Dec. 8, 2006
Gary charter schools are building athletics programs from the ground up

By Steve Gorches
Gary Post-Tribune

Building a team from scratch can be the ultimate challenge for a coach.

Success in that endeavor can bring the ultimate reward with a job for life.

So how about the challenge of building a whole athletic program from scratch?

Not just one team. Not just one sport. The whole kit-and-kaboodle.

From the first student walking through the doors of a brand-new school to the first coach hired to the first tryout conducted, that's what a pair of athletic directors are going through at two of Gary's six charter schools.

Marvin Rea is leading Thea Bowman Leadership Academy in its first season of IHSAA membership while Toi Baylor sits at the helm of athletics at 21st Century Charter School, which will apply for IHSAA membership next year.

Both have experience beginning programs from the ground up as Amateur Athletic Union basketball coaches.

Rea started the Gary Falcons AAU program around seven years ago. Baylor formed the Baylor Ballers AAU program a couple of years afterward and has also organized several AAU tournaments in Gary, including one next weekend.

In addition to their A.D. duties, Rea coaches Bowman's boys basketball team while Baylor leads 21st Century's girls hoops squad.

And neither is doing it for the paycheck.

"It's not about the money for me -- no way," Rea said. "It's about giving options to the kids. The school is committed to academic and striving to be No. 1 in academics. So why not strive to put together a good athletic program too?"

It's given an opportunity to kids such as the daughter of Jacqueline Moore, also named Jacqueline. Mom is a 1984 West Side grad who competed in basketball and track. But her daughter, who has been at Bowman Academy since fifth grade, never wanted to participate in sports until this fall.

"She has never been willing to play in sports," mom said. "She came to us and said she wanted to play volleyball. We didn't really think she was serious at first."

There have been some bumps along the way for Rea and Baylor, from logistics problems to resentment from other Gary public schools to a lack of adequate equipment. (Bowman's volleyball practices and matches consisted of a frayed net held up by old, portable poles, not the modern ones that stick into the floor, and no referee's stand).

But it's understandable considering the monumental task set before them in a short period of time.

At least both have each other to lean on since their schools are less than a mile apart, and both know each other from the AAU ranks. Both are also Gary high school graduates -- Rea at Roosevelt and Baylor at West Side.

"We're competing now with whatever teams will play us," said Baylor, who is also the assistant women's basketball coach at Indiana University Northwest. "We're running up against some competitiveness with other schools. Marvin has a talented team over there and coaches have some resentment. It's a big mess."

At least one current Gary coach has refused to play the new charter schools that began showing up since Indiana started allowing charter schools to open in 2001.

"We as a basketball program, one of the top programs in the state, don't play charter schools. We don't see the need," West Side boys coach John Boyd said. "They would never come at me. I'm not going to play a charter school. That's asinine. I play prep schools and ranked schools across Indiana. What good would it do my program to play a charter school?"

Nine different charter schools exist in Northwest Indiana, but only four of them are active in athletics and one of those only has sports for grades eight and below.

Charter schools are public schools, usually focused on a particular field of academic study. For example, the Charter School of the Dunes, located inside the former Naval Reserve Center on Lake Street, specializes in the environment.

Most started with grades K-5 or K-6 and added a grade each year as the current students got older. When oldest students reached eighth grade at Bowman and 21st Century, the parents asked if the schools could expand into high school.

Campagna Academy in Schererville is the only charter school outside Gary jumping into athletics. It has been an IHSAA member since last year but only has intramural teams at the moment.

"This year is to get kids some experience in intramural sports," said Bruce Hillman, the chief executive officer of Campagna. "We wanted to focus on academics. We also recognize athletics has been beneficial to academic success. We're hoping to have a basketball team start up first."

Another one of those little hiccups in the early stages of the charter school programs was Baylor thinking she was already approved for IHSAA membership as the school year started.

That's because 21st Century is the sister school of 21st Century Charter at Fountain Square in Indianapolis, and that school received membership this fall.

"I assumed because our parent school applied it would also apply to us, but I learned each individual school must apply," she admitted. "I'll apply for the IHSAA next year and we'll have to wait two years to play in the postseason."

On the field of play, both schools have shown they belong in the IHSAA.

Besides having some talent on the boys basketball squad (the eighth-grade team won the city title last year), Bowman's football team went 3-2 in its first season, which included a 26-8 victory over Lake Central's freshman team.

For the record, Lake Central's enrollment is five times bigger than Bowman's.

As for 21st Century, a city title in middle school track occurred last year.

Charter School of the Dunes won a girls basketball middle school city title last year, but it doesn't have any plans to expand to high school years right now. Gary Lighthouse Charter School (grades K-6) does plan to expand to high school down the road, and then pursue athletics.

Whether these schools make an immediate impact when they are allowed to compete in postseason is yet to be seen, but they are here for the moment and doing as well as can be expected.