Around 100 Evanston middle schoolers gathered Monday at Evanston Township High School’s Beardsley Gym to practice about two dozen of the 40-plus sports the high school offers, learn about required skills and rules; and connect with ETHS coaches and student-athletes.
It was part of the Middle School Multi-Sport Challenge put on by the high school.
Evanston Township High School Athletic Director Chris Livatino addresses the middle schoolers at the multi-sport challenge on Monday. Credit: Margo Milanowski
The students got a chance to practice sports offered in the fall, winter and spring, from classics like basketball and soccer to more niche options like badminton and gymnastics.
“We’re just trying to create more opportunities for kids,” said Chris Livatino, ETHS athletic director. “We also are trying to fight this mindset that kids should specialize in sports because it’s not the best pathway for them in life. It’s much better to be able to explore and participate in multiple sports during high school years.”
Twenty four different coaches and around forty 40 student-athletes joined the middle schoolers in the high school on Monday to help the young Evanstonians try their hand at all the different sports.
Livatino also noted the District 65 Athletic Director Louis Jones and Parks and Recreation Director Audrey Thompson helped publicize the event, and that all of those folks made it possible for the sports challenge to happen.
Expanding access
ETHS started the middle school sports day 11 years ago to give students exposure to a variety of sports, especially for those who might not have been able to get that exposure on their own.
Middle school boys practice basketball at the ETHS sports challenge. Credit: Margo Milanowski
“Kids — especially kids of color — a lot of times just didn’t have access to certain sports earlier on that other families, especially white families in Evanston, had,” Livatino said. “We just wanted to try to create those discoveries, and hopefully give them opportunities to pursue sports before they get to the high school.”
When students arrive at the high school without any previous sports experience, it can be difficult for them to make teams competing against other students who might have already been playing the sport for years, Livatino explained.
Out of this middle school challenge, Livatino also received feedback that just this one event might not be enough exposure for kids.
This helped spur the creation of the Kumba Olympics several years ago, a free program for Evanston’s rising fourth through seventh graders that allows them to compete in different sports for three weeks over the summer.
“The earlier you can create a connection between a kid in a sport, the better chance they have of really falling in love with it, and playing it and experiencing it in a way that will allow them to play it in high school,” Livatino said.
ETHS girls soccer coach Franz Calixte runs drills with middle schoolers. Credit: Margo Milanowski
The high school has now started to offer training space to middle schoolers on Sunday afternoons, as well, through the program Raising Evanston Performance Standards.
Although the middle school challenge only gives kids a few hours of sports time, the event has helped spur other efforts to continue expanding sports access for Evanston kids.
Creating connections
At the challenge, students get to try out various sports, but they also get a chance to connect with coaches and current student athletes.
Livatino said that although coaches will sometimes discover a particularly fast or a great fit for their sport, they aren’t using the event as a recruiting ground.
“Mostly it’s just about getting kids to try out the sport that they love,” he said. “They just see this as a fun, unique way to make new connections with new kids.”
When it comes to more niche sports, this can be extra important.
“I think it’s especially beneficial for a sport like mine,” said Alexander Negronida, ETHS water polo coach. “Water polo, it’s not as popular as, say, basketball or baseball or volleyball.”
Getting kids exposed to the sport, in the water and seeing how fun it is early on might give them a better understanding and chance of joining the less popular sport, he explained.
Middle schoolers get a chance to try out water polo at the middle school sports challenge on Monday. Credit: Margo Milanowski
The middle schoolers also got a chance to connect with each other, as kids from schools across Evanston joined the event.
Livatino said the event historically draws more sixth- and seventh graders than eighth graders. This year, though, he estimated that about half of those in attendance were eighth graders who might start at ETHS in 2026.
“I think sports are a great builder of bonds and connections,” Livatino said. “You can see that by the end of the day, kids were, I think, making connections with other kids they hadn’t met before, and they’re all going to come to our school down the road.”
Set up for success
Livatino said student-athletes at Evanston Township High School have, on average, a higher grade-point average than those who don’t participate in sports.
“I think that kind of flies in the face of what conventional wisdom has always been, that the athletes are like these dumb jocks,” Livatino said.
He sometimes encounters parents who don’t want their children to start sports freshman year so they can focus on school, but at ETHS, this might not actually be the best route.
“Their participation in sports actually helps them do better in school because they’re connected and engaged in something that’s a part of the school that they want to participate in,” he explained. “Our coaches are monitoring their grades on a weekly basis through the grade-check system that we have.”
During the event, Livatino encouraged students to share this information, as the athletic department is working to help parents understand that sports can help set students up for success academically.
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