COACHES ARE EDUCATORS!

OVERVIEW

(The following are exerpts from the 10 page booklet.)

The purpose of high school athletic programs is the education of the young people involved so they will be more productive citizens in society! Schools do not sponsor interscholastic athletic programs only to win championships! If winning championships were the only reason to have a program, many more schools would fail in their mission every year, than would be successful. Interscholastic athletic programs must be part of a school's total educational program. While every participant should be taught to strive to win, someone loses in every athletic contest, and only one team wins the championship. Winning cannot be the only goal of athletic programs with an educational philosophy.

The Iowa High School Athletic Association believes athletics provide a great educational experience because they can teach important values for dealing with the circumstances of life. The values taught through interscholastic athletics include teamwork, sportsmanship and citizenship, respect for self and others, caring, dedication, commitment, trustworthiness, loyalty, responsibility, integrity, fairness, and doing ones' best regardless of the outcome. These values are often called "intrinsic" because they may not be included in the lesson plans coaches prepare, but they are very much a part of what a successful coach teaches.  Approximately ninety eight percent of high school student-athletes do not participate in college! If we fail to teach the values that are important throughout life, we have taught 98 percent of student-athletes skills that are useless in their life beyond high school!

Research has proven organized athletics can be very beneficial to young participants. Students who participate in organized athletic programs, with an educational focus, often perform better academically in school and have more success later in life than nonparticipants. Research from across the country indicates that students involved in high school athletic and activity programs are absent from school less than nonparticipants, have higher GPA's, experience fewer discipline problems, use drugs less, and display better sportsmanship and citizenship.

Coaches are significant adult role models in student-athletes lives and play an important role in the total development of the student-athlete. Coaches must help student-athletes build character. Coaches with character will use their power to give athletes sincere praise and positive reinforcement, provide constructive feedback, discipline a player without humiliation or embarrassment to the student-athlete, and provide emotional support and guidance when needed.

There is an old adage that says, "People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care!" One former player put it very simply, "We knew coach cared because the players were more important than the game!"