National Collegiate Athletic Association
NCAA News Archive - 2007
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Educators losing grip on influence
The modern teenage athlete lives in a culture that embraces and promotes size, speed, and strength.
He or she must devote substantial time and energy to athletics endeavors to maintain a competitive edge. The resources and opportunities available to young athletes are staggering, as summer travel teams and unregulated amateur leagues continue to flourish. The results are evident in exceptional on-field performances, shattered records, and a steady influx of freshmen immediately contributing at the collegiate level.
Those outcomes, however, are not without a cost. There has been a trend toward non-school-based athletics, and even within schools, non-educators are increasingly filling the coaching ranks. As a consequence, the learning opportunities that should abound in youth athletics are too often missed.
Under the proper guidance and structure, athletics forums provide an opportunity for students to develop leadership skills; learn the value of teamwork; and overcome adversity, among many other lifetime character traits. Potential abrogation of these “teachable moments” threatens the core value of interscholastic activities, as non-educational influences supplant the teacher-coach as the dominant force in the sport life of the individual.
A number of factors are responsible for this cultural transformation, including the “win at all costs” attitude of some coaches, parents and participants at the earliest levels of competition. As students mature, that mentality presents a risk to the character development of high school athletes, many of whom will represent NCAA member institutions in the near future. In addition to the sports pages, their names appear more and more on police blotters. The frustrations caused by these attitudes are problematic at the local level, but present long-term social ramifications if left unaddressed.
There is a growing shortage of teacher-coaches in secondary schools. More than half of today’s high school coaches do not teach at the institution where they coach, instead working in professions outside the educational arena. These coaches are valuable resources to high school programs, but often lack the formal pedagogical training or perspective of traditional teachers. Accordingly, this class of coaches may seize fewer opportunities to highlight the positive lessons available from high school athletics.
Many classroom teachers, too, do not receive the necessary courses on coaching basics to provide optimal instruction to student-athletes. The athletics arena is a distinctly different environment than the traditional classroom, and the methodologies used, for example, to instruct a football team differ substantially from the skills used to teach calculus.
To effectuate a change in the present culture, the NFHS Coach Education program is an online initiative aimed at enhancing the coaching skills of the men and women uniquely positioned to enhance the character development of high school student-athletes. The program began in January 2007, offering a five-unit course in the “Fundamentals of Coaching.” We also provide “First Aid for Coaches,” and we are adding sport-specific instruction.
Some state athletics associations require an individual to complete coursework or obtain certification before assuming coaching duties, and in the first six months of operation, 30 of those associations endorsed or adopted this new program. Eight associations are expected to accept the program in the coming months, and another eight states without prerequisite coach education programs currently promote its use.
Many new coaches at the high school level are startled to realize that “the game” is only the tip of the coaching iceberg. Teaching the proper techniques and mastery of athletic skills is useless in the face of an irate parent, an unreasonable administrator, or a student-athlete suffering teenage angst. Our “Fundamentals” course gives young coaches (and most of them are young) a head start on the “soft” skills necessary to do their jobs well.
The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sport recently published an article titled “Sports and Character Development” in its quarterly Research Digest. Not surprisingly, the article concluded that character development through sport is not automatic; it depends on the coach. We think our program is helping.
The positive feedback and endorsement from the state associations are indicative of the quality coursework offered, but more importantly, reflect an urgency to help coaches better educate our students. The net result of these efforts should become more evident in the coming years at NCAA member institutions, as high school coaches develop, refine and enhance their “teaching” skills. The quality performances of students in the athletics arena should be supplemented by their off-the-field conduct and character in the community.
It is certainly not an exclusive remedy, but the NFHS Coach Education program provides one mechanism to facilitate the positive, personal development of our nation’s young athletes. If we at the high school level do our job well, it will assist you at the college level in meeting the educational goals of the student-athletes you teach.
Robert Kanaby is executive director of the National Federation of State High School Associations. More information about the NFHS Coach Education program is available online at www.nfhslearn.com.
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By Robert Kanaby
National Federation of State High School Associations
National Federation of State High School Associations
The modern teenage athlete lives in a culture that embraces and promotes size, speed, and strength.He or she must devote substantial time and energy to athletics endeavors to maintain a competitive edge. The resources and opportunities available to young athletes are staggering, as summer travel teams and unregulated amateur leagues continue to flourish. The results are evident in exceptional on-field performances, shattered records, and a steady influx of freshmen immediately contributing at the collegiate level.
Those outcomes, however, are not without a cost. There has been a trend toward non-school-based athletics, and even within schools, non-educators are increasingly filling the coaching ranks. As a consequence, the learning opportunities that should abound in youth athletics are too often missed.
Under the proper guidance and structure, athletics forums provide an opportunity for students to develop leadership skills; learn the value of teamwork; and overcome adversity, among many other lifetime character traits. Potential abrogation of these “teachable moments” threatens the core value of interscholastic activities, as non-educational influences supplant the teacher-coach as the dominant force in the sport life of the individual.
A number of factors are responsible for this cultural transformation, including the “win at all costs” attitude of some coaches, parents and participants at the earliest levels of competition. As students mature, that mentality presents a risk to the character development of high school athletes, many of whom will represent NCAA member institutions in the near future. In addition to the sports pages, their names appear more and more on police blotters. The frustrations caused by these attitudes are problematic at the local level, but present long-term social ramifications if left unaddressed.
There is a growing shortage of teacher-coaches in secondary schools. More than half of today’s high school coaches do not teach at the institution where they coach, instead working in professions outside the educational arena. These coaches are valuable resources to high school programs, but often lack the formal pedagogical training or perspective of traditional teachers. Accordingly, this class of coaches may seize fewer opportunities to highlight the positive lessons available from high school athletics.
Many classroom teachers, too, do not receive the necessary courses on coaching basics to provide optimal instruction to student-athletes. The athletics arena is a distinctly different environment than the traditional classroom, and the methodologies used, for example, to instruct a football team differ substantially from the skills used to teach calculus.
To effectuate a change in the present culture, the NFHS Coach Education program is an online initiative aimed at enhancing the coaching skills of the men and women uniquely positioned to enhance the character development of high school student-athletes. The program began in January 2007, offering a five-unit course in the “Fundamentals of Coaching.” We also provide “First Aid for Coaches,” and we are adding sport-specific instruction.
Some state athletics associations require an individual to complete coursework or obtain certification before assuming coaching duties, and in the first six months of operation, 30 of those associations endorsed or adopted this new program. Eight associations are expected to accept the program in the coming months, and another eight states without prerequisite coach education programs currently promote its use.
Many new coaches at the high school level are startled to realize that “the game” is only the tip of the coaching iceberg. Teaching the proper techniques and mastery of athletic skills is useless in the face of an irate parent, an unreasonable administrator, or a student-athlete suffering teenage angst. Our “Fundamentals” course gives young coaches (and most of them are young) a head start on the “soft” skills necessary to do their jobs well.
The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sport recently published an article titled “Sports and Character Development” in its quarterly Research Digest. Not surprisingly, the article concluded that character development through sport is not automatic; it depends on the coach. We think our program is helping.
The positive feedback and endorsement from the state associations are indicative of the quality coursework offered, but more importantly, reflect an urgency to help coaches better educate our students. The net result of these efforts should become more evident in the coming years at NCAA member institutions, as high school coaches develop, refine and enhance their “teaching” skills. The quality performances of students in the athletics arena should be supplemented by their off-the-field conduct and character in the community.
It is certainly not an exclusive remedy, but the NFHS Coach Education program provides one mechanism to facilitate the positive, personal development of our nation’s young athletes. If we at the high school level do our job well, it will assist you at the college level in meeting the educational goals of the student-athletes you teach.
Robert Kanaby is executive director of the National Federation of State High School Associations. More information about the NFHS Coach Education program is available online at www.nfhslearn.com.
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