COACHES HANDBOOK
2009-2010
ATHLETIC PROGRAM
ATHLETIC PROGRAM
The Athletic Philosophy
The athletic program shall be directed so that the welfare of all students will be the primary concern. Fundamental emphasis shall be placed on the philosophy that athletic activities are justifiable only to the extent that they are desirable learning experiences. All athletic activities in the school district shall be an extension of and closely coordinated with the general instructional program and with other departments of the school district. In today’s society, a high premium is placed on the emotional and social adjustment of individuals and their interrelationship with group activity. Athletics provide such an educational experience. An attempt shall be made continually to encourage as many students as possible to share in the benefits of athletic participation. While broad participation is to be encouraged, it is a privilege to compete as a team member for the school.
- All new coaches must fill out paperwork for employment at the Administration Building prior to working with students and within three days of the date employment begins.
- Individuals that work directly with students shall provide to Human Resources Department their full name, date of birth, and social security number so that an on-line criminal records check can be conducted. It is the responsibility of the appropriate Portage Public School staff to assure that no individual shall be allowed contact with a student until the results of the criminal records check are received. The on-line criminal records check is done at no charge to the employee.
- Coaching staff are also required to have a criminal history records check done electronically through the Michigan State Police/FBI. This must be completed shortly after the date of hire. Instructions are given at the time the other paperwork is completed. There is a cost to the employee of $60.00. Payroll deduction is available.
- Each coach will receive a formal written evaluation each year. If the evaluation is less than satisfactory, that year will not be counted as part of that coach’s satisfactory experience index.
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Richard Perry, Ed.D.
Assistant Superintendent of Instruction
6/08
NOTICE OF NONDISCRIMINATION: Portage Public Schools does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, height, weight, marital status, handicap, or disability in any of its programs or activities. All inquiries related to discrimination should be directed to the District Legal Counsel c/o the Superintendent’s Office, Portage Public Schools, 8111 S. Westnedge Ave., Portage, MI 49002 Telephone 269-323-5000
Athletic Handbook for Coaches
Central Middle School8305 South Westnedge
Portage MI 49002
MAIN OFFICE - 323-5600
FAX - 323-5690
Athletic Office – 323-5665
Principal: David Babcock
Asst. Prin.: Bonnie Neal
Athletic Dir.: John Dunlop
North Middle School
5808 Oregon
Portage MI 49024
MAIN OFFICE - 323-5700
FAX - 323-5790
athletic office – 323-5746
Principal: Celeste Shelton-Harris, Ed.D.
Asst. Prin.: Kim Kirshman
Athletic Dir.: Chad Wagner / West Middle School
7145 Moorsbridge Road
Portage MI 49024
MAIN OFFICE - 323-5800
fax - 323-5890
athletic office – 323-5839
Principal: Larry Killips
Asst. Prin.: Denny Roehm
Athletic Dir.: Geoff Helsom
Central High School
8135 South Westnedge
Portage MI 49002
MAIN OFFICE - 323-5200
(269) 323-5290 (fax)
Principal: Eric Alburtus
Asst. Prin.: Kim Lummis
Asst. Prin.: Jason Frink
Asst. Prin./Athletic director: Larry Edlund, Ed.D. / Northern High School
1000 Idaho
Portage MI 49024
MAIN OFFICE - 323-5400
(269) 323-5490 (fax)
Principal: Jim French
Asst. Prin.: Kevin Riggs
Asst. Prin.: Mike Huber
athletic director: Chris Riker
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PERTINENT INFORMATION
Athletic Code for Coaches 6
Michigan Interscholastic Athletics 7
Reasons for Coach and Administrator Liability 8
National Standard for Athletic Coaches 9
MHSAA Rules 12
Academic Eligibility – High School 12
Academic Eligibility – Middle School 14
School Rules 16
Training, Conditioning and Nutrition 16
Healthy Living 16
Athletic Booster Club Relationship 17
Simple Money Rules for Coaches 17
Use of Locker Room 17
General Locker Room Behavior Guidelines 18
Professional Development & Certification 18
Parent Meeting Agenda 18
Squad Selection Procedure 19
Squad Reduction Procedure 19
Team Rules 20
Conflicts in Extracurricular Activities 20
Sunday Practices 21
Code of Student Conduct 21
Discipline and Punishment 23
Statement on Hazing 24
Dealing with Concerned Parents 25
Inclement Weather 26
Facility Usage 27
Transportation 27
School Van Procedures 28
Post-Game Responsibilities 29
Off-Season Activities 29
Coaching Evaluations 29
Purchasing Equipment and Supplies 31
Purchase Order Procedures for Coaches 31
Medical Emergency Plan 33
Head Injury Guidelines 34
Emergency Resources and Telephone Numbers 35
SAMPLE FORMS
Coaches Pre-Season Checklist See Back of Handbook …37
Athletic Department Event Report Form See Back of Handbook …38
Coach’s Evaluation Form See Back of Handbook …39
Internal Account Purchase Order Request Form See Back of Handbook …40
General Fund Purchase Order Request Form See Back of Handbook …41
Athletic Code for Coaches
The coach is the official representative of Portage Public Schools at interscholastic athletic activities. In this important capacity, these standards should be practiced:
1. Develop an understanding of the role of interscholastic athletics and communicate it to the players, parents and the public.
2. Develop an up-to-date knowledge of the rules, strategies, precautions, and skills of the sport and communicate them to players and parents.
3. Develop, communicate and model policies for athletes’ conduct and language in the locker room, at practice, during travel, during competition and at other appropriate times.
4. Develop fair, unprejudiced relationships with all squad members.
5. Allow athletes to prove themselves anew each season and do not base team selection on previous seasons or out-of season activities.
6. Allow athletes time to develop skills and interests in other athletic and non-athletic activities provided by the school and community groups.
7. At Portage Public Schools, each student-athlete will be treated as an individual whose welfare shall be primary at all times. The coach must be aware of the student-athlete and, therefore, shall never place the value of winning above character building.
8. Contest officials shall have the respect and support of the coach. The coach shall not indulge in conduct, which will incite players or spectators against officials or against each other. Provide support when players face adverse decisions. Public criticism of officials or players is unethical.
9. Teach players strict adherence to game rules and contest regulations
10. Present privately, through proper school authorities, evidence of rule violations by opponents; and counteract rumors and unproven allegations of questionable practices by opponents.
11. Attend required meetings, keep abreast of MHSAA policies regarding the sport, and be familiar with MHSAA eligibility and contest regulations.
12. Present a clean and professional image in terms of personal appearance and provide a positive role model in terms of personal habits, language and conduct. Use of tobacco within sight of players and spectators and use of alcohol any time before a contest or the day of the contest is not acceptable.
13. To assure that the amount of time required for athletic participation does not interfere with academic success.
14. Develop and maintain the highest level of sportsmanship.
Athletic Code for Coaches taken from MHSAA Handbook
#6,7,12 & 13 were developed for Portage Public Schools
Michigan Interscholastic Athletics
1. Interscholastic athletics began outside the school day and curriculum and remain there as voluntary, extracurricular programs in which qualifying students earn the privilege of participation.
2. Interscholastic athletics are not courses offered by schools, but are tools used by schools to reach and motivate students and to rally support within the community for school’s academic and activity programs.
3. In order to justify school sponsorship, interscholastic athletics must be compatible with the academic mission of schools, giving priority deference to the academic schedule and requiring proper decorum at athletic events.
4. Interscholastic athletics are secondary to the academic program of schools’ non-athletic activities in providing students opportunities to develop loyalty and school spirit, to practice teamwork, hard work, discipline, sacrifice, leadership and sportsmanship and to gain lifetime appreciation of the arts, sports and healthy lifestyle.
5. There is equal potential to achieve these objectives in every sport on the sub-varsity as well as the varsity level.
6. A proper philosophy of interscholastic athletics emphasizes participation by many, not by a few, and academic scholarship in school, not athletic scholarships to college.
7. To promote competitive equity and a program that is educational in both its means and its ends, the policies and procedures of interscholastic athletics must be determined by school representatives, not by courts, legislators or commercial interests.
8. Schools, through there elected boards of education and their appointed administrators, are solely responsible, legally and practically, for governing and conducting interscholastic athletics at the local and league levels.
9. Any statewide organization which schools join to assist their administration of interscholastic athletics must be independent of outside interests and guided exclusively by the direct input of its member schools.
10. Interstate competition in interscholastic athletics is unnecessary in most situations; regional and national events are harmful to the purpose of interscholastic athletics in Michigan.
Reasons for Coach and Administrator Liability
1. Failure to supervise an activity.
2. Negligently entrusting a duty to an under-qualified or unqualified individual.
3. Failure to teach proper skills.
4. Failure to teach protective skills.
5. Failure to provide and maintain a safe coaching and playing environment.
6. Failure to inspect, repair and recondition equipment properly.
7. Failure to teach athletes to inspect their own equipment.
8. Failure to provide proper effective equipment.
9. Failure to properly play an activity.
10. Failure to create and set policies and procedures for an activity.
11. Failure to follow and enforce such policies and procedures.
12. Failure to adopt risk minimization standards of pertinent superior administrative organization.
13. Failure to match or equate athletes.
14. Failure to properly administer first aid.
15. Failure to warn of inherent dangers of activity.
16. Failure to assess an injury or incapacity in an athlete.
17. Failure to keep adequate and accurate records.
National Association for Sports and Physical Education
National Standard for Athletic Coaches
Domain: Injuries, Prevention, Care and Management
Standard 1: Prevent injuries by recognizing and insisting on safe playing conditions.
Standard 2: Ensure that protective equipment is in good condition, fits properly and is worn as prescribed by the manufacturer; ensure that equipment and facilities meet required standards.
Standard 3: Recognize that proper conditioning and good health are vital to the prevention of athletic injuries.
Standard 4: Prevent exposure to risk of injuries by considering the effects of environmental conditions on the circulatory and respiratory systems when planning and scheduling practices and contests and implementing programs for physical conditioning.
Standard 5: Be able to plan, coordinate and implement emergency procedures for appropriate emergency care.
Standard 6: Demonstrate skill in the prevention, recognition and evaluation of injuries and the ability to assist athletes with the recovery/rehabilitation from injuries that are generally associated with participation in athletics in accordance with guidelines provided by qualified medical personnel.
Standard 7: Facilitate a unified medical program of prevention, care and management of injuries by coordinating the roles and actions of the coach and the certified athletic trainer.
Standard 8: Provide coaching assistants, athletes and parents/guardians with education about injury prevention, injury reporting and sources of medical care.
Domain: Risk Management
Standard 9: Understanding the scope of legal responsibilities that comes with assuming a coaching position, i.e. proper supervision, planning and instruction, matching participants, safety, first aid and risk management.
Standard 10: Properly inform coaching assistants, athletes, and parents/guardians of the inherent risks associated with sports so that decisions about participation can be made with informed consent.
Standard 11: Know and convey the need of appropriate medical insurance.
Standard 12: Participate in continuing education regarding rules changes, improvement in equipment, philosophical changes, improved techniques and other information in order to enhance the safety and success of the athlete.
Domain: Growth, Development and Learning
Standard 13: Recognize the developmental physical changes that occur as athletes move from youth through adulthood and know how these changes influence the sequential learning and performance of motor skills in a specific sport.
Standard 14: Understand the social and emotional development of athletes being coached, know how to recognize problems related to this development and know how to refer them for appropriate assistance when necessary.
Standard 15: Analyze human performance in terms of developmental information and individual body structure.
Standard 16: Provide instruction to develop sport specific motor skills and refer the athletes to appropriate counsel as needed.
Standard 17: Provide learning experiences appropriate to the growth and development of the age group coached.
Domain: Social/Psychological Aspects of Coaching
Standard 22: Subscribe to a philosophy that acknowledges the role of athletics in developing the complete person.
Standard 23: Identify and interpret to co-coaches, athletes, concerned others and the general public the values that are to be developed from participation in sports programs.
Standard 24: Identify and apply ethical conduct in sport by maintaining emotional control and demonstrating respect for athletes, officials and other coaches.
Standard 25: Demonstrate effective motivational skills and provide positive appropriate feedback.
Standard 26: Conduct practices and competitions to enhance the physical and emotional growth of athletes.
Standard 27: Be sufficiently familiar with the basic principals of goal setting to motivate athletes toward immediate and long range goals.
Standard 28: Treat each athlete as an individual while recognizing the dynamic relationship of personality and socio-cultural variables such as gender, race and socio-economic differences.
Standard 29: Identify desirable behaviors (self discipline, support of teammates, following directions, etc.) and structure experiences to develop such behaviors in each athlete.
Domain: Skills, Tactics and Strategies
Standard 30: Identify and apply specific competitive tactics and strategies appropriate for the age and skill levels involved.