By Ava Nicols
Editor-in-Chief
In the fall of 2022, sophomore Eric Brodkin proposed the Youth Athletic Council to Costa Athletic Director Michael Rosenthal.
The Youth Athletic Council is a place where student athletes can come together to support different athletic programs and voice opinions or concerns about their respective sport. According to sophomore Jenna Brodkin, the Athletic Youth Council is a good opportunity for representatives to help their sport grow as well as connect with other students in the Costa athletic community.
“When I grow up I would love to be an Athletic Director like Mr. Rosenthal. I was so excited by the idea of working with Mr. Rosenthal, which is how I thought of the Athletic Council,” Eric Brodkin said. “I worked hard to make this idea happen because I want to have a major impact at Costa and felt that bringing the sports together was something that needed to be addressed.”
As of right now, the council leaders are sophomores Eric Brodkin and Dylan Fenton and freshman Chinny Hackley. The program consists of more than 33 council members. According to Eric Brodkin, the current members are hoping to add at least 15 more representatives for next year in order to gain even more perspectives in the council. While there are many existing clubs that involve sports, this is the first time an athletic council has met on campus.
“Our goal for the 2023-2024 school year is to have a full council with two representatives from each sport,” Eric Brodkin said. “We hope to have every sport involved in this council.”
The council is split into two groups that meet once every other month during lunch in the main gym. The council is very selective, as there are only two spots per sport. However, according to Eric Brodkin, anybody who is part of an athletic team and is interested in joining can reach out.
“The purpose of splitting the council into two groups is so that instead of focusing on the sport, we can focus on the issue at hand,” Fenton said. “The goal of each meeting is for each sport to comment at least once, because there is no sport in this council more or less important than another.”
Rosenthal, the council’s advisor, assists the council with decision-making and makes the ideas proposed during meetings come to life. According to Fenton, he listens to the discussion and tries his best to enforce needs for each sport.
“[Rosenthal] is sort of like the supervisor,” said Fenton. “He is an important piece for us because it shows the legitimacy of our club. He also has been great at keeping us on a deadline and helping us with sending different emails out to coaches and members.”
According to Jenna Brodkin, the Athletic Youth Council is a student-run organization. This allows students to come together and use their personal experiences to propose ideas for ways to improve Costa’s athletic programs.
“Since the club will only have one meeting this year, I think the main goal is to get everyone excited about the club and ready to go for the 2023-24 school year,” Jenna Brodkin said. “I’m sure that if anyone is passionate in supporting the school’s athletic program, they would be more than welcome to join. If anyone wants to join, feel free to reach out to Eric Brodkin, Dylan Fenron or Chinny Hackley.”
According to Fenton, the council is going to make the athletic community a more welcoming place. Costa has some of the highest-ranked athletics in California. Because of this, there is an intimidation factor around the sports atmosphere at Costa, according to Jenna Brodkin.
According to Eric Brodkin, the athletic council was not formed to make new students be scared to join or try out for a sport because they do not feel welcome or good enough.
“The council plans to discuss the positives and negatives of each sport and ways we can improve the sport to create a positive environment for the athletes,” Eric Brodkin said. “We also discuss ways to support each other such as going to each other’s games and helping with fundraisers, signing day, and more.”
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