Mr. Walters and Mrs. Bleifuss have coached AAP, in its current format, for seven years. Mrs. Bleifuss has seen AAP take many forms during her fifteen years of supervising the program. In the past, AAP stood for \"Alternative Activities Program.\" Participating students would alternate between physical exercise and a club activity such as Ecology Club.
Today, AAP has grown to mean \"Alternative Athletic Program.\" Can AAPers consider themselves athletes?
When asked why they direct AAP, both responded that they “don't feel qualified to coach a sport.” Participants of AAP support their coaches, saying that even if the coaches don't know all the rules, they try their best. Mr. Walters said that the best part of coaching AAP is when “everybody is enthusiastic and having fun and participating.” He added “When everybody's having a good time, we're having a good time.” Mrs. Bleifuss found working with Mr. Walters rewarding.
As to how the two deal with whining, Mr. Walters said that “we try to energize people by joking around or in some cases we chase people down the field when the lazy bug hits.” He adds that he helped treat Derek Franke's case of the lazy bug by grabbing his shirt and directing him to get a goal.
Mr. Walters is known to prohibit his AAPers from playing dodgeball. Why? “It seems that dodgeball is such a violent game when the whole purpose is to hit somebody.” Mr. Walters said that another reason he is not fond of dodgeball “might go back to elementary school trauma.”
Lacrosse has also disappeared from the line up of games. Mr. Walter's explained that we don't play Lacrosse because “We have had too many injuries, too many tempers flaring high and too many time outs.”
Recently AAP has reorganized. Mr. Walters says, “We've tried to give students more voice in what they want to do and responsibility, but sometimes there are snags\" because “different people have firm beliefs on what AAP should be doing.”
What did students believe about AAP?
Sam Herzberg replied, “We should do more cartwheels.” He admitted he is in AAP because of extreme laziness.
Jeff Butke commented, “AAP is a dynamic sport where Mr. Walters creates an environment for fun and exercise.”
Dana Weber said, “I have to work and the time structure of AAP makes it easier to hold down a job.” And
Josh Block stated, “AAP is amazing. I love it. I wouldn't trade it for the world.” As to why he is in AAP, Block said, “I started in football, received an injury, and became tired of filling water bottles, so I joined AAP.”
Soccer contender Mark Brunning said, “APP is random activity and unfocused, but not lazy.”
Another soccer star, Andrew Haberman, valued AAP above football because “[Football players] are just a bunch of men in tights.” Haberman said, “It would be nice if we had our own managers be ball boys.” He suggested the possibility of drawing people from AAP to be managers for the other sports.
Lars Gossel said, “It is very generous of AAP to send out ball boys.” He explained that having people on the sidelines ready with balls keeps the game going.
An anonymous source said, “Skiing managers are bigger slackers than AAP.” But Mark Bruning defended ski managers, attesting that they have multiple responsibilities ranging from setting up the gates to keeping track of times.
All sports have rules to follow, but AAP keeps a simple code of conduct that can be summarized as \"AAP love.\"
What did this love mean to APPers?
Mrs. Bleifuss replies, “APP love is demonstrated when we let somebody bat as many times as they need to so they can hit the ball and everybody not caring how long it takes.” She continued, “The other sports probably appreciate our supporting them more than we realize.” AAP has been accused of being a slacker sport, but Mr. Walters denied this, saying, “We need to be active, but we all have days where we are lethargic.” Mrs. Bleifuss felt that other sports think “AAP doesn't do anything,” but that if they joined AAP, they could see that AAP participants are as active as the next athlete."
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