was wrong.

On Monday, the focus was on the students. Fischer said the lack of education on sportsmanship standards, coupled with what student athletes see on TV and social media about the behavior of professional athletes, has led to different ideas of what true sportsmanship is. Fischer and Stoskopf hope that these changes will lead to athletes, coaches, administrators and the community having the same expectations.

In other business, the school board approved the 10-year facility priority list created by Esko staff and administrators. The list outlines what the district hopes to accomplish for the facility over the next decade. Items on the list include updating the water treatment system, building a fitness center and remodeling the cafeteria. With the board’s approval, Fischer will begin forming more concrete plans.

The school board also approved starting the process to join the American Indian Achievement and Integration program, as Esko is now eligible. The Minnesota education department program allows districts with or adjacent to communities with high populations of American Indian students to create educational opportunities and reduce academic disparities for American Indian students. The plan would allow Esko, Cloquet, Proctor and Carlton to collaborate on educational experiences for students. It would offer funding to provide an American Indian tutor and localized American Indian history and culture curriculum for all Esko students.

The Esko school board meets the second Monday of each month.