Perry Meridian High School Athletics

Thursday, July 25th the Falcon Athletic Department invited parents to hear about the current state of the athletic department and begin the dialogue with our parents. Topics included the 7 brags (attached and listed below) and items that parents were asked to give feedback. These included senior nights, digital tickets, opportunities to support your Falcon's team, and a vision for the future. Thank you to all who attended the first meeting, we hope this is just the start of expanding our partnership to create and maintain athletic programs that everyone wants to be a part of. The next meeting will take place over Fall Break. 7 Brags: 1. Facility Upgrades Completed: In the past two years, we have resurfaced HS tennis Courts, updated the Main Gym sound system, added a Main Gym balcony running lane to extend the weight room, completed the Soccer/Lacrosse project with a third field and a turf game field at Holder, installed a new pool deck, replaced out-dated pool grates and deep cleaned the competition lap pool. We have painted the Wrestling Room & are updating their record boards. Facility Upgrades Proposed: Weight Room upgrades for safety and School Board approved a Holder Baseball/Softball Project to add Varsity turf fields and JV fields 2. Website & Social Media: Every team has scheduled Media Days to professional social media posts. These Media Day pictures are free to student-athletes and we are becoming more consistent with game scores with a ticker on the website while increasing social media posts. We have transitioned to a new website vendor and were able to cut costs with the new platform. 3. Coach Professional Development: we have hosted two full-day summer professional development sessions that have included building culture, a sports psychologist presentation, and collaboration on celebrations. These have included high school head and assistant coaches. During the 2023-2024 school year, the athletic department hosted monthly Head Coach Luncheons to discuss current topics and to build a cohesive unit. These will continue and we will look to include assistant coaches moving forward. 4. Sports Additions: Falcons have been ahead of the curve by adding IHSAA emerging sports before these sports become sanctioned. Boys Volleyball is entering season 12 and Girls Wrestling is entering season 5. In 2023, Falcon club sports were brought into the Athletic Department. This has allowed consistent support for these programs (lacrosse and bowling) and created a "Club Sport" Varsity Letter with similar requirements as the IHSAA-sanctioned sports at PMHS. These teams receive transportation, picture days, media pictures, supervision at contests and many other benefits that IHSAA-sanctioned sports receive. 5. FalconDNA: We are entering year 5 of offering intentional student-athlete development programming. The Assistant AD schedules and facilitates sessions that include whole group discussions, gender-specific, and single sport meetings. Lessons have included: nutrition, college requirements, character development, mental health, life after sports, leadership building, and what it means to be a Falcon student-athlete. 6. Financials: We are trending away from Fundraisers as the athletic department has been able to utilize corporate sponsorships and donations from the Falcon Boosters (formerly Dad's Club) to provide new uniforms and game day experience investments. We have added a "family pass" for the 2024-2025 seasons as admission will be returning to a cost for all spectators. Township has also been able to cover two large expenses for the athletic department (Hudl and Final Forms) to free up budget lines to provide more flexibility in equipment purchases. 7. Increased Opportunities: We have been able to grow opportunities for our K-5 Future Falcons through the commitment from the Falcon Youth Sports group (overseen by Keira Bush and Scott Simmonds). In the past three years, we have added an Elementary Track Night, Falcon Running Club, and Future Falcon Academy Camp and have increased the number of camp and clinic opportunities hosted by the high school programs.