Dear Editor,
I am a Bugle reader who was a high school head coach for 37 years, as well as an athletic director for 25 years, and I would like to comment on the recent article that Sports Editor Scott Taylor wrote, expressing essentially that allowing AAU affiliated coaches to be involved as coaches within the high school’s coaching staffs is not a good idea.
Mr. Taylor supports his position very clearly by pointing out various scenarios where conflicts of interest could exist, which in most cases would be compromising the school’s integrity in regard to the [Illinois High School Association] rules and bylaws.
The high school athletic program is/should be a part of and an extension of the total educational program, and it is very important that it be under the charge of an educator – a certified teacher! We in the U.S. offer these interscholastic athletic programs to our students because we recognize the educational and “whole person” developmental benefits that are realized by those of our students who participate in these programs. To go on, the athletic programs offered by any particular school district are supposed to serve the students of that community, and when coaches who may be influencing their players from their AAU team to transfer to the school that he is coaching at, resulting in the local kids from that district being displaced by better, more elite players, and no longer starters, or in many cases, no longer on the rosters. I have seen this recruiting of athletes far too much, even to the point of bringing in foreign exchange student-athletes at the expense of the local district kids.
This to me is the most serious of the concerns expressed in the article, but I also concur with other concerns stated, such as the AAU coach “using” the high school program and resources as a feeder program for his “more important” AAU level team, which may, in some cases, be his primary focus. In that case, the high school program’s players who are also on or going to be on the AAU team, may be getting more intensive coaching and more playing time, while the high school team members who are not going to be on that coaches’ AAU team may be neglected.
For the most part, AAU coaches are competent coaches in that they have had success at a respected level, and are usually knowledgeable of proper skill techniques. But unfortunately, many, if they are not educators, have a different mindset than is needed in the educational setting, and in some cases there is a lack of respect for the rules, the actual expected educational outcomes, and even for the academic eligibility requirements for participation.
It needs to be pointed out that this is not an attack focused solely on the AAU people. This is actually a much more widespread problem. In this day and age where school districts all seem to be facing financial shortfalls, many are hiring as coaches, even as head coaches, unqualified individuals such as security guards, park district personnel, parents of players or even using volunteers. If you wouldn’t do that in the classroom, it shouldn’t be done in a position as important as coaching.
Besides the teaching of sports skills, thousands of “teachable moments” not even related to that particular sport, that could have a lifelong effect on the students involved, present themselves every season in every sport in every school. That is why more school administrators must realize the far-reaching importance of a quality high school athletic program, and that credentialed TEACHERS must fill these positions.
Richard Tomoleoni
Niles