Haile Nottage ‘17

Building Restorative Relationships On and Off the Field

As an Elementary Education major, Haile Nottage ‘17 had been teaching at East Ridge Elementary, and, for the past two years, was teaching math at Chattanooga Prep School. She began to feel like there was something missing in the way she was able to connect and develop her students. So earlier  this year, Haile sought to combine her passion for teaching with her fondness for fitness and its surrounding community by connecting with the CFC Foundation (CFCF), a non-profit organization that focuses on fostering development and growth in Chattanooga by bringing soccer to underserved communities. Together Haile and CFCF identified an opportunity for her to aid in addressing student character development on and off the field, which culminated in her becoming the CFCF’s Director of Leadership and Character Development. 

At CFCF, Haile has exercised her skills as a “gap-filler,” by identifying ways in which the program could better address students’ relational and emotional development, and by strategizing solutions to fill those gaps. For her, it’s important that they are "working toward making sure we are setting just as high of character expectations for our kids as we are academic expectations." Haile spent the summer observing opportunities for growth and used her research to create a behavioral program, which seeks to help students identify and progressively improve their behavioral struggles through clear communication and goal-setting with coaches, parents, and students. Her point-based system allows coaches to easily track players’ behavior and support them throughout the program. In the event of a players’ suspension from the program, for instance, the player participates in follow-up meetings to determine why they responded the way that they did and is supported by coaches and instructors, who work together to create a plan on how the student can re-enter the program. 

Recently, Haile played a part in pioneering a soccer program for middle school girls called StrongHER, which affords access to soccer training for girls in local communities while building a sisterhood around local soccer  and provides mentorship from women in the community. Throughout the program, girls have the opportunity to hear from a variety of women who address different topics including professional growth, body image, and mental health.

The relationships that Haile built at Covenant provided her with a robust foundation to see and understand the world through a variety of different experiences and lenses, while her Elementary Education major opened her eyes to the reality of educational gaps. Since then, Haile has been passionate about fostering communication between students, parents, and coaches while also aiding in athlete’s character development, not just athletic improvement. Her work at CFCF has allowed her to holistically support, instruct, and encourage her students towards the kind of flourishing that comes most readily in community.