Coach Development: Practical Recommendations for Interscholastic Sport

In the United States, interscholastic sport coach development occurs at the national, regional, and local levels, through higher education institutions, coaching associations, governing bodies of sport, and coach developers. Although each coach development pathway employs similar instructional methods, delivery formats, and often seeks the same outcome (i.e., certification or degree), each is unique in how they educate interscholastic coaches. Research studies on coach development have examined how interscholastic coaches learn, what they need to know, and what they need to know how to do. Furthermore, research studies in sport coaching have examined the role of a coach developer in facilitating, mentoring, and guiding coach development activities. Therefore, guided by the literature on coach development, the role of the interscholastic sport administrator as a coach developer, and insight gleaned from an exploratory descriptive study on interscholastic sport coaches, this best practices paper offers three steps the interscholastic sport administrator can implement in practice to provide ongoing coach development.

Servant leadership, leader effectiveness, and the role of political skill: A study of interscholastic sport administrators and coaches

Servant leadership is a model of leadership based on ethics and benevolent service to others and has been associated with numerous positive outcomes for employees and organizations. Due to a limited number of studies examining servant leadership (SL) within sport, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relation of servant leadership and leader effectiveness outcomes in sport administration and to examine if political skill (i.e., how people influence others), was a moderator of servant leader effectiveness. A multilevel model was used to examine these questions within a sample of interscholastic athletic directors and head coaches. Findings revealed servant leadership was directly related to leader effectiveness (LE), affective organizational commitment (AOC), and job satisfaction (JS) of head coaches. Moreover, there was a significant negative interaction between servant leadership and political skill. The negative interaction may indicate that extreme values of servant leadership have opposite relations to leader effectiveness and other outcomes when political skill is present. Though a minimal effect, political skill detracts from LE in those who are perceived as exhibiting strong servant leader behaviors. Findings and limitations are discussed; questions for future research are suggested.

A Mixed Methods Approach to Identifying Administration Issues Pertinent in Interscholastic Sports

The purpose of this study was to investigate three propositions: a) What are the administration issues most pertinent to interscholastic sport today, as well as the next five years?, b) How important are those administration issues to athletic administrators?, and c) What are the potential implications of those pertinent administration issues to practicing athletic administrators? The literature provides a general overview of relevant issues surrounding interscholastic athletics. However, the importance and implications of relevant issues to practicing high school athletic administrators are difficult to discern. To answer the first proposition, the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) provided 10 contemporary administration issues that were most pertinent to interscholastic sport today, as well as the next five years. To answer the second proposition, a Likert-Scale was created so that practicing athletic administrators could rate each issue on a scale of 5 = extremely important to 1 = very little importance. A national study was conducted with athletic directors from the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (N = 170) annual conference. A one-tailed ANOVA was executed to determine significant differences among the 10 administration issues identified by the MSHSL. Four issues were found to be significant; Athletic Facilities, Athletic Training, Health Issues and Travel Teams. A Games-Howell post hoc was executed to determine significant differences across geographical regions of the United States. For the third proposition, semi-structured interviews were completed to provide insight on the implications for practicing athletic administrators. The results offer insight from which further investigations could be conducted to continue building on policies that influence interscholastic athletic administrators’ day-to-day accountability when overseeing their athletic programs.

Physical Education and Physical Activity Policies as Described on California Charter School Websites

Objectives: Nearly all US schools have a website that enables them to inform about and promote physical activity (PA) and physical education (PE). We performed a cross-sectional content analysis of California (state with the most charters) elementary charter school websites' PA/PE content. Methods: We analyzed data (N = 520 schools) using descriptive statistics and cross tabulations to identify associations among school characteristics and the mentioning of PE, PE curriculum, PE teacher, recess, interscholastic sport, and other extracurricular PA. Results: Over a third (39%) of websites did not mention providing either PA or PE opportunities at all. Only 30.6% of websites mentioned PE (mandated by state education code to be delivered for 200 min/10 days to students in grades 1-6). Websites also infrequently mentioned Fitnessgram scores (36.5%), required by state education code to be reported for 5th graders, as well as recess (30.2%), other extracurricular PA (20.4%), and interscholastic sport (16.5%). Conclusions: Schools did not use the full potential of their websites to inform constituents about PA or to promote it on campus. Deficient schools should expand the PE/PA content information available on their websites and be held accountable for such by their parent school district..

Getting to the Heart of It All: An Analysis of Due Process in Interscholastic Athletics

Based on authority of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, a person is entitled to procedural due process protections by the state prior to the deprivation of any life, liberty, or property interest to ensure a just outcome. While many people assert interscholastic athletics are an important part of a student’s overall education, courts have been reluctant to accept this argument. The purpose of this article is to examine how past legal precedent applies to the current structure and purpose of interscholastic sport. To achieve this, a single state athletic association (i.e., the Ohio High School Athletic Association) was examined as well as the state’s accompanying school districts. Mission statements, structure, and modes of operation were examined in-depth through surveying high schools and performing content analysis of state bylaws. Results revealed the use of pay-to-play, affording student-athletes academic credit for participation, and current mission statements and bylaws may be increasing the liability of school districts.

Racial and Linguistic Status Differences in the Effect of Interscholastic Sport Participation on School Engagement and Academic Performance Among High School Students

The purpose of the study was to examine whether the effects of interscholastic sport participation on academic performance and school engagement vary by race and linguistic status of high school students. High school participants ( n = 16,200) were selected from the Education Longitudinal Study: 2002, a nationally representative database. Results of a structural equation model showed that Asian, black, and Hispanic students’ interscholastic sport participation had a positive effect on grade point average, while the effect was not significant for white students. However, white students’ interscholastic sport participation was likely to have a positive, indirect effect on grade point average through their engagement in school. The results showed no linguistic status variation in the effects of interscholastic sport participation on school engagement and grade point average. The findings suggest that supporting high school students in school-sponsored extracurricular sport programs should be continued, highlighting the important role of schools in shaping the proper educational environment for sport participation.