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In the 1950s and 1960s, author and editor George Plimpton earned acclaim for his series of “participatory journalism” pieces in which he provided his first-hand impressions of pitching against a lineup of National League All-Stars, playing quarterback for the Detroit Lions, tending goal for the Boston Bruins, sparring with pugilists Archie Moore and Sugar Ray Robinson and trying his hand on the PGA Tour.
Oconee County High School athletic director Curt Miller is taking a page from the Plimpton playbook by joining the school’s athletic teams at their practices, and his Twitter videos detailing his experiences with the softball, volleyball and cross country teams have been well-received both inside and outside of the halls.
“I just wanted, in Year 2, to get to know our students and student-athletes better,” said Miller, who also has future videos planned with the football team, cheerleading squad and marching band. “And I figured, what better way to do that than to join them at practice and have a little fun with it?”
The first three videos display Miller jogging with the cross country team, striking out on three pitches at the hand of Warriors hurler Katie Newberry and attempting to return kill attempts by the volleyball team. Suffice it to say, he doesn’t have much success, but that’s part of the attraction.
“Most of these videos of them are them excelling and me struggling a little bit. But it’s been fun. I thought about how to make this fun and funny and to showcase our kids. So we kind of choreographed some of it, but the kids have caught on to it and they’re all about it.”
The video that perhaps resonates the best with Miller comes from his volleyball exploits because his daughter Olivia is a freshman on the team. Was she able to drop some shots against her father?
“She did get a few shots on me,” he said. “Volleyball is one of those sports where you don’t want to hit anybody – you want to hit the ball away from people. So it was kind of difficult for them because we asked them to do what they don’t normally do. But there were a couple of them that got me pretty good.”
“The girls were hitting it in and he was trying to dig…Since his daughter is also on the varsity team, that added to the fun,” said Oconee County volleyball coach Mark Oglesby. “We tried to give (Olivia) a few more opportunities to hit.”
Now in his second year as athletic director (after serving five years as the health, physical education and sports coordinator for Henry County’s middle and high schools), Miller said he wanted the videos to bring an additional humorous human touch to his administrative duties.
“School administration is a new role for me,” he said. “I think any (school) leader wants the students to think you’re approachable and to show you’ve got a human side to them, a fun side. We can do all that but at the same time they understand we have things we have to do in the building just to do our jobs.
“But it’s always fun to cut loose a little bit, let your guard down and show students you are human and we can have fun. To be honest, it’s helped me because there are times when you have to be so serious in your job, but after doing something like this you can’t take yourself too seriously…I’ve noticed a different vibe with our students after doing it.”
“Even if it is silly, the idea is that he shows he’s there for them and he’s willing to do stuff and let them have some fun at his expense,” said Oglesby. “It makes him potentially more approachable to the players if there’s something they need to talk to him about. It allows him to build a different type of connection with the players. It also gets him out there – they can see that he’s taking the time to show an interest in what they do and that he cares about them.”
More: Oconee County football defeats East Jackson
A Henry County native who played basketball for his father, Hall of Fame coach Chuck Miller, at Henry County High, Miller went on to play basketball at Reinhardt College before transferring to Georgia Southern. Miller said he plans to continue his “participatory videos” with winter and spring sports teams.
“My plan is to do it throughout the school year, unless I have a major injury,” he quipped.
And while Miller hasn’t fared well in the videos that have thus far been released, he thinks his future encounters with the Warriors’ basketball teams may provide a different outcome.
“Basketball might be a little bit different as long as we’re not running up and down the court,” he said. “If we’re just standing there and shooting, they may be in trouble.”
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