“
Athletic directors really need to take the medical evaluations out of the coaches’ hands and put them into the hands of their medical teams ...
injuries. It’s a lot easier than an- swering questions later as to why the program decided not to have anything in place at all.
“Fifteen years ago you would say, ‘He just got his bell rung,’” Wallace says. “A bell rung is the precursor to, if not in fact, a concussion. You must take the proper steps to evalu- ate athletes and make sure you have some sort of baseline test so if some- one has a concussion, you’re not just sending them back in there. “There are a lot of conferences in college where if you have a concus- sion, you have a to sit out at least 10 days. Those kinds of procedures
need to be taken. If you’re a school that doesn’t take those precautions and something happens, people are going to ask the question, ‘Why are your rules different?’” Without hesitation Wallace agrees that baseline testing should become the standard practice at all schools. In addition to that, athletic directors must know that those rules are being enforced by the coaches and trainers directly responsible for an athlete’s well being.
”
Athletic directors must not only hire coaches they can trust, but those who constantly reinforce the value of compliance. It can be tempting for
coaches to try to rush an athlete back to action, especially if there is a big game on the horizon or the student- athlete is eager to get back on the field. Wallace says athletic directors need to make sure coaches are not making that decision in the first place. The ma- jority of coaches do not have medical backgrounds and are not qualified to determine whether an athlete is ready for play. Trainers or physicians should be the only ones with the power to clear a player for action.
“Athletic directors really need to take the medical evaluations out of the coaches’ hands and put them into the hands of their medical teams,” Wallace says. “Thirty years ago we weren’t giving people water at prac- tice. Now everybody realizes that things like that are not making any- body tough. That’s a real risk.”
Implement
Despite Title IX’s 40 years on the books, attorneys say athletic programs still have trouble providing equal opportunities for female student-athletes.
46 May/June 2013
Bullying Policies Bullying is not exclusive to ath- letics, but sports programs certainly aren’t exempt from potential threats either. Whether a student is a victim or posing a threat to others, coaches and team members must follow a policy that requires them to report incidents to the athletic director. Ignoring prob- lems or sweeping them under the rug sets up schools for potential lawsuits if serious damage is done. What makes the issue more diffi- cult to manage is a lot of bullying now takes place over the Internet. Athletic directors have questioned whether schools can reasonably be held li- able given the difficulty in overseeing the actions of hundreds of student- athletes. If coaches and staff have no way of knowing about the bullying, it’s difficult to hold them responsible. But coaches still need to be proactive in educating and supervising students. Again, that starts with the ath- letic director. There are plenty of resources available to help coaches identify signs of bullying, and they certainly must be aware of protocol and the potential consequences if they fail to report incidents.
coachad.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58