Native American Community Academy

NACA athletics are an extension of NACA students’ education by approaching team sports from a community-building perspective base. The priority of NACA Athletics is to support the in-school curriculum and closely work with Out of School Time activities to provide students with as many opportunities as possible. Winning is not a goal or objective because winning in the traditional sense emphasizes negative competition and inappropriate behavior by coaches, players and families. When these objectives are accomplished and the goals met winning on and off the field and court comes naturally.

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NACA Athletics Goals

• Make sports accessible to as many students as possible
• Prepare students to play sports at any upper level, including college
• Reinforce the NACA core values of Respect, Responsibility, Culture, Community Service,  Perseverance, Reflection

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Structure of Teams
All teams are coached by qualified teachers, staff and volunteers from the community emphasizing the goals of NACA and the Athletic program.  Each team follows the NACA Team Building Structure:

• Tryouts: Criteria for making teams—academic and behavioral consistency on and off the field/court.
• Parent and family meetings: Parent and family meetings are held regularly to review the expectations and set goals with the students, families and coaches for the season.
• Service Learning: Each team completes a service learning project.
• Higher Education Professional Team: Teams develop a relationship with a higher education professional team to provide mentorship and educational resources for the players.
• Reflection: Each team holds an end of the season reflection with coaches and players.
• Philosophy: Play hard, learn, grow and have fun as an athlete on teams.

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Competitive Sports
NACA Athletics offers a variety of sports to increase accessibility. Participation in different sports in different seasons is encouraged and all sports are offered to boys and girls in all grade levels.

An example of athletics offered are listed below. Please scroll down to see current athletic program and coaches.

Fall

• Cross Country
• Soccer
• Volleyball
• Middle School Tennis
• Cheer
• Flag Football

Winter

• Basketball
• Cheer
• Swimming
• Bowling

Spring

• Competitive Cheer
• Softball
• Track & Field
• High School Tennis

Club Sports

• Martial Arts (partnered with NACA OST)
• Lacrosse (partnered with Albuquerque Club)
• Rugby (partnered with Jr. Aardvarks at Amy Biehl),
• Soccer (partnered with SYS)
• Lacrosse (partnered with NACA OST)Ath

2010-2011 Fall Sports & Coaches

• Volleyball–Shawna Douma, Dana Lucero (SYS)
• Cross Country–Mikki Carroll, Gavin Sosa
• Cheer–Lauren Mackey (non-staff)
• Soccer–Nate (SYS)

Academic Expectations

NACA—Official grade checks done every 4.5 weeks; at least a 2.0 GPA; no Ds or Fs. Coaches are encouraged to conduct informal grade checks one and a half weeks before official grade checks. *If an athlete is ineligible at the time of official grade check, they can continue to practice, but they cannot compete or travel with the team. Official Grade Check Dates: Sept. 17, Oct. 22, Nov. 19, Dec. 20, Feb. 4, March 25, April 21

Behavior Expectations

Coaches are expected to develop a policy around referrals, suspensions, and other behavior issues, communicate those expectations to students and families at the fall/winter/spring sports meetings, and consistently enforce those policies. The athletic department will work with Student Support Services in order to provide workshops around issues such as bullying, healthy life choices, etc.

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