I would like to share a personal story about Coaches in Communities. I was on a staff for quite some time at a school in North Idaho. We had a staff of six. Five of us worked in the community with jobs outside the School District. Our lone school staff member was the HC. Here is my take on it, if you have a Teaching Certificate it does not make you a Coach because of that Certificate. The kids saw that the five of us worked 8 to 12 hour days or more. Came to practice on time each day, put forth the effort and showed that we cared for each and every one of them. We had a guy that would go to work at 1 a.m. work all day until 2 p.m., get to practice by 4 p.m. and was never late. He would leave practice go home and eat and back at it the next day. I think we provided a great role models for the kids to see and that it could be done in a professional way. We all stuck together and supported one another no matter the role on the team. To make the story shorter we won a State Title in 2016 with 5 community members and one School District employee. I think what gets lost in this is that we get pigeon holed into every school being big and having resources. That is not always the case, in fact a lot of community members do not get paid and volunteer their time for the kids and the love of the game. Consider this as well and maybe some of you have experienced this. Hire a Coach whether in the school or not, played next level ball, does that qualify them as a Coach? Same thing versus Certificated or not. I think the kids enjoy see different faces at practice time, team gatherings, etc. Both have their pros and cons. Working in the community the Coach must master the skill of time management, crucial as does working in a classroom. Texas is a lot different from Idaho. I have come across a lot of quality Coaches that do not work in the daily school system, several have State Titles to their resume.
Yes, very much agree. I follow quite a few Coaching boards. I see that there is interest in Coaching like the state of Texas but are hamstrung because they are not teachers. I think it is a great conversation to have to get guys going in the craft. In our District, if a community member wants to be a Coach, they must apply for the position or designate themselves as a volunteer. Then all they have to do is a background check and finger printing. Once all that checks out they are good. A very simple process.
You made a great argument in why teachers should be coaches. I actually agree with most of the reasoning. Can the same be said for a non instructional staff member like a custodian, security guard, etc being allowed to be a coach for a public school program? They also work in the schools and knows the students inside the school and out in some cases. In some schools, those staff members are usually the first ones who teachers call or ask for help with those students.
And a bonus to this is that those members are already checked and better as far as background checks. Or should be checked.
Just throwing another opinion out there. Have a good day.
Technically, the rule in Texas is to be a full time employee of the school district. So, in some school districts those positions are eligible to coach. It is definitely a solid solution.
Unfortunately that’s not the case in NJ for Public HS or Middle School programs. That’s why we have unqualified Science teachers coaching middle school sports solely for the $5k stipend while the kids learn stugotz.
I would like to share a personal story about Coaches in Communities. I was on a staff for quite some time at a school in North Idaho. We had a staff of six. Five of us worked in the community with jobs outside the School District. Our lone school staff member was the HC. Here is my take on it, if you have a Teaching Certificate it does not make you a Coach because of that Certificate. The kids saw that the five of us worked 8 to 12 hour days or more. Came to practice on time each day, put forth the effort and showed that we cared for each and every one of them. We had a guy that would go to work at 1 a.m. work all day until 2 p.m., get to practice by 4 p.m. and was never late. He would leave practice go home and eat and back at it the next day. I think we provided a great role models for the kids to see and that it could be done in a professional way. We all stuck together and supported one another no matter the role on the team. To make the story shorter we won a State Title in 2016 with 5 community members and one School District employee. I think what gets lost in this is that we get pigeon holed into every school being big and having resources. That is not always the case, in fact a lot of community members do not get paid and volunteer their time for the kids and the love of the game. Consider this as well and maybe some of you have experienced this. Hire a Coach whether in the school or not, played next level ball, does that qualify them as a Coach? Same thing versus Certificated or not. I think the kids enjoy see different faces at practice time, team gatherings, etc. Both have their pros and cons. Working in the community the Coach must master the skill of time management, crucial as does working in a classroom. Texas is a lot different from Idaho. I have come across a lot of quality Coaches that do not work in the daily school system, several have State Titles to their resume.
I think that’s a great solution. The school community and state has to do what is best for the students.
Yes, very much agree. I follow quite a few Coaching boards. I see that there is interest in Coaching like the state of Texas but are hamstrung because they are not teachers. I think it is a great conversation to have to get guys going in the craft. In our District, if a community member wants to be a Coach, they must apply for the position or designate themselves as a volunteer. Then all they have to do is a background check and finger printing. Once all that checks out they are good. A very simple process.
You made a great argument in why teachers should be coaches. I actually agree with most of the reasoning. Can the same be said for a non instructional staff member like a custodian, security guard, etc being allowed to be a coach for a public school program? They also work in the schools and knows the students inside the school and out in some cases. In some schools, those staff members are usually the first ones who teachers call or ask for help with those students.
And a bonus to this is that those members are already checked and better as far as background checks. Or should be checked.
Just throwing another opinion out there. Have a good day.
Technically, the rule in Texas is to be a full time employee of the school district. So, in some school districts those positions are eligible to coach. It is definitely a solid solution.
Unfortunately that’s not the case in NJ for Public HS or Middle School programs. That’s why we have unqualified Science teachers coaching middle school sports solely for the $5k stipend while the kids learn stugotz.
The teacher shortage is definitely having an impact on finding quality coaches.
That is true as well.