Gleason cites the value in values

The OAC commissioner spoke of the success of athletes from his schools.
By JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
BOARDMAN -- Guest speaker Tim Gleason told the Curbstone Coaches Monday that the Ohio Athletic Conference is the conference of champions, not only in athletics but also for its success in fostering positive value systems that help student-athletes succeed throughout life.
Gleason, a 1973 graduate of Chaney High who has been OAC commissioner for 14 years, said a good example of what the OAC and other NCAA Division III schools stand for and teach occurred Sunday after the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in their National League playoff series.
The Dodgers, managed by Jim Tracy, streamed onto the field to congratulate the Cardinals in a rare display of sportsmanship that Gleason never before had seen.
"It's those kinds of values we have been teaching that were on TV. And it's no surprise because Jim Tracy is from [OAC member] Marietta College," Gleason told the Curbstone gathering at its weekly luncheon session at the Lockwood House.
Gleason, a graduate of St. Thomas University in Miami, Fla., who lives in Mineral Ridge, pointed out that Div. III student-athletes do not receive athletic scholarships, but have to depend on various circumstantial and academic merit aid to attend college.
The true student-athlete
As a result, "NCAA Division III is the true embodiment of student-athletes and we spend a lot of time teaching what [the proper value system] means and also sportsmanship," said Gleason.
For example, "We teach our student-athletes to win with humility and to lose with dignity, because victory is fleeting," said Gleason. And, "When we win, we should bow our head in humility and when we lose we should hold our heads high with dignity."
Also, "We teach teamwork because individual success is nothing unless the team accomplishes its goal." Then, "Kids carry these values the rest of their lives because they will be part of a team somewhere in life."
Gleason believes the best people to hire or work with in life are the offensive lineman on a football team.
"They get hit every play and don't get the credit. Who better than them to have on the team," Gleason asked and also answered.
In addition, he said student-athletes should not compare themselves to others, but to themselves.
"Success is the difference between the person that you are and the person that you can be," he believes.
OAC's athletic prosperity
Regarding athletics, Gleason pointed out that not only has the Mount Union football team won seven national championships, but other OAC schools like Wilmington, Muskingum, Otterbein, Ohio Northern and Capital all have won national titles in various sports.
"All of this has happened in the last decade," said Gleason. " We have 430 NCAA Division III schools. Ask any college in the U.S. how hard it is to win a national title among 430 schools. [Winning] one is absolutely remarkable."
He credits quality coaching, like that demonstrated by Mount Union football coach Larry Kehres, for the OAC's success.
"We have the finest coaches. They understand what it takes," said Gleason, noting that in Mount Union's case, it's a snowballing effect.
Winning promotes winning
"Success tends to breed success. It's like a ball rolling downhill. If you are national champion, young people want to [join your team] and recruiting gets better, which in turn makes the team better, and so on."
Regarding Kehres, a native of Diamond, Gleason said: "He is an unbelievable football coach. The [team's] plays work all the time. He could succeed on any level. People all over the country know who he is. Coaches all over the country ask him to send his game tapes."
Gleason, who is assisted by information director Julie Work at the OAC's office in Twinsburg, feels fortunate to be a part of the OAC and its long tradition.
"We are the third-oldest conference in the nation founded in 1902, and even older than the NCAA," he said, grateful for "the vision that the forefathers had to put [the OAC] together before the NCAA came into existence."
kovach@vindy.com