A Message From the Executive Director …

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The strategic plan of the Iowa Girls’ High School Athletic Union calls for changes in the nomination and selection process of our Coaches’ Advisory Committees. Each sport has an advisory committee comprised of one athletic director, up to six coaches, and one official. You can find these committees listed on our web site (http://www.ighsau.org/general/board.html). They meet annually after the completion of their sport’s state championship to discuss the season past, and any changes which should be implemented for the upcoming season.

Playing rules are a key component of these meetings. While the IGHSAU utilizes National Federation playing rules, these committees have the opportunity to alter or adapt these rules in ways they feel will enhance interscholastic participation for girls in Iowa. Rally scoring in volleyball and clearing of the bottom block during free throws in basketball are two recent changes that came from Coaches’ Advisory Committees before any action at the national level.

The recommendations from these committees move forward to the Board of Directors, which decides whether to adopt them as formal policy. The Coaches’ Advisory Committee has a great influence in every aspect of our 10 sport programs.

Currently, members of these committees are nominated by management of the Athletic Union, and ultimately selected by the Board of Directors. Coaches and Athletic Directors are eligible for two, three-year terms on these committees. The official sits in an ex-officio capacity and is eligible for one, three year term. Care is given in the nomination and selection process to maintain a balanced geographic representation, as well as a balance of school classifications among members.

Implementation of the strategic plan will formalize this process. Coaches will have the ability to nominate themselves, or their peers for openings on these committees. In addition, additional positions will be created on the committees to ensure one 3A-4A coach and one 1A-2A coach from each of the four voting districts. The Board will be given all nominations for consideration during the selection process. The Board will continue to select an official to serve on these committees, and the chair of the committees will continue to be an athletic director. More information on the new nomination process will be posted on the IGHSAU web site later this spring.

The ultimate goal of a CAC (Coaches’ Advisory Committee) is to ensure each sport program meets the interests and objectives of our member schools. Committee members can’t afford to operate provincially, but rather must think in terms of all schools and all students, and assess how changes can improve the overall program, increase participation, and enhance the education of all students who participate.

The missing ingredient in this advisory structure is direct input from students. Historically it has been assumed that coaches represent the viewpoints of the students participating in their programs. However, we are studying ways to directly involve students in the advisory committee process. We will begin soliciting input from the coaches committees in the near term seeking ways to encourage and enhance direct student input into our sport program development.

 

Participation Study

Another key element of the strategic plan is the completion of a study which assesses the benefits of student participation in interscholastic athletics.

There are reams of data already which show statistics like these:

According to National Department of Health & Human Services, students who participate in activities are:

35 percent less likely to smoke after high school

49 percent less likely to use drugs

37 percent less likely to become a teen parent

27 percent less likely to be arrested through age 30

 

The average GPA of a student who participates in activities is 2.93. The average GPA of a student who doesn’t participate is 2.04.

 

The average GPA of a student who participates in one activity is 2.53, while the average GPA of one who participates in four activities is 3.34.

 

The student who does not participate misses twice the number of school days over the course of a year as the student who does participate. When in season, participants miss an average of less than one day of school.

 

Drop out rates of non-participants are 15 times as high as participants.

 

95 percent of the top executives at Fortune 500 companies participated in sports in high school, 43 percent were in the National Honor Society.

 

A 1995 survey of students who graduated in 1985 showed they are three times as likely to consider themselves successful if they participated in sports.

 

But, some of these statistics are aged, and there are many assumptions made about athletic participation that have yet to be quantified. In 2004, the National Association of State Boards of Education convened a panel to study the state of high school athletics. They found holes in the availability of broad scope data which focuses on school performance in-season vs. out-of-season, post-high school academic performance for those who participate vs. those who do not participate, social and developmental impacts of participation, community service involvement of participants and student achievement of participants of varying socio-economic status.

Other information such as career growth, advanced degree work and socio-economic status in adulthood is virtually non-existent. The goal of the strategic plan is to commission one of, if not the most comprehensive study of interscholastic participation and the benefits derived from participation. We make a lot of assumptions about these benefits, but we must make an effort to quantify what our programs are providing students, other than medals or awards that we can quantify on the spot. As I’ve said many times in the column, we have to defend the use of education monies to fund athletic programs every day, and this study will provide the information necessary to do just that. More importantly, I hope this study will convince our students, parents and coaches that a college scholarship and personal recognition are not core goals of interscholastic athletics. Rather, the core goal, helping students prepare for success throughout their lives, is met through participation.

BUSY TIME AHEAD

The girls’ state basketball tournament is in February for the first time and will be upon us in no time. Our staff will assign over 1,200 officials to work tournament games along the way, and we’ll have girls’ basketball back in Veteran’s Auditorium – for regional finals. In addition, two teams and two individual champions will be crowned in bowling. We hope you are looking forward to the next eight weeks as much as our staff. By the time the next column is written, track and field practice will have begun!