On Campus
This summer, many coaches in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) expressed hope and optimism when talking to the media about their upcoming seasons. But unlike most years, they weren't talking only about their team's prospects—they were expressing hope that there would be a season at all. Until an eleventh-hour agreement was reached in late August between the coaches' union and the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, a strike had threatened to bring sports in the conference to a screeching halt.
Sports Medicine
One of the most valuable financial assets a high school athletic program has is its ability to provide publicity. Spectators at an event, who all buy products and use services, are influenced by the corporate names they see at a game, especially if the names represent hometown businesses. An Arizona school district is capitalizing on this asset to upgrade sports medicine coverage for its athletes.
Progressive Programs
"When I was growing up, my parents and teachers told me being an athlete would open doors for me, and they were right. What they didn't tell me was that some of the doors would be positive, and others would be very negative."
New Sports
Aiming to improve Title IX compliance, the Anchorage, Alaska School District sent out a survey last fall to find out which sports girls were interested in playing. A surprising leader emerged: flag football.
In The Stands
When the Maryville (Tenn.) Board of Education considered a new safety policy for school-sponsored events this summer, it decided to ban many potentially hazardous objects from the stands, including noisemakers, laser pointers, flagpoles, and flags. As a result, fans were barred from carrying on the longstanding tradition of waving the Confederate battle flag at Maryville High School games. The decision was greeted with an outpouring of both support and criticism, filling newspaper editorial columns and e-mail inboxes for weeks after it was announced.
Hiring
When Boston College assistant women's ice hockey coach Michael Cox applied for one of two assistant coaching positions with the newly created Boston University team, he thought he had all the right qualifications. With over a decade of experience coaching girls and women, including a national championship team, he was surprised when two other applicants beat him out.
Friday Night Football
On Sept. 9, viewers of the ESPNU cable channel in 49 states saw a marquee match-up between two high school football state champions: Robert E. Lee High School from Tyler, Texas vs. Colerain High School from Cincinnati, Ohio. In Texas, however, the highly anticipated game was blacked out. A longstanding University Interscholastic League rule prohibits live broadcasts of Friday night high school football, and despite pressure to make an exception from ESPNU and State Senator Kevin Eltife (whose district includes the Tyler area), the association stuck to its guns.
Rules Changes
The Baylor men's tennis team has had phenomenal success recently with a roster dominated by foreign players. At the same time, the team has endured allegations from opposing coaches about whether all Bear athletes are truly amateurs. For the past three years, one week before the start of the NCAA Division I tournament, Baylor has been asked to respond to inquiries about its players' pre-college competitive experiences.
As far back as he can remember, Pierce Frauenheim wanted to be a football coach. As a player at Rutgers University, he started on both offense and defense and was a member of the school's undefeated 1961 team. In 1962, Frauenheim was hired as the first athletic director at Immaculata High School in Somerville, N.J. The next year, he was named assistant principal, and in 1966, he became Immaculata's first head football coach.
Risk Management
It does not take super vision to supervise athletes. But it does require knowing how to scan, position yourself, and spot red flags.
Leadership
Sexy images in marketing is nothing new, but their prevalence in athletics is gaining. This article looks at how to recognize and remove sexploitation from your program.
Sports Medicine
If you're like most athletic directors, you're looking to lower risks in your department. One simple solution is to get on the same page as your athletic trainer.
By Randy Bertin
Randy Bertin is the Director of Athletics at Stoneleigh-Burnham School, an independent boarding and day school for girls in Greenfield, Mass. He can be reached at: rbertin@sbschool.org.
Cover Story
In an era of greater school choice, athletes are becoming more aggressive about transferring for athletic reasons. Some athletic administrators are now starting to fight back.
Fundraising
You can show donors you appreciate their gifts with a thank-you note. Or you can dazzle them with a unique and personal expression of gratitude.
Leadership
It's easy to drown in your job as an athletic director. This author presents a survival guide anyone can grab on to.
Sports Medicine
Investigative journalists across the country are finding universities to be out of compliance with the NCAA's rule on distributing supplements. Make sure you're not the next to be in the headlines.
Facilities of Innovation
Today's football stadiums are the front porch of many athletic programs. And they are being designed with that in mind.