High School Football Coaches Research Articles

Sports and Religion in the Supreme Court: Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, Feb 01, 2023

Sports and Religion in the Supreme Court:Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, Feb 01, 2023 Cody Musselman (bio), Frank Klose (bio), Eric Bain-Selbo (bio), and Eric Stephen (bio) SUMMARY KEYWORDS Establishment Clause, prayer, coercion, Lemon test, football Background: During the 2021–2022 term, the U.S. Supreme Court heard a case about school prayer called Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, in which Joseph Kennedy, a high school football coach at a public high school in Bremerton, Washington, engaged in public prayer at the 50-yard line after football games. Kennedy had been praying at the 50-yard line since 2008, and what was initially a solo prayer changed over time into nearly the entire team joining him in prayer after shaking hands with the opposing team after every game. The school district feared his actions violated the Establishment Clause and would open up the school district to legal liability: that they could be sued for showing favor to a certain religion. The school district asked Kennedy to stop his public prayers and tried to accommodate his ability to privately pray. Kennedy refused and the school district put him on paid leave. Kennedy sued Bremerton School District, claiming his First Amendment rights to exercise his religion and free speech were violated. In a 6–3 opinion written by Neil Gorsuch, the Supreme Court sided with Kennedy. This case, about the separation of church and state, raised several questions: Is a public-school employee’s prayer during school sports activities protected speech? And if so, can the public-school employer prohibit it to avoid violating the Establishment Clause? Football in America Cody Musselman I’d like us to begin by talking about the significance of football to American identity. What’s the significance of Kennedy’s prayers happening on the 50-yard line at a football game versus some other kind of sporting event? Eric Bain-Selbo Football is the most popular sport in our country and so everything is magnified if it touches football in ways that it wouldn’t have been if this [End Page 50] had been happening at a lacrosse game. It would still be an incredibly important case, but I think that anything that touches football is going to have a heightened significance. Frank Klose I think regionally, it kind of varies the extent in which [high school] football is has significance. In terms of the mid-Atlantic region and city of Philadelphia, a lot of these big cities around here don’t have college football teams or high school football teams of significance. So, I don’t know if public prayer on the 50-yard line would even go noticed in the city of Philadelphia. But I wonder if the location has something to do with it. I think the culture in the city of Philadelphia, football isn’t big enough for something like that to even get noticed at the high school or college levels because of just where we are geographically. Eric Bain-Selbo If we think about the civil religion of the United States, football plays a really central role in that, as does Christianity. And in this case, we are clearly dealing with something that involves two institutions that are particularly important to a lot of Americans [Christianity and football]. Establishment Religion Cody Musselman Yes, speaking of how prevalent Christianity is in American culture, let’s discuss questions about establishment religion and the role of conservative Christians in pushing to make Christianity America’s establishment religion. Frank Klose I’m actually a little surprised that the Supreme Court would say it’s okay. There’s been a number of cases (including, let’s say, a religious sister—a Catholic sister—who is teaching in a public school who wears her religious garb) that don’t usually go this way because otherwise it would be seen as an endorsement of a religion by the state. But in Kennedy v. Bremerton the fact is that the coach was still essentially an agent of the state because Kennedy was employed by the state. I’m surprised by this decision. [End Page 51] Supreme Court precedent was that anybody giving the impression that the state...

The Supreme Court Corrects a Seventy-Five-Year Distortion in Establishment Clause Jurisprudence

In Kennedy v. Bremerton School District,1 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Establishment Clause did not prohibit a high school football coach from offering a brief mid-field prayer at the conclusion of games. The Ninth Circuit had held that the coach’s free exercise rights had to yield to the Establishment Clause’s prohibition of conduct that might reflect a state endorsement of religion. In overturning the Ninth Circuit, the Supreme Court issued an historic and far-reaching ruling on the scope and nature of the Establishment Clause, providing the first truly clarifying decision in this area in the past seventy-five years. The Court held that the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses were not in tension and that the Establishment Clause could not be used to limit theFree Exercise Clause. Even more profoundly, the Court rejected the use of tests that over time had become hostile to religious liberty. Finally, the Court stated that it would decide future Establishment Clause cases by consulting the historical meaning of the Clause. This Article analyzes the future impact that the Kennedy decision will exert on Establishment Clause jurisprudence.

After Kennedy vs. Bremerton School Dist: Managing Religious Diversity in the Public School Workplace

The United States Supreme Court in Kennedy v. Bremerton Sch. Dist. held that a local school district violated the First Amendment freedom of religious expression rights when it directed an assistant football coach to stop praying on the fifty-yard line of a high school football field after each game. In finding for the high-school football coach, the U.S. Supreme Court significantly narrowed the use of the Establishment Clause of the Constitution to limit workplace religious activities of public-school teachers, school administrators, and other school district employes. The article argues that the decision will force school districts across the country to reassess their policies regarding the workplace religious activities of their employes including teachers. The article examines how the decision will impact school districts’ regulation of workplace prayers by public school teachers and several types of symbolic religious speech. Finally, the article argues that school districts may need to update their policies and practices governing the workplace religious activities of their employes including teachers.

Thomas H. Kunz

Thomas H. Kunz

Worst to First: Turnaround Leadership Through the Lens of Successful High School Football Coaches

Turnaround leadership is a topic of particular interest within sports, as newly hired coaches are often expected to transform struggling teams into “winners.” The present study qualitatively examined American high school football coaches (N = 11) who led a dramatic turnaround within their school’s football program. After being hired, these participants experienced relatively quick success, as they achieved a winning record (M = 1.73 years) and reached the state playoffs within a short period of time (M = 1.82 years). Steps of the turnaround process included assembling a staff of quality assistants, creating a vision for program success, formulating a strong plan that supported the vision, generating buy-in from players and key members of the program, creating and celebrating early achievements, sustaining success through the establishment of new goals and benchmarks, and fighting the urge to become complacent once new levels of success were reached (i.e., making change stick). As a part of their coaching turnarounds, all of the participants talked about the importance of incorporating a quality strength and conditioning program into their team’s training regimen. Meanwhile, the majority of the participants identified “educational athletics” as the core of their coaching philosophy, in which they viewed their jobs as coaches as an extension of the classroom. Moreover, most participants implemented character education into their programs and used football as a platform for teaching life lessons to their players. Yet, the most recurrent theme of the process, and the most recommended approach for achieving a coaching turnaround, was establishing positive coach–athlete relationships.

Concussion Education Programs for High School Football Coaches: An Overview

The increasing epidemic of concussion injuries in sports continues to attract significant attention throughout society. Leaders within the field of sports medicine have attempted to address athlete safety through educational programs. Although concussion education for athletic coaches is required by all states, individual learners should be considered when implementing these programs. Varying educational initiatives, lack of appropriate healthcare providers at athletic events, the difficulty recognizing the “invisible injury” by a diverse group of individuals, and the lack of enforcement of enacted laws are just a few obstacles that inhibit the concussion educational process required by legislation in all states. Appropriately delivered educational programs have the potential to improve management of sport-related concussion (SRC) at high school levels, providing a significant benefit to individuals across all societal levels. A comprehensive overview of commonly used concussion education programs provides a foundation of themes included in each program, while elucidating differences in program lengths, delivery methods, and targeted audiences. However, these concussion educational programs have been largely ineffective regarding injury reporting and participant safety. Researchers must study the effectiveness of the current programs through a lens of the five principles of knowledge transfer to make recognizable progress within this public health priority. A few recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of concussion educational programming include utilizing a dispersed delivery method to decrease the cognitive load and fatigue of participants, integrating reflective actions into modes of delivery for coaches, and employing reminder messages as cues to action. Schools would benefit from formally evaluating their current educational structure to ensure alignment with some of the recommendations.

Concussion Awareness Program in High School Football Players and Coaches (P5.211)

Concussion Awareness Program in High School Football Players and Coaches (P5.211)

Faith, Football, and the First Amendment: Threading the Needle between Establishment and Free Exercise

From the “Hail Mary Pass” to the “Immaculate Reception,” “Touchdown Jesus” to “Catholics vs. Convicts,” and even “Tebowing” to the simple celebration prayer, faith and football have always been intertwined. Despite the significant impact of religion and prayer in shaping our football culture, the concern is when this tradition involves both coaches and players in the public-school context. Specifically, courts are being faced with determining when a coach’s expressive conduct around the football field is “private” speech expressing the views and emotions of the individual, or “public” speech expressing the views of the school and the state. This paper analyzes how Kennedy v. Bremerton School District — the most recent clash between faith and public-school football — sheds light on how lower courts are failing to interpret the proper scope of the Establishment Clause and in doing so, stripping high school football coaches of their First Amendment rights.

"On the Opposite Side of the Fence": The University of Kentucky and the Racial Desegregation of the Southeastern Conference

"On the Opposite Side of the Fence":The University of Kentucky and the Racial Desegregation of the Southeastern Conference S Zebulon Baker (bio) On Christmas Eve 1965, Mrs. Flossie Northington mailed a letter to Kentucky governor Edward T. Breathitt. Six days earlier, she and her family had been his dinner guests at the Governor's Mansion, where he persuaded her son, Nathaniel, an All-State running back at Thomas Jefferson High School in Louisville, to become the first African American to play football for the University of Kentucky (UK). In that moment, Mrs. Northington believed that her son "had made an intelligent decision." Now, she told the governor, "I am no longer of this opinion." Attending UK was her son's choice alone, but Breathitt's intense lobbying—including a limousine ride for the family from Louisville to Frankfort—was, by her account, "the determining factor in his decision to sign," which, "I think, is not good." He became "overawed by your advocacy," she warned Breathitt, "so much so that I am beginning to wonder if the influence you exerted was not too great." She worried that he might even have been "coerced" into signing with UK, since she was "certain that he has not given enough thought to the question."1 After all, he was being asked to integrate [End Page 561] not only Kentucky football, which was challenge enough, but also one of the South's most impenetrable bastions of racial segregation, the Southeastern Conference (SEC).2 Indeed, it was "Nat's safety as the first Negro to play in the Southeastern Conference" that animated his mother's "natural apprehension" about him taking on this historic role. "I realize the importance of the integration of the Southeastern Conference," she wrote Breathitt, "and, as a Negro, I am an advocate of it." She admired how her son, bravely, "really wants to play in the Southeastern Conference." "But this does not mean," she insisted, "that I would like to have my son break the race barrier." Such trepidation was rooted in her own personal history. Born in Mississippi, she was well acquainted with the realities of life in the Deep South, and this knowledge frightened her as she now confronted the prospect of sending her son to play in stadiums at SEC member institutions in Alabama, Louisiana, and, in particular, her native state. Without a "guarantee of his safety" from Breathitt and university officials, she threatened to withhold her support for his enrollment at UK, "despite my signature" on his scholarship offer. "My attitude, I know, is not the most progressive, nor unselfish," she admitted to the governor, "but this is the way I feel about my son and the problem of athletic segregation."3 For his part, Breathitt reassured Mrs. Northington and her friends in Louisville that he bore "a heavy responsibility" to ensure that her son's "stay at the University and his visits to other states are pleasant [End Page 562] Click for larger view View full resolution Nathaniel "Nat" Northington signs with the University of Kentucky in Lexington at the president's office, 1965. Standing behind Northington are (L to R) Kentucky governor Edward T. "Ned" Breathitt, UK football coach Charles Bradshaw, Thomas Jefferson High School football coach Jim Gray, and UK president John W. Oswald. University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center. and safe." Nat himself thanked the governor for "your great interest and concern for me" and, in the end, reported for football practice in August 1966 to begin his freshman year at UK. Still, in her motherly concern, Mrs. Northington had put her finger on the main dilemma with which many at UK had wrestled for more than a decade when contemplating the integration of their teams: no one knew what awaited these pioneering black athletes, or their university, inside the SEC itself. UK's president John W. Oswald maintained that it was "our sincere hope" that, since Kentucky "has 'broken the ice,' the others [in the conference] will not feel the same hesitancy they have felt in the past." But not everyone shared his optimism. "I hope that you and the U. of K.," one Northington family friend wrote Breathitt, "have not...

Comparison of Indiana High School Football Injury Rates by Inclusion of the USA Football "Heads Up Football" Player Safety Coach.

Background:In Indiana, high school football coaches are required to complete a coaching education course with material related to concussion awareness, equipment fitting, heat emergency preparedness, and proper technique. Some high schools have also opted to implement a player safety coach (PSC). The PSC, an integral component of USA Football’s Heads Up Football (HUF) program, is a coach whose primary responsibility is to ensure that other coaches are implementing proper tackling and blocking techniques alongside other components of the HUF program.Purpose:To compare injury rates in Indiana high school football teams by their usage of a PSC or online coaching education only.Study Design:Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2.Methods:Athletic trainers (ATs) evaluated and tracked injuries at each practice and game during the 2015 high school football season. Players were drawn from 6 teams in Indiana. The PSC group, which used the PSC component, was comprised of 204 players from 3 teams. The “education only” group (EDU), which utilized coaching education only, was composed of 186 players from 3 teams. Injury rates and injury rate ratios (IRRs) were reported with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).Results:During 25,938 athlete-exposures (AEs), a total of 149 injuries were reported, of which 54 (36.2%) and 95 (63.8%) originated from the PSC and EDU groups, respectively. The practice injury rate was lower in the PSC group than the EDU group (2.99 vs 4.83/1000 AEs; IRR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.40-0.95). The game injury rate was also lower in the PSC group than the EDU group (11.37 vs 26.37/1000 AEs; IRR, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.25-0.74). When restricted to concussions only, the rate was lower in the PSC group (0.09 vs 0.73/1000 AEs; IRR, 0.12; 95% CI, 0.01-0.94), although only 1 concussion was reported in the PSC group. No differences were found in game concussion rates (0.60 vs 4.39/1000 AEs; IRR, 0.14; 95% CI, 0.02-1.11).Conclusion:Findings support the PSC as an effective method of injury mitigation in high school football. Future research should seek to replicate this study using larger samples from additional states.

Not Just an Athlete: The Impact of High School Coaches on the Educational Pursuit of First-year African American College Football Players

Elite high school football players face a barrage of pressures from their external environment that determine where they attend college as well as what factors, whether academic or athletic, they consider in a school. This study aims to analyze the relationship between African American high school football players, who go on to play intercollegiate football, and their high school football coaches. African American freshmen football players at a predominantly white institution in the Southwest United States were interviewed. The responses were compared and analyzed using two tenants of critical race theory (CRT): the centrality of experiential knowledge and the challenge to the dominant ideology. In an educational context, CRT utilizes storytelling and the experiences of people of color to highlight their experiences against the dominant culture in order to transform the educational environment for the benefit of marginalized people. After analyzing the interview transcriptions, the researchers found that these athletes were positively influenced by their high school coaches to perform well academically in high school, as well as to consider academics as a major point of emphasis in choosing to attend a university. Athletes developed positive relationships with their coaches, regardless of the sport in which they coached, that encouraged them to perform well academically and see college as a means to attain a degree as opposed to an avenue to professional athletics. This positive relationship contrasted some previous literature about college students that suggested that college coach–athlete relationship could be a major source of exploitation and stress for the athletes. Overall, the research found that these coaches were a source of positive influence on these student–athlete's lives athletically, personally, and academically.

Black Males in Medicine: My View

On August 28, 1955, a black 14-year-old male, named Emmett Till, was found murdered after he had been accused of flirting with a white woman. August 28, 1955, was also my eighth birthday. Today, I suppose that most parents would want to shelter an 8-year-old from such gruesome news, but I remember the magazines depicting the gory details lying around the house for weeks. In my young mind, it would have been merciful if Emmett had been hanged. I could not comprehend that his eye was gouged out, but I understood his extreme suffering at the hands of people determined to teach a horrific lesson. My mother repeated stories of what whites in the South will do to black males for flirting with white women each time that we traveled to Arkansas or Alabama to visit extended family members. The necessity of my mother’s message was clear. You can’t shelter kids when there is life-threatening danger in what may appear to be an ordinary occurrence. Until the civil rights movement came along, a whole generation of young mothers did what was necessary to protect their children. Such messaging can have unintended consequences. Recently, a colleague sent me an e-mail concerning the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) report indicating that the number of black males entering medical school is currently lower than it was in 1978. I flippantly responded, ‘‘Unfortunately, young black men are reading the signals they are getting from Ferguson and Baltimore and opting for the short-term view.’’ It was one of those e-mails that I, as a black male physician, should have put more thought into before hitting the send button. But, I stand by my statement and wish to explain. After Trayvon Martin was shot, for many months and through his murder trial, the ‘‘stand your ground’’ defense was touted. To young black males, that sounded like a license for self-appointed authorities to kill. When police left Michael Brown’s body lay in the streets of Ferguson for hours, the black community saw the symbolic message of how powerless they were. From the nearly constant feed of live phone videos that we since experienced, showing questionable behavior by ‘‘authority figures,’’ the Emmett Till defense mechanisms have resurfaced. Community groups are now giving courses on ‘‘driving while black’’ and ‘‘do’s and don’ts, if stopped by police.’’ The vulnerability of simply being black in America is chronically refreshed, and young black males, in particular, struggle through what is (at best) unconscious bias against them. Striving to get into medical school seems to fly in the face of the hunker-down mentality, which is now so prevalent. Two passages in the AAMC report caught my attention. On page 16, the statements are made that ‘‘18% of black high school sophomores in 2002 aspired to become a doctor,’’ and ‘‘The aspirations of African-American boys and girls and youth of color are just as high, if not higher, than [those of] kids from other racial and ethnic groups.’’ But what happens after that? The lyrics of a 1970 song by the Whispers that say ‘‘Seems like I gotta do wrong, gotta do wrong, before they notice me’’ come to mind. Is the clearest route to acceptance and admiration for the black male, the time honored route of high school, collegiate, and professional athletics? Coaches inspire black males, most premed advisors seem to discourage them! If America is so bad for black males, how do people like me manage to become so successful? I have long known that relationships were the keys that unlocked my life. One of my first formative relationships was with my high school football coach. Coach also happened to be the driver’s education teacher. After driving around with me for 6 weeks, during the summer before my senior year, coach somehow became invested in my future after football. I went on to win 18 football scholarships to places like Nebraska, Arizona State, Maryland, Wake Forest, and so on, but coach tried to cut a deal for me

The “P.R.O.P.E.R.” Way to Educate Black Students: 25 indicators of School Excellence<em>(Editor’s Commentary)</em>

We need to shift the focus from 'Why are young Black males failing?' to 'Why are schools failing young Black males?'That was the tweet I posted in 2014. In response, Cato June, a noted high-school football coach and former professional player, wrote: Not sure that they are. Kids don't show up. Schools can't fail them if they aren't there.Then ensued a Twitter conversation among us and Rhonda Bryant, author of the report, Uneven Ground: Examining Systemic Inequities That Block College Preparation for African American Boys (Bryant, 2013). Bryant and I contended that racial inequities in schools result directly in Black boys' failing to live up to their academic potential. Specifically, we drew from our analyses of the Civil Rights Data Collection (see ocrdata.ed.gov), which shows that high schools with the largest percentage of Black students systematically omit advanced math and science classes, use more-punitive disciplinary policies, have higher student-to-counselor ratios, more often have teachers who are not qualified to teach their assigned courses, and more frequently rely on substitute teachers.But June argued that Black boys need a system of strict accountability, and that making excuses for their failure is, itself, inexcusable. The school has the responsibility to teach the child, he said, and the child has the responsibility to seek education. Inspiring the child to want to learn is not the school's responsibility. June also cited some common explanations for underachievement: disengaged parents, more interest in video games than in college readiness, and so on.The exchange reinforced my skepticism of coaches becoming principals of inner city high schools. I am sure Coach Cato's no nonsense/no excuses attitude works fine for preparing his football team. But I wonder if he would continue the same lines if he showed up to a football game with his team and the new rule was that the home team needs to go 50 yards to score, and the visiting team needs to go 150.We can't coerce, intimidate, bully, embarrass or even motivate children to learn in an academically inept learning structure. Coaches are only effective principals when they personally place more value on their ability to create robust learning experiences for their students, and less value on their ability to get defiant students to submit to the status quo.The special focus of this issue of The Journal of Negro Education is Research Methods, Cultural Narratives and Responsibilities in Education. This issue is timely because, today, school districts' perspective on the proper learning environment to Black students is devoid of good research and diminished by an excessive focus on meeting benchmarks established by standardized testing. School districts' dependency on standardized tests is so pervasive that after I criticize state tests, school leaders often ask me, If we don't use state tests, how would we know how a school is doing?Based on the research, every school leader should know and improve upon the following information about their school:1. Average student attendance.2. The mean GPA of all students.3. Number of students who participated in competitions, such as science fairs, spelling bees, foreign language and math competition.4. Suspension rate.5. Results of student satisfaction surveys.6. Results of parent satisfaction surveys.7. Results of curriculum reviews.8. Teachers' total number of hours in, and content of, professional development.9. Teacher's credentials and certification.10. Number and percent of students participating in extracurricular activities.11. Number and percent of students in honors and AP classes.12. Dropout rate.13. Graduation rate. …

Implementation of Concussion Legislation and Extent of Concussion Education for Athletes, Parents, and Coaches in Washington State

Background: Most states in the United States have passed laws regarding concussions, but little is known regarding the implementation of these laws. Hypothesis/Purpose: The purpose of this study was to survey high school coaches 3 years after the passage of a concussion law to evaluate the variation in concussion education and knowledge in the context of this law as well as measure the effects of sport (football vs soccer) and urban versus rural locations. The hypothesis was that concussion education and knowledge would be more extensive in football compared with soccer and in urban locations compared with rural locations. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Methods: A mixed-methods (paper and online) survey was conducted in 2012 to 2013 on a random sample of public high school football, girls’ soccer, and boys’ soccer coaches in Washington State, stratified by urban and rural locality. The survey covered the extent of concussion education for coaches, athletes, and parents as well as coaches’ concussion knowledge and experience. Results: Of 496 coaches contacted, 270 responded (54.4%). Nearly all coaches answered concussion knowledge questions correctly, and nearly all coaches received education via ≥2 modalities (written, video, slide presentation, test, and in person). Athlete education was less extensive, with 34.7% exposed to ≥2 modalities and 29.5% only signing a concussion information form. Parent education was even more limited, with 16.2% exposed to ≥2 modalities and 57.9% only signing a concussion information form. Significantly more football than soccer coaches gave their athletes an in-person talk about concussions (59.1% vs 39.4%, respectively; P = .002) and provided concussion education to athletes via ≥2 modalities (44.1% vs 29.7%, respectively; P = .02). Concussion education for coaches and parents was similar between sports, and concussion education for all parties was similar in urban and rural localities. Conclusion: Three years after the passage of a concussion law in Washington State, high school football and soccer coaches are receiving substantial concussion education and have good concussion knowledge. Concussion education for athletes and parents is more limited. Football players receive more extensive concussion education than do soccer players. Clinical Relevance: Clinicians should be aware that athletes and parents may not be receiving significant concussion education.

Title IX Enforcement Continues the Cultural Revolution

Title IX Enforcement Continues the Cultural Revolution

Concussion Evaluation Methods Among Washington State High School Football Coaches and Athletic Trainers

To evaluate awareness of concussion assessment methods and to determine whether there are differences among Washington State high school football coaches and athletic trainers in urban versus rural school districts. A Catalyst WebQ survey link was randomly sent by e-mail to varsity head football coaches, athletic trainers, and athletic directors in Washington State school districts. Survey participants were high school varsity head football coaches and athletic trainers from a total of 106 Washington State high schools. A 12-item questionnaire on Catalyst WebQ was distributed via e-mail. The survey inquired about use of the methods of concussion assessment, both on the field and for follow-up; participants' concussion education training; and familiarity with Washington State's Zackery Lystedt Law. The survey examined differences in concussion management practices between rural and urban school districts and also between coaches and athletic trainers in Washington State, specifically regarding the use of the Standardized Concussion Assessment Tool 2 (SCAT2) and neurocognitive testing (NCT). Twenty-seven of 48 respondents (56%) used the SCAT2 for on-the-field assessment; urban respondents were significantly more likely to use SCAT2 (P < .05). The difference between coaches and athletic trainers with respect to SCAT2 use was not significant (P = .08). NCT was used by 18 of 58 respondents (31%). This was more commonly used by those in urban districts (P < .01) and by athletic trainers (P < .01). Eleven of these 18 individuals (61%) reported that a neuropsychologist interpreted the results; the rest used other providers not specifically trained in neuropsychology. There was no statistically significant correlation between years of experience and use of the SCAT2, but those with more than 10 years of experience were less likely to use NCT (P < .01). All respondents reported being familiar with Washington State's Zackery Lystedt Law, but only 44.1% reported that the law changed their concussion management. There were statistically significant differences between SCAT2 and NCT use for respondents from urban and rural districts, and also between coaches and athletic trainers, as well as NCT use among respondents with varying years of experience. Further understanding and identification of barriers that limit identification and management of concussions in high school athletes are crucial to prevent serious permanent injury. Additional education is necessary to ensure that athletic trainers and coaches are aware of current recommendations within the medical literature for the evaluation and management of concussions.

American High School Football Coaches' Attitudes toward Sport Psychology Consultation and Intentions to Use Sport Psychology Services

This study examined 235 American high-school football coaches' attitudes toward sport psychology (SP) consultation, intentions to use SP, and actual use of SP services. The coaches' attitudinal data fit the a priori hypothesized four factor model (i.e., stigma tolerance, confidence in SP consultation, personal openness, and cultural preferences). Of the coaches surveyed, 13% reported being familiar with the Association of Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) certification for SP consultants, 3% had used SP services, and 62% did not intend to use SP services within the next six months. Past coaching experience, age, and education level influenced their stigma tolerance, confidence, and personal openness of using SP services. American high-school football coaches who were confident in SP outcomes and open to suggestions were more likely to consider using SP services.

Editorial: The Next Practice

Every summer, the same news occurs again. In the blur and chaos of our crazy lives, we hardly stop to take notice that another athlete has died after performing intense exercise in the heat. When parents drop their sons and daughters off for practice, they wish their children well and establish plans for a pick-up. Yet sometimes the pick-up never happens, replaced instead by a furious rush to the hospital after a frantic call from an assistant coach: “Your child collapsed during practice and became unconscious and is currently being taken to the hospital.” Parents arrive at the hospital to learn that their child had an exertional heat stroke (EHS), a sudden cardiac event, exertional sickling, asthma attack, severe head injury, or any of a myriad of other injuries and conditions that can cause an otherwise healthy child or young adult to go from extremely vibrant to death's door in a matter of minutes.Tempting as it is, looking away will not make the problem disappear. The shock only becomes more personal when such an event occurs to your athlete. Sudden death is occurring more frequently, at a pace that we cannot completely explain.I once had an EHS. I was 16 years old, running a 10-K race on the track at the Empire State Games in upstate New York. Looking back, as I have for the past 24 years, in a daily ritual to examine the seminal moment that shaped every subsequent action, I know that many factors leading to my EHS were preventable. The 25-lap race began in the middle of the day during a heat wave, even though events with much less risk were being run under the lights in the evening. Hydration was not allowed during the race. (Today, it's almost impossible to imagine teenagers running 6+ miles “all out” in extreme heat and not being allowed fluids.)I first contemplated all this as I lay in my hospital room, and I have spent my career as a professor at the University of Connecticut dedicated to preventing sudden death in sport. Here is my simple message: most cases of sudden death in sport are preventable, whether through better prevention strategies or enhanced treatment plans. Exertional heat stroke is the perfect example, with 100% survival possible if immediate, on-site cooling via cold-water immersion is provided. Surprisingly, athletes continue to die from EHS. This message is not meant to depress you but rather to inform and motivate you. When a parent drops his or her child off at the next practice, the school assumes responsibility for the child's health and well-being during that practice, but is the school ready to assume this responsibility?As we have learned from the very high-profile case of a Kentucky high school football coach who was arrested in 2009 as a result of his alleged involvement with an EHS death, public health is at stake. The Kentucky legislature responded in an impulsive manner, mandating that coaches receive enhanced education and training regarding emergency medical care of athletic injuries. As a result, coaches, who may be largely responsible for the condition in the first place, are now in charge of providing care to help their athletes survive. This is the gut reaction of a sympathetic and caring legislature, but it does not solve the core problem. Coaches are great at coaching, and they should be encouraged to continue that pursuit with all the vim and vigor they can muster. However, athletic health care should be left to the medical professionals—athletic trainers and team physicians, who work tirelessly to create the safest environment possible. If a serious condition does occur, we are prepared to determine the exact condition that is causing the medical emergency and invoke a life-saving plan to maximize the odds of survival. I have long said that we should do whatever we can “before they die,” as the gut-wrenching reality of my everyday existence is that most of the people who contact me do so after a tragedy. I lend a sympathetic ear to the traumatized parent, coach, or friend. Yet I ultimately must deliver the truth to the family and friends, that the death from EHS was completely preventable. Crushing to hear but the honest truth. It is long overdue for the knowledge we have gained from research regarding the prevention of sudden death in sport to become a greater part of our clinical practice, and the first step in that process is being sure that every high school has an athletic trainer on-site who can assume responsibility for athletic health care.

Table of Contents

Abstract Cover Story Find a common rallying point to transform athletics department ALAN VERLANDER, ATHLETICS DIRECTOR, JACKSONVILLE UNIVERSITY Focus on attitude and teamwork to build winning program Word of Advice Follow these strategies to change the culture of your athletic department The Two‐Minute Drill Court to inspect Alabama schools to determine Title IX compliance NCAA president Myles Brand announces he has cancer Kentucky high school football coach pleads not guilty in player's death North Carolina State coach Kay Yow succumbs after long cancer battle Compliance Division II panel seeks to revamp organized‐competition rule Competition rule is confusing Did You Know? Participation in organized competition triggers loss of NCAA eligibility Coaches Corner Keep coaches in line with permission‐to‐interview provision Helpful Hints Use these creative approaches to retain high‐profile coaches Title IX High Court permits Title IX damage suits against individuals Follow these tips to avert litigation for compliance violations NCAA Update Review new rules from NCAA Convention to stay in compliance You Make The Call Is a school district liable in student athlete's death? Lawsuits &amp; Rulings EQUAL PROTECTION Endangering his smaller wrestler pins coach with 14th Amendment suit LIABILITY Student injured in relay race blames school for his fall Fan's failure to show gross negligence kills tort lawsuit A Conversation With … EDWARD MATEJKOVIC, ATHLETICS DIRECTOR, WEST CHESTER UNIVERSITY Seek input from staff and students to find creative ways to save money Resources / Ideas NCAA provides promotional credit Study reviews barriers to women in athletics Names in the News

Concussion understanding and management among New England high school football coaches

Primary objective: To determine high school football coaches’ understanding, management and sources of information of concussion at schools without a certified athletic trainer (ATC) or without one at practice.Research design: Anonymous survey of head football coaches at New England high schools.Methods and procedures: Surveys were mailed to 254 New England high school head football coaches. One hundred and nine (43%) surveys were returned, of which 62 respondents indicated there was no ATC either at the school or at practice. These 62 respondents were used for data analysis.Main outcomes and results: Coaching associations and conferences were the two most common sources of information received about concussion. Coaches were significantly more knowledgeable about concussion than a general public sample, from which data were available from a prior study. When given potential symptoms of concussion, 70–95% of coaches reported that they would consult a healthcare professional before allowing a player to return to action, consistent with most return-to-play guidelines.Conclusions: Participants demonstrated greater knowledge about concussions than the general public and most, but not all, coaches reported taking a conservative approach to concussion management. Ramifications of the results are discussed.