Photo by Howard Owens.
Serving as a high school sports coach takes a lot more than understanding where to put the Xs and Os if school districts are to abide by New York State regulations, a Matt Roth, athletic director in Pavilion, laid out for the Pavilion Board of Education on Monday night.
Non-teacher coaches have a multi-year program of classes they need to take and that total cost to the coach can exceed $700.
"This is for any coach who is board-approved," Roth said. "They have to have all of these classes. They can't just show up and help out anymore."
For the non-teacher coach, there are nine steps that must be completed at the time of application. It's about a two-month process to get the initial temporary coaching license, Roth said.
"When I came here two years ago, I kind of went through this with everybody, but I just wanted to give everybody a refresher on it," Roth told the board at the start of his report.
The candidate must submit evidence of an acceptable first aid and CPR course completion along with completion of a child abuse identification worship, a school violence and prevention and intervention worship, and training in dealing with harassment, bullying, cyber-bullying and discrimination in schools. The would-be couch must also submit fingerprints and be cleared through a database check.
Then they are eligible to coach for one or two years on a temporary license. They must pay a $50 fee for each sport they wish to coach.
In years three, four, and five, they must complete a fundamentals of coaching course, along with courses on contusions, protecting students from abuse, and a course on student cardiac arrest.
In the next level, they must complete courses in student mental health and suicide prevention, heat illness prevention, first aid for coaches, and a sport-specific course.
If the non-teacher coach is still going in year six, then the coach needs to apply for a professional coaching license.
At that point, the coach must complete course in bullying and hazing, strength and conditioning, teaching and modeling behavior, engaging effectively with parents, and sportsmanship.
The courses are offered online by the National Federation of High School Sports, and most are free, but some have fees ranging from $25 to $50.
The professional coach must reapply for a license every three years, which involves refresher courses in first aid and CPR, along with a positive evaluation from the athletic director.
"The teacher coaching requirements, they are a little bit easier because they've already taken some of the coursework," Roth said. "A teacher only needs to have first aid and CPR to get started in their first three years, and then they are supposed to complete the same courses that nonteacher coaches have at two years and complete levels one, two and three within five years of starting."
