By Staff
Athletic Management, 16.4, June/July 2004, http://www.momentummedia.com/articles/am/am1604/wuclubschool.htm
How’s this for a hot-potato question: Should high school coaches be allowed to coach their student-athletes in off-season club teams? And another: Should students be allowed to play on both school and club teams at the same time?
In certain states, the question is moot, as high school coaches already coach non-school teams and it’s common for athletes to play on two teams at once. But in places where state associations answer "no" to the above questions, the conflict is heating up.
As reported in the February-March 2003 issue of Athletic Management, the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association last year floated the idea of loosening its restrictions on member coaches’ involvement in non-school teams. The idea was that the limits on out-of-season coaching were perhaps too strict for the modern realities of specialized young athletes. School-based coaches, mostly trained educators, would be more likely to promote the whole-person ideals that some critics of club teams say are lacking.
MPSSAA Executive Director Ned Sparks says this idea found support among the association’s membership, but after considering a range of new rules, the MPSSAA Board of Control declined to advance any proposals that would loosen the rules. Sparks says there was no unanimity on just how to rewrite the rules, and some members didn’t want any change for fear of unintended negative consequences.
In Maryland, club teams have a big influence on nearly every sport and in all parts of the state, Sparks says, from AAU basketball and volleyball clubs to elite soccer and baseball traveling teams, and to even seven-man football teams. Particularly troublesome is boys’ basketball, where agents seem to be getting involved.
"I don’t know if allowing out-of-season coaching would help much, but it would at least keep some of the high school coaches in the loop," Sparks says. "It’s a potential answer to some of the issues going on now."
But other administrators see problems with loosening the rules. They worry that some student-athletes might feel pressure to attend a summer camp or play in a league in which their school-team coach has a financial interest, or there might be an implication that taking part is a guarantee of making a team.
In addition, some coaches fear getting sucked into the club-team scene to keep up with the expectations of peers, administrators, parents, and student-athletes. "They say, ‘Look, I coach during the season. I don’t want to be forced to do more because everyone else is doing it,’" Sparks says. "It breaks down a lot on age lines. The older, experienced coaches have their set routines and summer employment, and the younger coaches, who are gung-ho, say, ‘Practice, practice, practice. Win, win, win.’"
Those wishing to maintain the status quo also see the rules as helping to avoid contributing to sport specialization and year-round organized play. "Kids need some laid-back time to grow," Sparks says. "That’s part of growing up, I think."
Maryland is hardly alone in dealing with the growth of non-school teams, says Tim Flannery, an Associate Director at the National Federation of State High School Associations. This spring, the NFHS began contacting sport governing bodies to discuss how to minimize conflicts between school and non-school teams and organizations. The aim of the Federation and member associations, he says, is to fight sport specialization and a year-round, win-at-all-costs approach.
"We don’t want kids in a position where they’re forced to choose one sport or team over another," Flannery says. "But our efforts don’t seem to be working because we’re butting heads with parents, kids, and coaches who want it all."
In Missouri, a bill has been introduced in both houses of the state legislature designed to end a ban on high school athletes competing on more than one team during a sport season. The bill would prohibit any organization from interfering in a student-athlete’s competition or training for an event recognized by the U.S. Olympic Committee and sanctioned by the sport’s governing body.
About 50 student-athletes, parents, and coaches attended a public hearing in March on the bill, largely supporting it. Most were swimmers, who said they are forced to choose between their school teams and Olympic-sanctioned club teams, usually picking the latter, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. A similar bill died in the legislature in 2003, and this year’s version has moved slowly, but administrators are watching it closely.
The bill is opposed by the Missouri State High School Activities Association, and Executive Director Becky Oakes spoke against it at the public hearing. She said the measure would create a competitive disadvantage for students without access to club teams, such as those in rural areas, and would prevent school coaches from disciplining students who miss practice for club events, according to the Post-Dispatch. In a statement, however, the MSHSAA said it wants to seek a solution with swimming organizations.