Speaker 1: 0:00

This episode sponsored by cram crew, your one-on-one in-home tutoring firm, committed to flexible learning, personalized support and proven success. Learn more at cram crew, comm and Kid biz, a fashion for children's clothing and accessory store located in Inwood Village. Learn more at kid biz USA comm. Welcome to the bubble lounge. I'm Martha Jackson and you may have noticed we have a lot of new faces at Highland Park ISD this year. We had Dr Rockwood, our new superintendent, who joined us a few months ago. There's many new teachers, staff coaches and we also have a new athletic director, coach Lonnie Jordan. I invited coach Jordan to join me as we start the new school year to share everything that is a community we need to know about Highland Park athletics. Well, thank you for being here today, coach Jordan.

Speaker 2: 0:57

Well, I am happy to be here and appreciate you guys inviting me out.

Speaker 1: 1:01

Absolutely so. You have quite the background. I know you came from Richardson Independent School District and you have quite a lot of other things that you've done. Tell us what led you to Highland Park and some of your background well background Just finished my 29th year in in education and been coaching.

Speaker 2: 1:19

I've been on the sideline for For all of those years that started in the Metro or started in Tarrant County, so Fort Worth side of the Metroplex Been in Dallas since 07. Yes, just came from Richardson Independent School District. I was a head football coach at Lake Highlands High School since 2015 and Enjoyed it, loved my time there. But you know the opportunity to to come to Highland Park when it presented itself, it was Just an absolute no-brainer. What a great, what a great community, what a great tradition, phenomenal people and I've had the opportunity to play teams from Highland Park in the past and so I know firsthand the way they play the game and and the intensity level that they bring and the commitment to success. So Just a great, great opportunity for me to be a part of this.

Speaker 1: 2:14

Absolutely well. We're very happy to have you. I've heard nothing but good things and I'm excited to be able to talk to you today, so obviously you have a huge passion for sports. How did that all start?

Speaker 2: 2:24

Well, I think it started as a kid, just, you know, playing sports, loved, loved, all sports, and, and I think, growing up you know, my coaches had a huge impact on me. My family was, was a broken family and and so I spent a lot of time at school, spent a lot of time around my coaches. They mentored me and guided me during times when I really needed it. So, you know, I thought at one point in college that I was going to Go grab the world by the tail and make a lot of money and do those things, and so I was in the business world coming out of coming out of school, and it didn't take me long to realize that my place was on the sideline, my place was in the locker room and around kids and and I haven't looked back.

Speaker 1: 3:12

Well, something you just said really got my attention. You came from a broken home and it you really. It was really the coaches that really mentored you and really helped you Find your way. Tell me more about that.

Speaker 2: 3:23

Well, our coaches my dad wasn't in the picture from the time I was, from the time I began junior high, and so Mom was a secretary and raising me and my sister, and she did everything that she could work, work multiple jobs just to make ends meet. And you know, I didn't have that father figure at home and so you know, that role was filled by, you know, coaches at my junior high school and they they really they poured into me and so if I needed guidance or I needed direction or I needed mentorship, they were there to give me that and I didn't realize what I was getting at the time. But now, you know, grown man, with kids of my own, as I look back, you know that was, that was a crucial time and my development as a young man, and so Sports became everything and and the relationships with those men became everything, and I wouldn't be where I'm at today without my junior high and high school coaches.

Speaker 1: 4:18

Yeah, you're absolutely right. I mean coaches and teachers play such a bigger role than just doing their normal jobs, like they go so far above and beyond what what they're expected, and just being a mentor is so important. Has there been any examples throughout your many years in sports of you mentoring somebody that really needed it at the time?

Speaker 2: 4:39

Well, I think there's a lot of those stories and I don't know that you think about okay, I'm gonna be a mentor today or I'm gonna.

Speaker 2: 4:48

I think it's just what we do, you know building a relationship with kids and building a relationship with their families and your community, and understanding that that you know I'm there to support the family as a whole and I can do that because of my interaction with these kids on a daily basis.

Speaker 2: 5:08

And so we want I think all great educators want their kids to be better people because of their participation and involvement in these programs. You know, we teach kids just so many different things about teamwork and commitment, grit and things that they're gonna need to put in place as adults to be successful, whether that's a successful parent, a successful employee, a boss or just a community member, whatever that is. And so I have a lot of great stories. I've got a lot of great relationships with kids who are now grown and have their own kids, and I still love their families and I still, you know, keep in touch with them. And so I think you know, over the years, just from the daily grind of it all, that you know I've again I've been able to touch some folks, and it's been just as touching and special for me.

Speaker 1: 6:05

Well, that's very obvious because I want to tell you all that the minute he walked in my office literally I had just shaken his hand. We were coming around the corner to come into our office to record a young man comes out and says coach Jordan, basically, what are you doing here? You could just see in his face he was so happy to see you and I could tell you guys had such a good report. I have no idea what the story is there. They're going to talk after we record this episode, but obviously people love you.

Speaker 2: 6:32

Well, he's again. I've been fortunate, I've been very blessed in this business and in that young man that works down the hall from your office here from your studio. His name is Will Haskins, dad is Bill Haskins and mother is Heather, and they're the sweetest people on the planet and I was fortunate and blessed to be able to be a part of their lives for probably eight years and he's grown and working now as an engineer or architect or whatever it is he does, and I look forward to catching up with him.

Speaker 1: 7:07

Well, I just love that. The minute you came in here you saw somebody and I knew this guy's pretty special.

Speaker 2: 7:14

Well, it's a small world and when you, when you're in education and especially athletics, because of the, just because of the connections you make you, you start to realize that that world gets smaller and smaller seems like everywhere I go I've I've got some type of relationship, some kind of network with, with somebody.

Speaker 1: 7:34

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Speaker 2: 8:04

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Speaker 1: 8:05

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Speaker 1: 8:40

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Speaker 1: 9:19

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Speaker 2: 10:04

Well, I plan to be an active part of it and as I meet parents and I understand the commitment level from the families I mean not just the kids but the parents also and a lot of that is driven by tradition, and so I want to embrace those traditions, I want to be a part of that. I want to get arm in arm and hip to hip with our parents as we push forward and create just a phenomenal experience for their kids. We want to win, we want to compete at the highest levels, but we also, going back to experience, we want to create an experience that is second to none. And the great thing about high school athletics and so let me the great thing about public school high school athletics is that it is built to bring a community together.

Speaker 2: 10:56

Everybody lives there, everybody's neighbors. When you have a football game on a Friday night or a volleyball game on a Tuesday night and it's at home, you expect the streets to clear and people to come out to watch Not just their kid, but there's neighbors' kids and just the community as a whole. It's Highland Park against the world, and we want to do it. And we want to do it again at a very high level. But we want to do it in the right way, with great sportsmanship and again providing an experience for everybody. That is just it's wholesome and it's awesome.

Speaker 1: 11:30

Well, you see everything from toddlers and their bells costumes or their football jerseys to older people that have been around for a while and it just makes me so happy. I literally cannot wait for the season to start and get out there to all the games and everything. There were a couple of games that I was at last year that the announcer before the game started really made a point to talk about sportsmanship, and I really like that because I felt like it really set a positive tone and just kind of set expectations for everyone, and I rarely see any bad sportsmanship in the games that we've played in.

Speaker 2: 12:07

Well, it is important and I think in the current state of athletics across the state or across the nation, I think we're losing that a little bit.

Speaker 2: 12:20

We've just as a whole, sportsmanship is not as important as it used to be, and so the UIL, our governing body, I think, has done a great job of pushing out directives to coaches and communities about teaching sportsmanship. We're in a teacher crisis, we're having a hard time hiring coaches, we're having a hard time finding officials, and I think a lot of those things can be attributed to just kind of a changing maybe dynamic or philosophy on education and sports in general, and so what we wanna do is bring it back to where it needs to be and make sure that our kids understand the importance of, yes, we're gonna compete, but this is a game, and that we are ambassadors for our families and for our school and our community. Our superintendent and our principal are, they're affected by the way we act and the way we handle ourselves in competition. So we wanna do it, but we wanna do it the right way, and we're gonna preach that daily.

Speaker 1: 13:27

No, I love that absolutely, because the press loves nothing more than to jump on anything Highland Park. If it's even just remotely negative, they will hop on that and run with it. And so I love everything that you're saying. We're getting ahead of it and I love that UIL is involved. But you're so right, we need to get back to old school sportsmanship, like back in the day I used to show horses and I was extremely competitive. My number one competitive competitor was actually a really good friend of mine. In the arena we would go head to head and we were like so serious, but outside we would have sleepovers. We were best friends. It was a very funny dynamic, but I feel like we need to kind of get back to that type of mentality.

Speaker 2: 14:09

I believe that's what sports should be. We wanna respect and honor our opponent. We wanna respect and honor the game that we're playing, whatever that is. But at the end of the day, we need to respect those competitors for who they are. They're working hard, they're trying to win and our job is to make sure they don't. But we wanna be able to look them in the eye and shake hands at the end of the game and tell them what a great job they did.

Speaker 1: 14:34

Well, something new that I saw this year that I really enjoyed was a new season ticket purchasing process. Were you a part of that at all?

Speaker 2: 14:43

That was put into place before I came. We are moving to a new ticketing, but well, we got an entire new company coming in and so we'll be using hometown ticketing. So far things have gone really smoothly. Um, season tickets were different than they have been in the past and and I can't I can't speak to what it used to be because I wasn't here, but uh, but so far things have gone really smoothly and we're pleased with uh where we're at.

Speaker 1: 15:10

Well, I found it to be a lot more easy.

Speaker 2: 15:12

I really enjoyed it so well then it was, then it was me. Yeah yeah, I just got through putting it in place, yeah you bought it.

Speaker 1: 15:19

That was your first initiative. You might as well take credit for that, why not, anyway? So, um, how can we encourage families with young kids who might not they might not be in school yet just to get involved, come out to the games and be a part of it all?

Speaker 2: 15:34

Well, I think, um, you know, we, we absolutely want that. We want, uh, we want our elementary schools and our preschools. We want, we want to see those kids at games and and get, have them experience. You know, Friday night lights or or a packed gym, whatever that may be, Um, but, but we do want this. We want everything that we do to be a community event, and so, uh, I would encourage parents with small kids, um, you know, to go to our, our website, uh, scotsillustratedcom. Uh, we've got our schedules on there. They can look at the teams and and, uh, you know, determine what, you know where they want to play, and, for that matter, they could go through there. The roster should be set. You'll have pictures of the kids, and so they can, uh, if they don't know anybody on the team, they can find somebody that they want to root for, uh, pick them out before the game and then go cheer that one on.

Speaker 1: 16:24

I love that. I love that. Well, I always say that, uh, park cities is kind of a small town within a big town, Like where this little pocket right in the middle of the really big city, Dallas, Texas and I just love all the small townness of it. Like, I love Highlander stadium. There's plenty of stadiums we've gone to, especially when we were in 5a of that are just multi-million dollars. It's super extravagant, really fancy and really amazing. I like the quaintness of our stadium. It fills down home Like you see everyone that you know. It's just cozy. I really like it.

Speaker 2: 17:02

Well, it is, uh, you know it's kind of timeless, it it, uh, it's, you know there's a, so you can feel the tradition when you're in it. Uh, and I think you know, when you talk about park cities or Highland Park, um, it's very, you know it's, it's, it's confined, uh, you know there's no, there's not much green space, there's not a, uh, there's not a lot of room to. You know, and I think when you take a stadium like that and you sit it down, uh, in the middle of a of a you know kind of maybe a congested area, uh, you get that. You get that feel that closeness and um, and and then the fact that, uh, you know, so many people come to watch, uh, our, our teams play that, uh, when you pack that sucker out it, uh, you know it has a it has a great high school feel to it.

Speaker 1: 17:50

You really feel it? Yeah, so I understand one of our games. However, we're expecting such a big crowd that we're moving over to SMU.

Speaker 2: 17:58

Yes, so we are actually the visitor in that game. But when we played Jesuit this year we're going to play rather than playing at Postal Stadium over on Jesuit's campus, we're going to go uh to Ford Stadium and play uh at SMU, and so we're excited about that. Uh, we just got through. As a matter of fact, I was uh just on the phone earlier with Mike Leslie of WFAA. I think they're going to be there. It's, it looks like it. There's a good chance that that's going to be the game of the week. Um, and, and what a great game. Uh, for that you know, um, just the, the rivalry, and the and the, the, the two town or the two schools that are close together. Um, so, and I know our kids know their kids and, and our coaches know their coaches, and so it'll be. It'll be a lot of fun.

Speaker 1: 18:42

Right, and we always get an email before every Jesuit game about just good sportsmanship, going back to that again and conducting yourself with respect and everything like that so everyone be sure to look for that and be sure to follow that. But I actually really am excited that it's SMU because I feel like it's kind of like Texas OU, like it's we're meeting on common ground, we're meeting kind of middle of the road here, we're not on your turf, we're not on their turf, and so it's kind of neutral territory.

Speaker 2: 19:09

It's almost like yeah, it's almost like a playoff game where you're you're playing neutral site right and and two great teams that both want to win very badly, and so it'll be. You know, it'll be a great contest, it'll be a fun. It'll be a fun Friday night.

Speaker 1: 19:23

And we had coached Leslie, head coach of SMU, on the show not too long ago and we were talking about the big end zone project. Any idea if that will be done in time for the game?

Speaker 2: 19:32

I don't, I don't. I, as a matter of fact, I might need to reach out to see where they're at. I drove by there today, and they still have quite a bit of work to do, but so I don't know if it'll be completed or not. But but. But we've been assured that the stadium will be available.

Speaker 1: 19:47

Well, either way, it's going to be a good time. So I want to transition to something. Else is that is there is such academic rigor at Highland Park and then we also have so many athletics, so many kids involved with it. How do you feel like the kids and the parents can balance that out?

Speaker 2: 20:06

Well it's. You know, I just had a coaches meeting this past Friday. We had every coach in the district in and we got to visit and part of that conversation was about just that. You know, we need to make sure that we as coaches understand the stress and anxiety that our kids can feel, you know, throughout our seasons, and I think it's important that we look, you know, not only for opportunities to, you know, create tutoring sessions or, you know, do we need to cut back on a practice or do we need to reach out to some teachers to find out what we can do to help our athletes, but we need to remember that all those sports are important.

Speaker 2: 20:54

We also don't want to overextend our kids, and you know the thing about high school and you just mentioned that you had one graduate. So the thing about high school kids is they are under a lot of pressure. They, you know, they want to keep their GPA up. They want to take the right AP classes and if you go, look at their schedule, they get booked with APs and so we know they've got homework at night, they've got homework on the weekends and we're, you know, we're pushing them to make sure they're at practices and learning, game plans and doing the things they need to do. For us and before you know it, these kids have worked 80, 90 hour weeks, and so there's no wonder that we have some mental health issues with our young people. So it's important that we are, that we're monitoring our kids, we're watching our kids, we're making sure that they are, you know, in a as far as a mental state, they're in a healthy place.

Speaker 1: 21:47

I really love that you said that the mental health issues that you talked about Because on our neighborhood Facebook page there is just a barrage of posts and people usually are posting anonymously Obviously they don't want to know who they are but talking about their kid is suffering from anxiety and depression. There's just a lot of it out there. I just feel like teens have so many pressures that we as a kid from the 80s didn't necessarily have these days and I just I worry about them so much.

Speaker 2: 22:19

I do, I do as well, and so part of that is making sure that our coaches understand how important it is that we watch for those signs. You know adults would have a hard time managing the schedules that these young people are managing, and so I think that I think one awareness, you know, for us just to make sure that we're aware and then the great thing about athletics, too, is is creating opportunities to teach. You know character curriculum, and you know we should have. We have leadership development programs throughout our programs and with that type of curriculum we're able to give kids tools to deal with some of this, you know. One is having them recognize when they're experiencing anxiety, you know, so that they can identify what it is, and then we can give them tools on how to get through it.

Speaker 1: 23:18

That's wonderful and I think it's exceptionally hard for boys because society has taught them they can't express their emotions. They're supposed to just suck it up, basically, and be a man and you know, not address these things. But I feel like the shift is becoming more to be a tune with them, to educate the boys to be aware of these things could be going on and if they are, please let someone know.

Speaker 2: 23:43

Yeah, absolutely, they certainly should, and coaches are the perfect people to let them know. You know, and sometimes it's just it's taking a step away from the sport, the grind and a coach just putting an arm around a kid and asking him how are you doing, right?

Speaker 1: 24:01

right. Well, I know at the middle school there was a couple of coaches that all the boys absolutely loved and they just, you know, thought of them as a mentor, just like we keep talking about, and I know that that goes on at the high school as well. It looks like you guys have a lot of new coaches. I was at the freshman parent meeting the other night and it seemed like a pretty new crew there.

Speaker 2: 24:21

We do. We had quite a few new hires this summer, still working on a couple right now. So when I leave here I'll go back and make some phone calls and we'll try to fill a couple of spots. But yes, we had some turnover, but I am so excited about our new staff coming in there. They're from you know both sides, whether it's female sports or male sports. We've got great people in place who get it. They're good at what they do and they're going to be great for kids.

Speaker 1: 24:54

Well, I think it's always good to have a fresh perspective. You know, it's always good to get new eyes on things and just give new ideas. So I'm looking forward to it. I'm really excited about it.

Speaker 2: 25:06

Very good, we are too.

Speaker 1: 25:07

Well, ani, thank you so much for being here. I know we have a lot of things coming up. We've got football, we've got volleyball. Tell us what's going on.

Speaker 2: 25:15

We have a lot of great stuff going on right now. You know the year starts off with a bang water polo and cross country, and, you know, football and volleyball Tennis is. You know tennis is in in their fall season, so there's a lot of things going on. Tonight, actually, we have we have a scrimmage against our football team as a scrimmage against Plano East. It's at Highlander Stadium. There is no, you do not have to pay to get in, so it's free to get in.

Speaker 2: 25:46

However, coach Allen and his coaching staff are taking donations to the Texas High School coaches Association's benevolence fund, and so as you come in, we'll have some volunteers at the front gate and they'll have Buckets, and if you would like to donate to that cause, I know we would all certainly appreciate it. The the Texas High School Coaches Association is a is a great organization that has done it has done a really good job of taking care of high school Athletics working hand-in-hand with the UIL to make sure they protect what it is that we do, and so we want to help them out. This money goes to a great cause and so if you come out tonight, you know, bring a couple extra dollars to put in that, to put in that bucket. We also volleyball teams off to a great start and we've got we've got games coming up tomorrow night. As a matter of fact, the, the volleyball team, is in the Northwest tournament this weekend, so they won't be at home, but but they'll be playing some great teams in that Northwest tournament and we wish them Well.

Speaker 2: 26:49

We have varsity tennis playing Coppell Tomorrow night as well, and so look forward to that. Tennis teams doing a great job as they always do. We're just, we're just so excited about the fall. You know it's a great time. Before you know it, the weather's going to start changing and and and every week. You know we're gonna have some great competitions going on with Highland Park, scots awesome.

Speaker 1: 27:11

We'll tell us one more time where we can keep up to date on the website.

Speaker 2: 27:15

Website is gonna be scots illustrated wwwscotsillustratedcom. You can get all information the that is Scott athletics on that site perfect, and I'll be sure to include a link in the notes here.

Speaker 1: 27:30

Well, coach Jordan, thank you so much for taking the time, especially right here when school just started. I really appreciate you being here and just sharing all your insights and all the great information.

Speaker 2: 27:39

Well, I appreciate you having me. Thank you guys for for the way that you're loving on the scots, and we expect to see you out of the game.

Speaker 1: 27:46

Absolutely. We'll be there a lot. That's been another episode of the Bubba Lounge. I'm Martha Jackson and we'll catch you next time.

Speaker 2: 27:53

Go Scots.