Helping Coaches Provide Learning Opportunities for Student-Athletes

The premise of the education-based athletics philosophy is to go beyond winning and to help students gain lifelong values and qualities. In order to accomplish this goal, it is incumbent upon athletic administrators to establish the standards and to help their coaching staff to consider and provide educational learning opportunities for student-athletes.

Missy Townsend, athletic director at Prescott (Arizona) High School, said, “We are intentional about supporting our coaches in fostering lifelong values and qualities through our Student-Athlete Student Leadership Team (SALT) workshop. This includes guest speakers, interactive sessions on leadership, accountability and team dynamics to develop skills essential for success beyond sports.

“We provide our coaches with access to curriculum materials to be used in team meetings and practice sessions. These topics would include integrity, respect, perseverance and responsibility. In addition, we encourage the use of an athlete abuse prevention curriculum developed by Childhelp, and this helps students recognize unhealthy behavior, understand their rights, and learn how to seek help when needed.”

In like fashion, Doug Marchetti, athletic director at Norwalk (Connecticut) High School, said, “Our league offers a Student Leadership Conference to kick off each of the three seasons. This provides our student-athletes to hear messages related to communication, respect, sportsmanship and accountability that they can incorporate into their lives and team activities. This has dramatically changed our culture and behavior for the better, and it is also fully embraced and cultivated by our coaching staff.”

At Ellensburg (Washington) High School, Athletic Director Cole Kanyer said “I constantly encourage coaches to pursue learning opportunities that they think are valuable. As the saying goes, ‘a rising tide lifts all boats,’ and as coaches grow and develop, they additionally provide educational opportunities for their student-athletes. I subscribe to a number of leadership email threads and I share them with our coaches, and I provide links to articles dealing with hazing, mental health and communication.”

Townsend added, “I make it a priority to provide our coaches with meaningful resources – links and articles – for our coaches to create teachable moments with their student-athletes. I often pull a relevant article or quote from NFHS High School Today and the NIAAA Interscholastic Athletic Administration magazines.”

“I am an avid reader and I always find some ‘nuggets’ to share with our coaches – many times on a daily basis,” Marchetti said. “Occasionally, this will open a discussion, but on other occasions it becomes a ‘for your information’ and something that you may want to use with your team.”

Travis Seese, athletic director at Athens Drive High School in Raleigh, North Carolina, said “At our leadership workshop we include a guest speaker who focuses on life skills, and then we have alumni offer their words of wisdom. The main goal of our athletic program is to help every kid become the best version of themselves. This doesn’t mean simply becoming the best athlete, but rather the best person they can become. And our coaches totally buy in to this objective.”

When it comes to sportsmanship, Seese spends time during his annual coaches meeting empathizing.

“All eyes are on our coaches and athletes all the time,” Seese said. “Coaches are, and need to be, held to a higher standard. Sportsmanship starts with them, and how they react will influence their athletes and fans.”

Kanyer also taps into the mental performance of student-athletes with respect to a coach’s possible emotional response in a game.

“When coaches get worked up at a perceived bad call, their athletes also tense up and perform with a degree of more pressure,”

Kanyer said. “This is where I can later pull the coach aside and help the coach see the effect of the coach’s behavior on their athletes as well as possibly displaying poor sportsmanship.”

Community service projects offer an opportunity to give back and contribute to the welfare of an organization, individual or worthwhile cause. With these initiatives, student-athletes can also enhance their leadership and organizational skills. Townsend said, “These hands-on experiences not only give student-athletes a chance to give back, but they also demonstrate the powerful impact it can have on character development and team unity.”

As with many aspects of education-based athletics, it isn’t always easy to determine if or how successful you may have been.

“The praise that pours in from parents and community members at the conclusion of an event or project is declarative evidence that what we are doing is extremely worthwhile,” Kanyer said. “Of course, I share this with our coaches and teams.”

“Many of our coaches were born and raised in the Norwalk community – this is their home,” Marchetti said. “When you add in outstanding support from our administration and staff members, we have a great foundation, and the reaction is always exceedingly positive. We know that we’ve been successful. But it is a little more difficult to determine success in other areas, but I try to be observant.”

Marchetti also hosts workshops dealing with the perils of social media, the NCAA Eligibility Center, student leadership, among others, and these initiatives help his coaches to assist their parents.

To emphasize and promote the educational aspect within their program, Seese added an Athletic Honor Society which has helped to establish a positive, education-based culture throughout the department.

At the school’s All-Sports Awards Night, in addition to presenting normal team awards, all-conference selections, and other associated honors, Seese announces the “We are Athens Drive Team” which recognizes the best individuals associated with the program who emulate outstanding character and leadership.

At Ellensburg High School, Kanyer recognizes an “Athlete of the Week.” The individual does not need to be a varsity athlete, starter or captain, but they have to have done something notable under one of the school’s core values. He said this is how we can celebrate this individual and inspire others.

“We believe it is essential to recognize and celebrate student-athletes who exemplify leadership, sportsmanship, integrity, and other core values of education-based athletics,” Townsend said.

“This is done in a variety of ways from weekly communication on social media, during community events, on our website and during awards programs. We consciously send a strong message that who you are off the field is just as important, or more so, as how you perform on it.”

Dr. David Hoch is a former athletic director at two high schools in Baltimore County (Maryland) for 16 years. He has 24 years of experience coaching basketball, including 14 years on the collegiate level. Hoch, who has a doctorate in sports management from Temple (Pennsylvania) University, is past president of the Maryland State Athletic Directors Association, and he formerly was executive director of the Maryland State Coaches Association. He has had more than 800 articles published in professional magazines, as well as four textbook chapters. Dr. Hoch is the author of five books: Coaching within the Education-Based Athletics Concept; The Parents’ Guide to Education-Based Athletics; Leading an Education-Based Athletic Program; A Lifetime of Memories from Education-Based Athletics: Humorous, Inspirational and Occasionally Sad; and Refocusing on Education-Based Athletics – A Call to Action. Hoch is a member of the NFHS High School Today Publications Committee.