Academic and Recruiting Issues Club Sports/Player Development Trends Diploma Mills Eligibility Issues Field Shortages General Information Legal Medical Metal Bats Race/Ethnicity Site Administration Special Reports Sports Doctors and Trainers Sports Done Right Steroid Information Supervision Issues Title IX/Gender Equity Urban/Inner City School Athletic Administration Transgender Athletes Urban/Inner City School Issues
Click Here For Making The Case For High School Sports At Your School: The Link Between High School Sports and Academic Performance
Academic and Recruiting Issues
Click here for the academic and recruiting issues page.
Club Sports/Player Development Trends
Washington, D.C. - Jan. 23, 2007 - Knight Commission Explores the Changing Face of Recruiting - See Commission Told of Big Changes In Recruiting, by Jack Carey, USA Today, January 23, 2007 page 5C. Click here for more on the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. For more on modern recruiting: Click here for The Washington Post's 2006 Player Chase Series.
July 20, 2006 - For more on the trend of year round club sports, see: For 7th Grade Jocks, Is There Ever An Off-Season? by David Sheff, New York Times, July 20, 2006.
Washington D.C. - 2006 - Follow the Washington Post's 2006 Series, The Player Chase, which examines youth basketball in the United States.
Diploma Mills - Are Your Athletes Taking Shortcuts?
Click Here for the Diploma Mill Page
Eligibility Issues (Note: Some eligibility issues are on the academic and recruiting issues page)
San Francisco, CA - June 7, 2008 - Bridgemont Suspended For One Year: CCS Takes Unprecedented Action After Small School Fails To Follow Eligibility Rules by Will Reisman, San Francisco Examiner page 29. San Francisco's Bridgemont High School (and no I do not govern this school, I only govern San Francisco's public schools) played ineligible players, and committed numerous other violations including playing students who didn't attend the school (the article mentions one of these players) and having inadequately prepared physical forms.
Transfers - A Hot Topic In Every State. See, Parents, High School Officials At Odds Over Motivation for Athletes' Transfers by Ray Glier, USA Today, November 21, 2006.
Rialto, CA, September 24, 2008 - School's New Grass Field Closes Due to Fire Ant Invasion. See Red Ants Invade High School Football Field, KTLA News, Rialto; California High School's Main Rivals Are Fire Ants, Associated Press published in Inside Bay Area.com. Rialto's not the only one with a problem. Virginia Beach just discovered fire ants in a local park. See Parents Concerned With Fire Ant Problem in V.B., WAVY-TV, September 15, 2008.
FIELD TURF DEBATES
Synthetic Turf Council Says - Field Turf is Safe and We're Going to Voluntary Remove Any Trace of Lead. California Says - Not So Fast, We're Going To Sue You and Make You Do It. The U.S. CPSC did an extensive study and found that Field Turf and Other Synthetic Turfs do not put children at risk from exposure to lead. See Feds: Synthetic Turf OK by Michael McCarthy, USA Today, July 30, 2008, page C1. Shortly after the CPSC study, the Synthetic Turf Council announced voluntary steps to make synthetic turf even safer by eliminating all lead. See STC Announces Voluntary Lead Reduction Standards, athleticturf.net. Promises aren't good enough for California. The Attorney General is filing a suit to force the Turf Council to make good on their offer. See Calif. Backs Mandatory Lead Removal From Field Turf by A.J. Perez, USA Today, September 3, 2008 Page 11C.
Turf Wars: The Winning Blow For Field Turf - Lead Is Not A Problem: Feds find that Field Turf and Other Synthetic Turfs do not put children at risk from exposure to lead. See Feds: Synthetic Turf OK by Michael McCarthy, USA Today, July 30, 2008, page C1. Get details from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) here. Click here for HTML (with links) and here for pdf version of CPSC Press Release: CPSC Staff Finds Synthetic Turf Fields OK to Install, OK to Play On, July 30, 2008. Click here for the official CPSC Report: CPSC Staff Analysis and Assessment of Synthetic Turf "Grass Blades", July 30, 2008. Click here for the CPSC's streaming video report.
Dispatching The Field Turf/MRSA Myth: Field Turf is Cleaner Than Grass!!! Penn State Study Shows That Field Turf Does Not Harbor MRSA. The study states, "In conclusion, there are generally lower numbers of total microbes present in the infill or fibers of the synthetic turf systems tested compared to natural turfgrass rootzones and Staphylococcus aureus bacterium were not found on any of the playing surfaces. Staphylococcus aureus bacterium were found on towels and other devices used by athletes." See A Survey of Microbial Populations in Infilled Synthetic Turf Fields by Andrew S. McNitt, Ph.D Soil Science, Dianne Petrunak, M.S. Plant Pathology, and Thomas Serensits, M.S. Candidate in Agronomy, on-line publication of Penn State University, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, 2008.
Home Carpets May Be A Bigger Problem Than Playing Fields. Lead in carpets sold at places like Ace Hardware and Home Depot may ultimately prove to be the real problem. This segment of the carpet industry is not nearly as competitive or as scrutinized as the playing fields. Standards aren't as high, and barriers to entering this segment of the carpet market are not nearly as intense. Ultimately, the real abuses in turf products may prove to be the innocuous carpet in your house. Click here for more information from the Center For Environmental Health's June 23, 2008 report, Legal Action Launched on Lead in Artificial Turf..
For A Comprehensive Powerpoint Report on Synthetic Turf Related Issues, see Medical Aspects of Artificial Sports Turf by Craig C. McKirgan, DO, June 23, 2008.
S.F. Turf Battle: Synthetic Grass for Playgrounds? by Justin Berton, San Francisco Chronicle, June 18, 2008, page A1.
More Turf Wars: USA Today Follows Up On New Jersey "Astro Turf" Problems with, Artificial Turf: Health Hazard?: Concern About Lead Prompts Further Questions by Michael McCarthy and Steve Berkowitz, May 8, 2008, page C1. USA Today acknowledges the only problems so far have been found in old Astro Turf - not new Field Turf; reports on numerous studies and legislation nationwide.
Latest Field Turf Points To Remember: (1) It's old Astro Turf that has been found unsafe not new Field Turf. (2) Field Turf has passed all safety tests - everywhere.
TURF WARS: April 18, 2008 - Two turf fields in New Jersey shut down due to high lead levels. See Elevated Lead Levels Force Closing of 2 Artificial Turf Fields; Parsippany Fields OK by Angela Delli Santi, Associated Press - printed in Trenton Daily Record, April 15, 2008; and Study Looks at Lead Levels In Synthetic Fields by Michael McCarthy and Steve Berkowitz, April 18, 2008. Does this mean your field is unsafe? Probably not! The fields that shut down were old Astro Turf fields. These fields are a monofilament, nylon based product that look to the eye like a bright green carpet. Not even the Astro Turf company makes them anymore. The new turf fields use rubber (or polyethylene) fibers and look to the eye like grass blades. The most prominent manufacturer is the Field Turf, company. These new Field Turf type of products are certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, which awards LEED points for its use. The older Astro Turf type products most definitely are not certified as Green products. Your field is probably safe!
More Turf Wars - The Field Turf company notes that they're being lumped in with the Astro Turf type product. See FieldTurf Given Green Light by The NJDHSS, Field Turf Press Release, April 18, 2008. The Field Turf Company is probably correct that most media isn't drawing a distinction. They're also correct that that the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services Clears Field Turf Style Products. See Local Athletes on Artificial Turf Are Not on Dangerous Ground by Greg Forester, Staff Writer, Princeton Packet, April 18, 2008. Unfortunately, the truth will not get in the way of a good story. Already in California, we can see State Senator Abel Maldonado getting ready to investigate these fields. See Study Looks at Lead Levels In Synthetic Fields. While there's nothing wrong with the legislature looking at a problem, there is something wrong with a legislator claiming he knows the answer before he conducts the study. Maldonado has already said, "These fields are a problem." It appears that objective work will not be coming out of this Senator's office anytime soon. Click here for a photo of a Field Turf field and click here for a photo of an old Astro Turf field to get a graphic illustration of the difference in field appearance.
April 25, 2007 - High Tech Solutions and More Efficient Land Use Can Address Some Field Shortages - See Technology To Help Cities Manage Booming USA by Haya El Nasser, USA Today, April 25, 2007 page 1A. Click here for photos of dedication of Roosevelt Park in Anaheim - the park sits atop an underground electrical substation and is an example of new technologies maximizing land use.
New York, N.Y. - April 1, 2007 - Some big cities are experiencing severe field shortages. This could affect your school's ability to play baseball, soccer and other outdoor sports. Click here for Too Many Men on The Fields (and Women and Children, Too) by Hiroko Masuike, New York Times, April 1, 2007. Is this happening in your city?
General Administrative Information (economic miscellaneous parents security spectators)
San Jose, CA - December 10, 2008 - East San Jose School Chief Proposes Eliminating Sports To Save Budget. See East Side Union Chief To Propose A Budget That Eliminates All Sports by Joe Rodriguez, San Jose Mercury News, December 10, 2008. This is a classic pattern. Budgets get tight and school chiefs propose eliminating sports. As the pattern plays out, parents, students and the community complain and protest. The local, state and even national media trumpet the story. Eventually either a private sponsor steps up, the schools impose sports fees, or sports are saved but at a reduced level. The wise school chief announces the cuts well in advance to give the process time to play out. The big question is whether the pattern will play out as it did in the past now that the economy is experiencing the most severe recession in 70 years. If the pattern doesn't play out, the East San Jose School Chief's bluff may get called. Will he hold 'em or fold 'em? We'll see soon - and we'll see in a whole lot of other places. too.
Atlanta, GA - Oct. 26, 2008 - Controversial Fees: Metro Prep Athletes Pay To Play by Todd Holcomb, Atlanta Journal-Constitution.. In tough economic times, schools are passing a lot of costs on. This is but one example.
Stealing the Money - Fiscal Management Can Be A Weakness In Many Youth Programs. A Washington mom realized this and is now accused of running off with $50,000. See Soccer Mom Charged With Stealing More Than $50,000 From Fife Youth Club by Brian Everstine, Tacoma News Tribune, August 2, 2008. Don't think she's the only one. It also happened in Naples, Florida. See Play Ball: Theft of Little League Funds Won't Deter Organization by Valli Finley, Naples News, March 28, 2008.
Economic Woes: Schools Plan For Hard Times To Come: See School Sports Programs Fight To Stay Alive In Struggling Economy by Andy Staples, Sports Illustrated.com, July 11, 2008; and Massive Budget Cuts Hammer High School Athletics by Ben Volin, Palm Beach Post, June 30, 2008. Hawaii Almost Loses JV Sports. See JV Sports Dodges A Bullet, Barely, Honolulu Advertiser Blog, August 8, 2008. ADs Could Be In Trouble - Hawaii Legislature Moves ADs' Money Out of Reserved Account and Into School's General Fund A Month After Saving JV Sports. See High School Athletic Directors' Pay Now Part of General Funds - Some Fear Positions Could Be At Risk As Money Gets Tighter by Loren Moreno, Honolulu Advertiser, September 8, 2008, and AD Jobs Hopefully Safe Despite Budget Change, Honolulu Advertiser Blog, September 9, 2008..
Participation Fees: 2008 - Sports Participation Fees May Be Tempting For Schools - But The National Association of Secondary School Principals Comes Out Against Them. Click Here For Details.
Participation Fees: A Tempting and Common Solution for Many High Schools. See Participation Fees - Attempts To Keep Athletic Programs Afloat by Emily Cerling and Bob Herman, High School Today, Nov. 2007, page 10 (published by NFHS). But Be Careful: Participation Fees Are Not Always Legal. See Hartzell v. Connell, 35 Cal.2d 899, 201 Cal.Rptr. 601, 679 P.2d 34 (Ca. Supreme. Ct. 1984) (athletic participation fees violate the "free education clause of the California Constitution). For news articles, see Pay to Play Is A Shutout We Can't Afford by Joan Ryan, San Francisco Chronicle, May 9, 2003. If you're in a state where participation fees are unconstitutional, you should note that there's always a lawyer waiting to sue. In California, the U.S. Justice Foundation has filed numerous class action suits. Click here for information on USJF's legal actions.
More Participation Fee Issues: For more on participation fees, see To Play Sports Many U.S. Students Must Pay by Erik Brady and Ray Glier, USA Today, July 9, 2004.
Public/Private Tensions! At the risk of greatly oversimplifying things, these issues boil down to two issues: (1) Public schools can't compete with those rich private guys and need to break off; and (2) Those strict transfer and residency rules either should or shouldn't apply to private schools because it's just not fair!!! The side of the scale a state comes down on often depends on whose winning championships, and proximity to borders. For an example of the problem, see The Great Divide by Greg Scholand, Athletic Management, May 2007.
Will Gas Prices Affect High School Sports? See Athletic Budgets: At What Cost? by Earl Vaughan, Jr, Fayetteville Observer, April 10, 2008, page 5C.
Special Report: After School Program Funding - Funding Mechanisms That Support Services For Children and Youth In Other Jurisdictions by Chicago Metropolis 2020: the Chicago Out-of-School Time Project, September 9, 2007
Canton, MA - August 9, 2007 - High School Sports Fees Drive Canton HS to institute a "Save Our Sports" campaign. See Groups Says Drive To Cut Sports Fees Nearing Goal by Ryan Menard, Massachusetts Patriot Ledger, August 9, 2007. Note: Many schools must engage in fundraising. We often think of fundraising to build fields or fix facilities. This story illustrates a basic reality of high school sports: that fundraising often exists just to keep the program operating at a bare bones level, and that many schools charge students to play.
Detroit, MI - April 3, 2007 - Arts, Sports Face DPS Cutbacks by Jennifer Mrozowski, Detroit News, April 3, 2007. Broke school faces $118 million deficit. Arts, sports, teachers all face cuts. Some schools will be closed. When budgets are low, arts and sports are always the first to go. Scroll down to see similar problems in Richmond, CA in 2004 and Akron, Ohio in 2006.
Sacramento, CA - March 25, 2007 - Special Report: Longest Odds - Overmatched - Advantages, Not Talent, Separate Tennis Players by Phillip Reese, Sacramento Bee, March 25, 2007 page A1.
Sacramento, CA - March 24, 2007 - Special Report: Longest Odds - Rich Win, Poor Lose In High School Sports by Phillip Reese and Tim Casey, Sacramento Bee, March 24, 2007 page A1.
November/December 2006 - NFHS Survey finds 47% of students participate in high school sports, 65% of schools do not make students pay fees, the schools that charge fees tend to charge less than $100 per student, and sports costs less than two percent of a school's total budget. In short, you get a lot of bang for your buck in a high school sports program. See Survey Provides New Info On High School Athletics by Amanda Personett, The NFHS News, November/December 2006 page 1.
October 2006 - Click here for Lauren Oosterlinck's October, 2006 article on page 8 of the NFHS News, Schools Turn To Corporate Sponsorship For Funding.
New York, N.Y., August 26, 2006 - Paying to Play At School by Debra Nussbaum, New York Times, August 26, 2006. Many schools are turning to charging students to participate in sports - but some states ban this. Click above for more.
Akron Ohio, June 2006 - APS Board Reinstates Junior Varsity Sports by Jeff Gorman, Akron Leader, June 29, 2006. Watch out - sports are often amongst the first things cut. Thirty years ago, many school districts eliminated middle school programs. Could this be the start of a new trend to dump JV programs, leaving only varsity sports? Probably not - but you never know.
Portsmouth, N.H., June 25, 2006 - Paying to Play At School by Emily Aronson, Portsmouth Herald, June 25, 2006.
Akron Ohio, May 2006 - Big cuts to sports, music, arts in Akron. See Akron School Board Cuts 82 Teaching Positions by Jeff Gorman, Akron Leader, May 18, 2006.
Richmond, CA, 2004 - West Contra Costa County School District Athletic Cuts Hurt Schools in California's East Bay. See Students' Walkouts Protest Sports Cuts by Laura Counts, Oakland Tribune, March 10, 2004. School Basketball Players Travel By Foot To Final Game by Wyatt Buchannan, San Francisco Chronicle, February 19, 2005 (and strangely enough the team won its first league game of the year after their 3 mile walk to the game - hey, who needs money and buses?).
New York, N.Y., Oct. 2000 - Hard Times Cripple A Football Legacy; Broke Erasmus Team Sits Out A Season by Alan Feuer, New York Times, October 14, 2000.
Our Changing World! The President is African-American, the most famous seven-footer is Chinese and now an All-Black High Inner City High School Rugby Team? Yes, they're believed to be the first all-black high school rugby team. See The Unlikely Scrum by Will Bardenwerper, New York Times. Let this be an object lesson - don't limit your students.
Ultimate Fighting: Coming Soon To A School Near You! That's right, kids are being trained in this. It's only a matter of time before those kids get older and ask for a new school sport. Most states ban combat sports so these kids will probably not succeed - but stranger things have happened. See Kids Encouraged To Punch, Kick - Associated Press (story and video) on CNN.Com, March 27, 2008. Click here for ABCNews.com coverage..
Fort Myers, FL - March 19, 2008 - School administrators occasionally have to worry about alcohol related problems. Here, a teacher/coach was arrested for DUI right after a game. Best to have a district policy of no alcohol on campus. It won't prevent the occasional flare-ups, but it will make it clear that the school/district had no role in sanctioning the problem. See Lee County Teacher and Coach Arrested For DUI, WBBH - nbc-2.com, Fort Myers, FL, March 19, 2008.
Florida, December 24, 2007 - Some Florida Cities Have Started Requiring Volunteer Coaches To Wear Badges Indicating They Have Been Fingerprinted. Fingerprinting Coaches Is Old Hat, But The ID Badge Seems To Be A New Trend. Of course, as administrators everywhere can attest, a lot of volunteer assistant coaches just seem to show up without fingerprinting and without a school, team or league's knowledge. Will this new trend spread? See Cities Require Background Checks, ID Badges For Sports Coaches by Nick C. Sortal, South Florida Sun Sentinel, Dec. 24, 2007.
Philadelphia, PA - October 12, 2007 - School moves night game to afternoon after off-campus gun incident. See Gun Incident Postpones Spring-Ford Football Game by Diane Mastrull, Philadelphia Inquirer, October 12, 2007.
Austin, TX - October 4, 2007 - School Principal Catches Heat When She Tries To Shut Down Football Because Too Many Players Were Getting Hurt. See Johnston Students Rally to Build Varsity Team Support, KXAN.com.
Scottsdale, AZ - September 15, 2007 - Strange But True - Stadium Lights Won't Start Because Somebody Stole the Copper Wire. See Game Nixed Because of Stolen Copper Wire, FoxNews.com, September 15, 2007; Copper Wire Thieves Force End To Football Game, ABC15.com, Phoenix, September 15, 2007. This problem could spread because of the value of copper wire: See Heavy Metal Mayhem by R.J. Anderson, Athletic Management, October 2007.
Portland, OR, March 7, 2007 - Castillo Steps Into High School Sports Uproar, KATU.Com. State School Superintendent seeks to reduce power of high school state athletic association after re-leaguing controversy. Two hot issues arise here. First, who should control high school sports: high school athletic associations or the state schools chief? Second, re-leaguing issues are always controversial as they impact travel, economics, and success on the field.
November, 2006 - Faculty Only by Athletic Management, October/November 2006. Schools everywhere want to increase the number of teacher coaches as walk-on coaches don't have the daily nexus with the academic environment of the school. This article details a Missouri high school that requires all coaches to be full-time teachers and discusses how they made it work.
Administrators must manage parents. Parents can create sportsmanship problems and they can get fired up over their childrens' playing time and start pressuring coaches, occasionally resulting in coaches resigning or being fired because they won't kowtow to the parent. To see problems created by parents, visit the sportsmanship page and either click on the sports parent issues bookmark or scroll down to the sports parent issues section.
This Might Be The Future Of Game Security. Britain Makes Camera That "Sees" Under Clothes, Reuters News Service, March 9, 2008. There are times where an administrator has to "wand" the crowd. This is an absolute nightmare as it causes lines that are so long that spectators often miss the start of the game. Wanding is such a burden that it's avoided even in those gyms where an administrator knows that the crowd is tough. The more viable alternative is to simply hire so much security that a strong deterrent effect is created. The antiterrorism movement is slowly but surely creating devices that will do body scans without the lengthy delays. Ultimately, these devices will show up in airports, but eventually the price will come down and they may be the device that allows for crowd screening without the lengthy delays. In short, this is the wave of the future, but that future is a long way off. Right now, these experimental devices are simply too expensive. p.s. - don't worry, the device uses something called "t-rays" that can't see your "private parts." For more, click here for ThruVision.
The Cost Of Keeping High School Games Safe - Fights Between Fans, Parents Force Schools To Pay Thousands In Security Fees, CBS News.com February 3, 2007 (Parents, Fans and Spectators' Poor Behavior Costs Some School Districts Hundreds of Thousands Per Year In Security Costs).
Storm Warning by Tim Sloan, Referee Magazine, November 2006, page 27 (what do you do about fans storming the court after a win?).
Legal (coaches' liability coaches' overtime field trips informed consent metal bats state association & league rules student rights)
Can a coach kick players off a team for criticizing him. Well ... maybe. Maybe not. Remember, public school coaches are state employees so first amendment rights may be involved. Whistle blowers probably can't be kicked off the team. People who back-talk the coach can. The problem - as always - occurs in the middle ground with those athletes who try to tell administrators or parents of their dissatisfaction. Click here for a pretty good discussion on The Sports-Law-Blog.
Click here for Kahn v. East Side Union High School District, which protects coaches from liability for risks inherent in a sport unless the coach goes well beyond ordinary negligence and enters the realm of reckless conduct. Note, Kahn squares with the standards of assumption of risk which protect players from liability for injuries to other players caused by risks inherent in a sport. See Knight v. Jewett, 3 Cal.4th 296 (1992) for a player vs. player case. Click here for the amicus brief in Kahn.
Coaches' Overtime Pay Under The FLSA
Over the past decade a number of schools have been unpleasantly surprised to find that they owe their coaches overtime pay under The FLSA; often, the coaches themselves were surprised. Here are a few documents that can help you figure out how to handle this difficult and expensive problem.
John Glenn's Cheerleading Coach's Position In Jeopardy by Mark Hicks, The Detroit News, April 24, 2007 (FLSA forces District to terminate school clerk who doubled as cheerleading coach).
United States Department of Labor's November, 2005 Opinion Letter
Keeping Score on Overtime by Greg Scholand, Athletic Management Magazine, April/May 2005.
Working Overtime by Laura Smith, Athletic Management Magazine, August/September 2004. This article makes clear why some school districts have prevented anybody except for teachers from coaching. Click here to read about a school that only hired faculty members to coach because it's better for the school community. They got an unintended legal benefit under the FLSA.
Field Trip Safety Laws Before Congress - HR 4265, introduced in December, 2007 is designed to set standards to improve safety on out of town and overnight school field trips. The bill will require background checks for chaperones, mandatory room checks and mandatory curfews on all field trips. The Bill is called "Phylicia's Law" in honor of Phylicia Moore, a New Jersey student who died on a field trip. Click here for Bill Tracking. For information on Phylicia see, Lawmaker Wants Safety Measures In Wake of Student's Death, Newark Star-Ledger, December 3, 2007.
Informed Consent Form and Liability Waivers
Legal release forms where student-athletes release all legal claims against a school are usually unenforceable. See Before You Cheer...'Sign Here.' by Mark Clayton, Christian Science Monitor, March 12, 2002 for general information. Click Here for an example of how the law handles this issue in a school setting (this example is from Washington State) Click Here for an example in a non-school setting.
Schools Need To Use Informed Consent Forms, telling students and their parents what harms and risks the students can incur in sports. See Fair Warning by Dr. Richard P. Borkowski, Athletic Management June/July 2000. Click here for a sample informed consent form.
Have Your Athletic Directors Save The Informed Consent Forms Until the Student Turns 21 - Remember, some states allow injured minors to sue for as long as up to three years after the minor turns 18 even if the minor's parents chose not to sue.Click here for more information on sports medical care
Metal Bats
Click here for metal bats page
State Association and League Rules
Washington, D.C. June 21, 2007 - High Court Rules Recruiting Limits Do Not Violate Free Speech, espn.com (publishing AP wire service story). For more, see the Supreme Court's published opinion in Tennessee Secondary Schl. Ass'n v. Brentwood Academy (2007). Click here for the oral argument. The Supreme Court reversed the 6th Circuit's decision in Brentwood Academy v. Tennessee Secondary Schl Ass'n, 443 F.3d 410 (6th Cir. 2006).
Chicago, IL - September 23, 2008 - If you miss, you'll get paddled. Chicago Coaches Use Corporal Punishment Behind Closed Doors To Make Athletes Tow The Line - But They Just Got Caught! See Painful Lessons: Students Face Corporal Punishment, a Dave Savini Report, CBS 2 Chicago, September 23, 2008 and CPS Takes Action on Corporal Punishment, a Dave Savini Report, CBS 2 Chicago, October 6, 2008 (also includes video companion piece - click here for video text). For more, See Morgan Park HS Investigated For Corporal Punishment, by Michael Fielding, Southwest Observer, October 8, 2008 and Student Athletes Report Corporal Punishment, WBBM News Radio 78, September 24, 2008; and Is Corporal Punishent Still Practiced?, reported by Katy Walls, WGEM TV, Quincy, Illinois, September 24, 2008.. You may think corporal punishment is obsolete, but you'd be wrong. Click here for the Human Rights Watch's report on corporal punishment in a number of States. A brief legal note: Corporal punishment is barred in Chicago's public schools, but it is not unconstitutional should one's state decide to allow schools to do it. The governing legal case on this matter is an old (well - relatively old) Supreme Court decision, Ingraham v. Wright, 430 U.S. 651 (1977), in which the Court held that the eighth amendment doesn't bar corporal punishment as it only applies to criminals, and corporal punishment does not unconstitutionally deprive students of a due process liberty interest because our long history of taking kiddies to the woodshed to receive corporal punishment means that we have a grand historical tradition of corporal punishment. Click here for an on-line edited opinion of Ingraham v. Wright; and Click here for comments on Ingraham v. Wright.
Woodland, CA - March 29, 2008 - Sacramento Parents Protect Cheerleaders From Unauthorized Photos - See Bee Writer Pleads Not Guilty In Porn Case by Hudson Sangree, Sacramento Bee, March 29, 2008. A group of vigilant cheerleading administrators kept their eyes out for people who look out of place or film more than one team. They caught Gilbert Chan, an off-duty Sacramento Bee photographer, filming the contest. Chan tried to hide his camera - to no avail. Note - Chan probably hasn't committed a pornography crime here. The cheerleaders are fully clothed normal cheerleaders. Chan may have committed trespass. One does wonder why a grown man is filming cheerleaders when he has no kids in the contest and wasn't on business for his newspaper or attempting to make sales as a commercial photographer. It may not be pornography, but in this day and age we can't have strangers videotaping kids' games. For more see Bee Reporter Pleads Not Guilty To Porn Charge, KCRA TV Sacramento, March 28, 2008.
California,
February 2008 - California Assemblyman Cameron Smyth Introduces Legislation
To Ban Photos of Minors on Pornographic Websites! Smyth's
AB 2104 prohibit a person from preparing, posting, or publishing a photograph or
image of a minor under 18 years of age, without the minor's knowledge or
consent, on an Internet Web site
containing obscene matter.
Click here for text of AB 2104. Click Here for Smyth's Discussion of His Anti-Porn Legislation
There is some question regarding whether states can regulate national and international transactions, and if so, to what extent. Assemblyman Smyth is reacting to photos of high school water polo players ending up on internet porn sites, and he should be commended for protecting these children. Unfortunately, the Assemblyman and the students have stumbled into a Constitutional hotbed. States may not have full discretion to regulate the internet because a state cannot unduly restrict interstate (and international) commerce. Fortunately, Assemblyman Smyth's legislation should withstand any challenges and be found Constitutional. After all, what he's really saying is don't come into California and take a picture without the child's consent and then post it on a porno site. The State's interest in protecting minors should prevail against any burdens on interstate commerce. Of course the greater question here is why Assemblyman Smyth limited his legislation to minors. Why not go all the way and protect adults from camera phones in locker rooms? The idea of Smyth's legislation is admirable. We can tell when a site is a porn site as opposed to a non-pornographic site with cheesecake photos. Smyth is smart enough not to try to protect Allison Stokke, the pole vaulter whose photos were plastered onto non-pornographic sites due to their "sexiness." After all, protecting Stokke would pretty much close the internet to photos since every athlete and every kid looks "sexy" in someone's eyes and the Commerce Clause and First Amendment would bar such overbroad legislation. However, there's no reason not to go all the way and protect adults from porno site postings also. I don't know why Smyth has limited himself. Maybe somebody should ask him! Smyth should expand his Bill and protect us all. Even if he doesn't, we owe him for taking a stand for our kids.
Orange County, CA - Jan. 19, 2008 - Who's Taking Your Child's Photo and What Are They Doing With It? Photos of Teen Water Polo Players Show Up On Porn Sites! by Scott M. Reid and Dan Albano, Orange County Register, January 19, 2008. These kids were just competing, but water polo players wear Speedos and somebody, somewhere decided that a young athletic person in Speedos has an inherent sex appeal that we don't generally think of when we're watching a youth athletic contest. This is very similar to last year's Allison Stokke case where photos of a female pole vaulter were posted on a website and marketed as sexy pinup shots. For information on Stokke, seeTeen Tests Internet's Lewd Track Record by Eli Saslow, Washington Post, May 29, 2007 page A01. Reprinted in Charleston Daily Mail as - Internet Photos of Pretty Pole Vaulter Create Unwanted Attention, June 1, 2007. For more on the water polo matter, see: Porn Sites Post Pics of Prep Polo Players by Matt Null, North County Times (California), January 23, 2008; and Water Polo Players Are Caught In The Web, New University Newspaper (U.C. Irvine) Editorial Board, January 28, 2008.
Norwalk, CA - May 29, 2007 - Teen Tests Internet's Lewd Track Record by Eli Saslow, Washington Post, May 29, 2007 page A01. Reprinted in Charleston Daily Mail as - Internet Photos of Pretty Pole Vaulter Create Unwanted Attention, June 1, 2007. Note: The Stokke case raises some interesting questions about what rights a student-athlete has about his/her photo being posted on the internet or even placed in a newspaper. As a general rule, if a student engages in public athletic competition they won't be able to do much about their photo being taken and placed in a newspaper or on the internet. However, if that photo is sold to the public the student may have some rights on the ground that his/her name or likeness is being used for commercial gain without his/her permission (which explains why major league baseball players are considering suing some on-line fantasy baseball league providers - they claim the league couldn't function without selling their names and they haven't granted permission). Of course, if the photo is part of a newspaper or magazine, then one is not going to succeed on having one's name or likeness sold to the public without one's consent because one has entered a public forum. This explains why your local sports page can run a student's picture, but Bob the professional photographer cannot simply sell a student's photo without permission. The following article has a nice explanation of some of the legal obstacles Stokke confronts: Pole Vaulting Gets Her Lots of Internet Looks - Not All By Sports Fans by Diane Pucin, Los Angeles Times, June 2, 2007. Reprinted in Concord Monitor as Web Turns High School Athlete Into Reluctant E-lebrity, June 3, 2007.
Montana - January 2005, Can Your School Be Liable for Failing To Secure Its Locker Room? Harry A v. Duncan, No. 03-13-H-DWM, 2005 WL 61414 (D. Mont. Jan. 13, 2005) sheds light on this issue. In this case, a school district was not liable where it did not provide adequate security to prevent a group of boys from surreptitiously videotaping the girls' locker room. This case was affirmed by the 9th Circuit in 2007 in Harry A. v. Powell County Sch. Dist. (9th Cir. 2007). For details see, School District, Officials Off-The-Hook For Girls' Locker Room Videotaping by Linda Coady, Esq., Privacy Litigation Reporter, Vol. 2, Issue 5, Jan. 25, 2005.
Annual Injury Report
2008 Annual Report - TWENTY-FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT - FALL 1982 - SPRING 2007 by Frederick O. Mueller, Ph.D., Director National Center For Catastrophic Sports Injury Research and Robert C. Cantu, M.D., Medical Director, National Center For Catastrophic Sports Injury Research (published by National Center For Catastrophic Sports Injury Research) (THIS IS THE ANNUAL REPORT COVERING THE 2006-07 ACADEMIC YEAR)..
Concussions
October 25, 2007 - Click here to see ESPN's Report on Concussions in High School Sports: Outside the Lines: High School Concussions.
October 2, 2007 - Concussion Studies Show Girls Are More Vulnerable by Alan Schwarz, New York Times, Oct. 2, 2007.
March 27, 2007 - Click here to listen to Getting The Hard Facts On Sports Concussions by Ton Goldman, NPR Talk of The Nation Show, March 27, 2007.
Football Annual Injury Reports
2008 Annual Report - TWENTY-FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT - FALL 1982 - SPRING 2007 by Frederick O. Mueller, Ph.D., Director National Center For Catastrophic Sports Injury Research and Robert C. Cantu, M.D., Medical Director, National Center For Catastrophic Sports Injury Research (published by National Center For Catastrophic Sports Injury Research) (THIS IS THE ANNUAL REPORT COVERING THE 2006-07 ACADEMIC YEAR)..
June 25, 2008 - Annual Survey of Football Injury Research - 1977 - 2007 by Frederick O. Mueller, Ph.D., Director National Center For Catastrophic Sports Injury Research and Robert C. Cantu, M.D., Medical Director, National Center For Catastrophic Sports Injury Research (published by National Center For Catastrophic Sports Injury Research) (Note: This report is updated annually).
January 14, 2008 -
ANNUAL
SURVEY OF FOOTBALL INJURY RESEARCH - 1931 - 2007 by Frederick O.
Mueller, Ph.D., Chairman, American Football Coaches Committee on Football
Injuries and Bob Colgate,
Assistant Director of the National Federation of State High School Associations
(published by National Center For Catastrophic Sports Injury Research) (Note:
This report is updated annually).
General Safety Information
September 2007 - Administrators: Play It Safe. Click Here For the NFHS's Video, Minimizing Risk - A Shared Responsibility.
Heart Problems In Young Athletes
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM):
Click Here For General Information on HCM.
Click Here For the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association.
HCM will affect 1 in 100,000 to 200,000 high school athletes each year. Put another way, approximately 50 teenagers a year will die from HCM in America. We can screen for HCM with an EKG, but the cost is prohibitive and nobody in America requires this as it would require expenditures of hundreds of thousands of dollars to save the one person who might die in your community. Put another way, would your school district spend a six figure sum to prevent a death that will probably only occur only once every 100 to 200 years? Probably not. That's why this problem has to be attacked with broad based community support. Looked at from an economic perspective, fighting HCM makes no sense, but looked at from a social, moral and equitable perspective it's an imperative.
University of
Georgia's Athlete's Heartbeat program screens athletes for heart problems. Boston Scientific
and a host of organizations, including the Black Coaches Association, push for
program expansion with their Close The Gap Initiative. See
BCA Focuses on Heart
Health by Greg Johnson, NCAA News, March 11, 2008. Also, see
Boston Scientific Launches Educational Initiative To Address Disparities In
Cardiovascular Care, Reuters News Service, February 4, 2008.
Boston Scientific's Close The Gap program is aimed at addressing
disparities in
cardiovascular care for the underserved patient populations of women, black
Americans and Latino Americans. According to Reuters, "Close the Gap
will work to increase awareness of cardiovascular risk factors through community
programs involving faith-based organizations, collegiate and professional
athletic teams, and patient advocacy groups. A key focus of the campaign
will be to raise awareness of sudden cardiac arrest as a leading cause of death
among young athletes. Toward this end, Close the Gap has established a
close relationship with the Black Coaches and Administrators organization, a
national nonprofit whose members are mentors and leaders in their communities.
Statistics reveal that in the United States, a young competitive athlete dies
from sudden cardiac arrest every three or four days. The average age of
those who die is 17.5 years, ninety percent of them are male, and more than half
are black."
Arizona Program Attacks HCM - Provides Free Physicals and EKGs for Athletes. Click Here For Details on Arizona's TOPS Program.
Maryland Program Offers Free HCM Detection at State Track Meet: See USA Today's Article on the Maryland program: Young Athletes Urged To Get Screened For Heart Trouble by Jim Halley, USA Today, May 22, 2008.
Articles on HCM
December 10, 2007 - Following The Trail of Broken Hearts by David Epstein, Sports Illustrated, December 10, 2007 page 90.
November 25, 2005, Protecting Our Varsity Athletes, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry Community Health Improvement Clerkship, Block 4 (the U of R's comprehensive study on the pros and cons of using EKGs).
Pre-participation Physical Exams
San Francisco, CA - June 7, 2008 - Bridgemont Suspended For One Year: CCS Takes Unprecedented Action After Small School Fails To Follow Eligibility Rules by Will Reisman, San Francisco Examiner page 29. San Francisco's Bridgemont High School (and no I do not govern this school, I only govern San Francisco's public schools) played ineligible players, and committed numerous other violations including playing students who didn't attend the school (the article mentions one of these players) and having inadequately prepared physical forms.
Jupiter, FL - July 19, 2007 - Florida School Fined and Placed on Probation For Fraudulent Pre-Participation Physical Exam Form. The State Association audit revealed that the form was not signed by the doctor, an exam was not conducted, and the box allowing the student to participate was not checked. Can schools be liable for this? Probably! The school needs to take reasonable precautions and those precautions probably include having non-athletic personnel spot checking some of the forms. See Jupiter Christian Wrestling Program Put On Probation For Four Years by Stacy Hicklin, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, July 19, 2007. Also, see FHSAA Press Release: Jupiter Christian School Reprimanded, Fined for Violations in Wrestling Program, July 18, 2007.
Connecticut - December, 2006 - New Connecticut rule allows pre-participation physicals to be valid for 13 months. Physicals are generally valid for 12 months throughout the country so this is a radical change. The Connecticut change acknowledges insurance restrictions that allow students to have a free physical only once a year. If the timing of the free physical doesn't mesh with the student's sports participation, the student could have a problem. Connecticut is not the only state to allow physicals to extend for more than 12 months. In Wisconsin, a physical is good for two years. Click here for the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association's Medical Policies and Procedure Guide.
Staph Infections
December 2, 2008 - Londonderry, NH - Middle School Wrestler Diagnosed With MRSA, reported by Prat Thakkar, New England Cable News. MRSA hasn't gone away. This middle school appears to have had excellent sanitation practices and they still ended up with a MRSA case.
July 25, 2008 - Downey, CA - High School Wrestler Dies From Staph Infection. See Mother Says Son Died From Complications From Staph Infection by Gary Mihoces, USA Today, July 25, 2008.
October 2007 - The Month From Hell: Schools Across The Country Close Due To Staph Infections. For a summary of the 2007 problems, see Governments Urged To Make Killer Bugs A Priority by Robert Davis and Jennie Coughlin, USA Today, October 18, 2007. Also See, Staph Infection Causes Precautions at NHS by Nancy K. Crevier, The Newtown (Connecticut) Bee, October 18, 2007 (student was a football player); Schools Try To Allay Fears About Staph by Daniel de Vise and Marisa Glod, Washington Post, October 19, 2007 page B01 (31 students in D.C., and Maryland - most of whom are athletes - plus a teacher and firefighter suffered staph infections); 10 Men Contract Staph Infections in NY, USA Today, October 19, 2007 (9 Iona college athletes plus one coach are involved in this outbreak); Richmond School Cleaned After Staph Infection Reported, WRHR.com TV 13, Richmond, Indiana (student was a football player - team forfeited a football game, shutting down its program to sterilize the school); Michigan Player Hit With Staph, Associated Press, October 19, 2007 (1 Troy, MI. football player diagnosed, 8 others have symptoms); Staph Cancels Games, But Page To Play, by Gerald Witt, Greensboro News Record, October 19, 2007 (multiple athletes affected, soccer and football games canceled - 6 infections at East Forsyth High); Staph Infection Worries Close 21 Virginia Schools, Reuters, October 17, 2007; More Staph Infections Pop Up In West Virginia, WCHS ABC Channel 8 - Charleston, W. VA, October 18, 2007; and MRSA: Fighting The Superbug, 60 Minutes, November 11, 2007.
What Is MRSA and How Do Do We Deal With It? The Massachusetts Bureau of Communicable Disease Control Provides Helpful Questions and Answers About MRSA For School Athletics Professionals. For Other Resources See: : mrsaresources.com (click here for mrsaresources.com's publications)
MRSA In Wrestlers: Coaches and Officials Will Be Checking For Skin Lesions. States should only allow wrestlers with lesions to compete with a physician's release. Click here for the NFHS Skin Lesion Release Form.
Youth Sports Injuries
November 29, 2008 - MRI Shows New Types of Injuries in Young Gymnasts, Radiological Society of North America Press Release. We hear so much about eating disorders with young gymnasts that we sometimes forget what a grueling sport they're in. The sport exacts a physical toll that has lifelong consequences including necrosis in the knuckles and an increased chance of early osteoarthritis. Click here for coverage in Science Daily, and see the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's coverage - New Twist Found In Gymnast Injuries by Jack Kelly, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 10, 2008.
June 8, 2008 - Every So Often, It's Good To Be Reminded That Youth Pitchers Should Not Be Overused and Should Be Careful In Throwing Splitters, Screwballs and Curveballs. Many interscholastic and youth leagues guard against this with pitching limits in their rules. Some don't. The results are occasionally quite bad. For more, see Young Baseball Players Increasingly Face Injury, Surgery by Phil Galewitz, USA Today.
San Francisco, CA - April 15, 2007 - Unhealthy Competition: Young Kids are Training Like Professionals, and Have The Injuries To Prove It by Regan McMahon, San Francisco Chronicle Magazine, April 15, 2007 page 9.
San Francisco, CA - April 23, 2007 - Why Baseball Is Now So White by C.W. Nevius, San Francisco Chronicle, April 23, 2007 page A2.
Site Administration: Administrators - Get Ready To Run Your Sites
Click Here For The CIF San Francisco Section's Site Administration Guide: An Excellent Tool For Administrators.
Greenville, N.C. - September 6, 2008 - Did East Carolina Overreact to A Spectator Celebration? Look, we all know the fans don't belong on the field. Yet, time after time we see spectators rush courts and fields. This results in field damage and the occasional injury. So, many organizations attempt to police the field. That's a good thing on the one hand. On the other hand, it does raise the possibility of an excessively physical response to what most people perceive as a benign act. To some extent the administrator is damned if they do and damned if they don't. If you don't police your field and somebody gets hurt in an excessive celebration, you're damned for not doing. If you do police your field and the police get too physical you're damned for doing. Well, East Carolina is damned for doing. See East Carolina Investigating Fan, Police Confrontation After Game by Andy Gardiner, USA Today, September 9, 2008 (this story ran on page 10 C under the Title East Carolina Looks Into Claim of Excessive Police Force). East Carolina will implement changes by using only local officers from now on, in an attempt to police the field with officers who may be more familiar with their community. See Allegations of Excessive Force Prompt Changes at ECU, AP Story on ESPN.com, September 10, 2008.
For End of Year (2007) Tips On Site Security, See Curbing Violence At Athletic Events by Jay Hammes, High School Today, December 2007 (published by NFHS). For more, see Friday Night Fights by Michael Popke, Athletic Business, January 1, 2006.
Site Administration Includes Site Security. Schools need to provide "appropriate" security or they can be liable for injuries to spectators and officials. Schools can be found liable for things that are foreseeable. So if you don't provide security for your site when you have the big game with 3,000 fans your school could pay the legal price if someone is injured. On the other hand, you probably won't be liable when you don't provide security for the JV game on Saturday morning before 30 parents - unless those parents have some history of violence. The site administrator may be enough security for that game. For more, see my Jan. 2007 article: When Security Leaves You On Your Own. Also, click here for Talaszan v. Northridge Arena Soccer League (arena was liable because previous violence made need for security foreseeable) and see McKee v. Gilg, 96 Ohio. App.3d 764, 766 (1994) (baseball team not liable where fan misconduct was not foreseeable).
June 18, 2008 - The National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) Releases Its Consensus Statement on Appropriate Medical Care for Secondary School-Age Athletes. For News Coverage, see Athletic Trainers Pushing For "Athletic Health Care" In High Schools by Gary Mihoces, USA Today, June 18, 2008.
Terre Haute, IN. August 2006 - Trainers Put In Long Hours With Sports Teams, Terre Haute Tribune Star, August 27, 2006 by Andy Amey.
Pennsylvania, 1998 - Being a Team Physician: The How's and Why's by Ken Fine, M.D., University of Pennsylvania Orthopaedic Journal, Volume 11, Spring 1998, pages 40-46.
Click Here For Sports Done Right, The University of Maine's comprehensive sportsmanship report that defines what a healthy sports community should look like. Many School Districts Throughout the Country Have Adopted This Model.
Steroids
University Heights, OH - December 17, 2008 - Hathaway Brown Assistant Coach Accused of Assaulting Player During Game by Patrick O'Donnell, Cleveland Plain Dealer. This is an interesting supervision issue. The coach allegedly grabbed the player's arm, yelled at the player and then threw her arm aside. The parent, who filed charges, acknowledges that the alleged grabbing was not sufficient to bruise or harm the player, but is disturbed (quite properly, I might add) that an adult in a position of authority would get physical with a child in front of a large (800 people) crowd. The parent has stated that if the coach feels sufficiently comfortable to grab a child and shake her arm in front of a crowd, he may feel less restrained in a private practice session. In light of the coach paddling issues in Chicago, the parent may well have a point.
Chicago, IL - September 23, 2008 - If you miss, you'll get paddled. Chicago Coaches Use Corporal Punishment Behind Closed Doors To Make Athletes Tow The Line - But They Just Got Caught! See Painful Lessons: Students Face Corporal Punishment, a Dave Savini Report, CBS 2 Chicago, September 23, 2008 and CPS Takes Action on Corporal Punishment, a Dave Savini Report, CBS 2 Chicago, October 6, 2008 (also includes video companion piece - click here for video text). For more, See Morgan Park HS Investigated For Corporal Punishment, by Michael Fielding, Southwest Observer, October 8, 2008 and Student Athletes Report Corporal Punishment, WBBM News Radio 78, September 24, 2008; and Is Corporal Punishent Still Practiced?, reported by Katy Walls, WGEM TV, Quincy, Illinois, September 24, 2008.. You may think corporal punishment is obsolete, but you'd be wrong. Click here for the Human Rights Watch's report on corporal punishment in a number of States. A brief legal note: Corporal punishment is barred in Chicago's public schools, but it is not unconstitutional should one's state decide to allow schools to do it. The governing legal case on this matter is an old (well - relatively old) Supreme Court decision, Ingraham v. Wright, 430 U.S. 651 (1977), in which the Court held that the eighth amendment doesn't bar corporal punishment as it only applies to criminals, and corporal punishment does not unconstitutionally deprive students of a due process liberty interest because our long history of taking kiddies to the woodshed to receive corporal punishment means that we have a grand historical tradition of corporal punishment. Click here for an on-line edited opinion of Ingraham v. Wright; and Click here for comments on Ingraham v. Wright.
September 2008 - The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA), and the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) team up to produce new video: The Role of The Principal In Interscholastic Athletics. Click here to download.
Los Gatos, CA - September 8, 2008 - Fired Coach Arrested, Charged With Vandalism and Arson. This story explains why so many organizations use security to escort terminated employees from the premises. You never know how angry a fired employee can be - although most people don't return and try to burn the building down like Brian Butcher allegedly did after being fired as an assistant high school football coach! See Los Gatos Teacher's Aide Arrested In Vandalism, Arson Case, The Californian, September 8, 2008; Los Gatos Coach Arrested on Multiple Charges, NBC-11, September 8, 2008; Ex-Los Gatos High Teacher's Aide/Coach Charged With Intent To Commit Arson by Jesse Mangaliman, San Jose Mercury News, September 8, 2008; and Fired Coach Held In Vandalism by Henry K. Lee, San Francisco Chronicle, September 9, 2008.
Liberal, KA - June 10, 2008 - Volunteer Coaches - Yes, They Are Your Responsibility. Volunteers can get you in trouble just as fast as your paid coaches. In C.T. v. Liberal Sch. Dist, 06-2093-JWL (D. Kan 2008), the Liberal School District avoided Title IX liability because they were unaware of their volunteer weight coach's misconduct, but they could still be subject to vicarious liability - which means the employer of the volunteer coach is financially responsible for the volunteer's negligent misconduct. Click here for an interesting take on the Title IX issues in C.T.
Indiana Court of Appeals Rules That Teacher and Coach Positions are Separate For Purposes of FMLA so A School District Is Not Required To Restore a Coach's Job After The Coach Is Out On Sick Leave Even Though The Coach Is Entitled To Restoration of His Teaching Duties. Click Here To See The Opinion in Gary Community Sch. Corp. v. Powell (2008). A school will occasionally have coaches who can't fulfill their coaching obligations because of issues they encounter as teachers. Those issues can range from allegations of wrongdoing, injuries, and a number of other issues. This creates problems if the coach returns to teaching and wants his/her job back. It creates budgetary problems when the coach also demands backpay for the time he/she was out. After all, the school does have to pay the person who filled in as coach. This is a very important economic decision for school athletic departments.
Undervalued Athletic Directors Quitting At An "Alarming" Level. See The Alarming Turnover Rate of Athletic Directors by Dr. David Hoch, CMAA, NFHS's High School Today, April 2008, Page 14. People really don't know what goes into running an athletic program. This absence of knowledge makes it hard for athletic directors to get the tools they need to do the job right. Schools don't make up for the lack of tools with a big paycheck so the inevitable occurs. Little pay plus little reward equals high turnover. Worse, some of the best people go and some of the people who stay develop coping mechanisms that may not always lead them to maximize their ability to be top notch athletic directors. In business terms, if we were in the business of finding good managers we would doomed to failure because we have a bad business model and a poor working environment.
March, 2008 - The AD: The Overlooked Factor In a Good High School Sports Program
If you've ever wondered what your athletic director does - often for little or no reward - look no further. The March, 2008 NFHS High School Today gives you a peek inside of A Day In The Life of a High School Athletic Director by Robert Zayas. For more on ADs, see Being the Athletic Director of Hillsborough High School, Kids' Sports Magazine, Spring 2008; and Female Athletic Director Takes Pride In Her Charges by Dick Scanlon, Polk County Ledger (Florida), December 24, 2007.
Cambria Township, PA - January 30, 2008 - Not Man Bites Dog - But Man Bites Wrestler!! Coach Fired For Biting Wrestler. See Central Cambia Coach Bites Wrestler, Loses Job, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Jan. 31, 2008; Click Here For ESPN Coverage from Jan. 30, 2008; Central Cambria Coach Accused Of Biting Wrestler To Resign by Susan Evans, Johnstown Tribune-Democrat, Jan. 29, 2008.
Ripon, CA Nov. 16, 2007 - Cheerleaders Suspended From School For "Skirt Lifting" Cheer: See
Ripon Cheerleaders Suspended For Showing Bloomers, KCRA.com - Sacramento, November 16, 2007. The cheerleaders positively supported their team and were not negative toward their opponents. However, they struck a sensitive chord by writing "Indians # 1" across the back of their bloomers, and then lifting their skirts to show their words of support. The cheerleaders ultimately got suspended from school for defying administrators who told them to stop cheering. This isn't poor sportsmanship per se, but it may approach a sexual line that school administrators don't want to cross.
Leeds, ME. February 2, 2007 - Coach Fired For "Check Manhood" Comment, Newsday (Associated Press). For local coverage see Incidents Sting Coach by Randy Whitehouse, Maine Sun Journal Feb. 2, 2007
Chattanooga, TN. January 19, 2007 - Ooltewah High Coach Suspended After Alleged Racial Remark, The Chattanoogan.com (the coach later admits to using the "N" word to describe the opposing team and is fired).
McKinney, TX - Jan.2, 2007 - We've Heard of Special Treatment For Athletes - But Now, We're Seeing Special Treatment For Cheerleaders! See Mean Girls by Gretel C. Kovach and Arian Campo-Flores, Newsweek On-Line, Jan. 2, 2007. Cheerleaders can be difficult to supervise. They are team supporters, but they're not the average student-spectator as they appear to be school- sanctioned since they wear uniforms; they are competitive - in fact, the better teams really do compete, and quite intensely; they are perceived as elite; and they raise issues of officially sanctioned sexuality. The combination of these qualities leads to fascinating television so it's no surprise to see the McKinney incident being made into a TV movie. See Schoolgirls Go Wild In Lifetime TV Movie, Reuters News Service, February 22, 2008.
For Advice on Transportation Scheduling and Other Travel Issues See, Who Needs Wiper Blades? by Dr. Richard P. Borkowski, Ed.D, CAA, MomentumMedia.com, February/March, 2002.
McDonough, GA - August 29, 2008 - Girl Kicker Booted Off School Football Team by Kathy Jefcoats, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Report: Kicker Dismissed by Georgia Team For Being a Girl, ESPN.com, August 30, 2008 (Kacy Stuart, a 14 year-old freshman kicker, is tossed off her high school football team. Why? "Simply because she's a girl.") .
Fort Wayne, IN - August 10, 2008 - Title IX: No Small Task: Colleges with Fewer Students Struggle Finding Equity by Stacy Clardie, The Fort Wayne, In. Journal Gazette, August 10, 2008.
Oregon - June 9, 2008 - Did University Use Title IX As An Excuse To Cut Wrestling? See Wrestlers Sue Oregon: University Wants To End Program, restore Baseball by William McCall, Associated Press, published in seattlepi.com. Click here for coverage in Southern Oregon Mail Tribune. For years wrestling programs have been cut in order to strike a better gender balance in order to help schools comply with Title IX. This doesn't make the wrestling community very happy as they've become the whipping boys for Title IX compliance. Here, though, the cuts in wrestling have been offset by a University adding a men's sport that they weren't playing previously. The University used Title IX as an excuse, but a Title IX excuse won't fly since the University replaced the men in wrestling with men in baseball. Wrestlers won't be happy here. Women's groups won't be happy either as they won't like Title IX being used in a cynical manner for pretext cuts to a male sport. The University of Oregon is going to take some well deserved heat here - and the matter may end up in court under Oregon statutes that establish prerequisites for the dropping of a University program. In October, 2008 Oregon ultimately won a dismissal of a lawsuit against it for dropping wrestling. See legalnewsline.com for details.
Summer, 2008 - Cheerleading In The Context of Title IX and Gendering In Sport by Rebecca Boyce, The Sport Journal, Vol. 11, Number 3, Summer 2008 (published by the United State Sports Academy).
May 27, 2008 - Let's Face It, Wrestling Programs Have Been Cut Since the Advent of Title IX. However, they may get a new lease on life as the growth of women's wrestling is beginning to penetrate high schools and even smaller universities. See Women Want To Wrestle; Small Colleges Oblige by Katie Thomas, New York Times, May 27, 2008 Page A-1.
Beaverton, OR - May, 2008 - When Should Girls Be Allowed On The Boys' Team?
If turnaround is fair play, does this mean we should ask when the boy should be
allowed on the girls' team? TheHoop, a Beaverton, Oregon, private club is
facing these questions because one of its girls' basketball players is just too
good for the girls. See
Oregon Basketball Ace Kept off Boys Team by Tom Hallman, Jr., Seattle
Times, May 18, 2008;
Girl Barred From Boys' Basketball Team, KOIN Channel 6, Portland, May
14, 2008. Is it fair to have even the best girl play with other girls?
Well... maybe! See
Gender Bias Cuts Both Ways by Gwen Knapp, San Francisco Chronicle, May
27, 2008 page C1. Also, see
Crossing Gender Divide
in School Sports Not New by Charles Walsh, Connecticut Post, April 24,
2006. What if it's a sport where there's no girls' team? In that
case, the girls should get to play on the boys' team. See
Indiana High Schools Reverse
Decision Preventing High School Girl From Playing Baseball, Muncie Free
Press, February 29, 2008;
Click here for story on Women's Sports Foundation Website.
Michigan - April 2, 2008 - Michigan's Title IX Bill Is Due - And It's A $7.4 Million Whopper!!!
The Michigan High School Athletic Association lost a decade long legal battle last year. The MHSAA was found to have violated Title IX by playing girls' basketball in the fall and boys in the winter - amongst other scheduling issues. Michigan has now joined the rest of the country in playing girls and boys' basketball in the same sports season, but the plaintiffs' lawyers' fees bill is in and the MHSAA has to pay $7.4 million. See Federal Judge: Michigan Prep Sports Group To Pay $7.4 Million by Fred Girard, The Detroit News, April 2, 2008. Click here for information on Communities for Equity, the group that brought the suit against the MHSAA. To read the fee decision click here.
Long Beach, CA - March 6, 2008 - Court Finds Title IX Facilities Violation At Long Beach Wilson High School. Converting on-campus dedicated gymnastics space into a weight room discriminated against the girls' gymnastics team by showing a disregard for their practice conditions even though the District did not intend to eliminate the team. See Wilson High Broke Law On Gym Decision, Judge Rules by Kevin Butler, Long Beach Press Telegram, March 6, 2008..
January 10, 2008 - Movement to Reduce Male Practice Players Gains Traction in Division III. See Let The Women Play by Donna Ledwin, Inside Higher Education, Jan. 10, 2008.
Fresno, CA - December 6, 2007 - More Title IX Problems At Fresno State: This Time The Former Basketball Coach Wins $19 Million Dollars. See Fired Fresno State Coach Wins $19M in Sex Discrimination Lawsuit, USA Today, December 6, 2007; and FresnoBee.Com Editorial Opinion Blog, December 6, 2007. (Note: this award was later reduced to $6.6 million - still not bad, but remember you have to have the misfortune of being the victim of discrimination to get this money. See Ex Fresno State Coach Agrees To Take $6.6 Million, San Francisco Chronicle, February 14, 2008).
Fresno, CA - October 11, 2007 - Fresno State, Former Associate Athletic Director Reach Settlement, KSEE TV 24 Fresno, Oct. 11, 2007 (Diane Milutinovich wins $3.5 M from Fresno State in gender equity retaliatory discharge case).
NFHS: September, 2007 - Title IX -- 35 Years and Counting: A View of Educational Equity: Part One of Two by Peg Pennepacker, CAA, High School Today (published by the NFHS), September 2007 page 6. and Title IX -- 35 Years and Counting: A View of Educational Equity: Part Two of Two by Peg Pennepacker, CAA, High School Today (published by the NFHS), October 2007 page 8.
July 11, 2007, NCAA, Government Often Differ On Title IX Compliance Statistics by Jodi Upton and Erik Brady, USA Today, July 11, 2007.
Fresno, CA - July 9, 2007 - Lindy Vivas, a fired Fresno State women's volleyball coach, wins Title IX retaliatory discharge suit on grounds she was fired for complaining about equal access and equal treatment. See Jury Awards Former Dogs Coach $5.85m: Panel Finds Unanimously On Majority of Questions In Discrimination Suit by Bryant-Jon Anteola, Fresno Bee, July 10, 2007. Also see Fresno State Coach Gets Title IX Award, Kansas City Star, July 9, 2007.
Fresno, CA - July 4, 2007 - Problems in Women's Sports! Fewer Female Coaches Every Year. This article also details the severe problems at Fresno State that led to Lindy Vivas's successful Title IX suit. Things were so bad that male coaches staged an Ugly Women Athlete's Day, definitely creating a hostile work environment. See Female Coaches Are Leaving Collegiate Ranks by Garance Burke, Fresno Bee, July 4, 2007.
Washington, D.C. - June 25, 2007 - OCR Tells Colleges: Don't Cut Pregnant Athletes' Scholarships Or Else!! Actually, OCR is a bureaucracy enforcing Title IX and there actual language is much more dry. Stephanie Monroe, from the OCR, did make a powerful statement that, "terminating or reducing financial assistance on the basis of pregnancy or a related condition is prohibited under Title IX." Click here for OCR's letter to colleges.
June 5, 2007 - Who's Playing College Sports? Trends In Participation by The Women's Sports Foundation, June 5, 2007.
Texas - May 14, 2007 - OCR denies boys claim that he can play on girls' volleyball team under Title IX. Click here for OCR's May 2007 Denial Letter.
San Diego, CA - April 20, 2007 - Level The Playing Field by Chris Moran, San Diego Union Tribune, April 20, 2007 page B1 (Girls' softball facilities significantly worse than boys' baseball - school allegedly fires coach for complaining about it).
Harrisonburg, VA - April 19, 2007 - One common approach to solving Title IX issues is to cut men's sports. James Madison University has stirred up controversy by cutting 10 sports - 7 men's and 3 women's. The great number of sports has stirred up debates and legal action over how to achieve equity. See One School's Title IX Debate by Erik Brady, USA Today, April 19, 2007 page C1.
Detroit, MI. April 3, 2007 - Scheduling Equity In High School Sports! Huge Change For Girls' Sports by Fred Girard, Detroit News, April 3, 2007. MHSAA loses lawsuit over inequities in sports seasons. Michigan was one of the few, if not the only, states to play girls' basketball in the fall and boys in the winter. They had other scheduling issues that were found to violate Title IX. Now they must adjust. How will they do it? See Changes Pose Tough Challenges For Schools by Tom Markowski, Detroit News, April 3, 2007.
New York, N.Y. - February 17, 2007 - Girls in High School wrestling have to compete against boys as there aren't enough girls in most states to have girls' teams. What's the impact of this? Click on More Girls Take Part In High School Wrestling by Tamar Lewin, New York Times, February 17, 2007 page A1. For more, Click here for Girl Wrestlers Buck Tradition (by Walter Grable, Indianapolis Star January 25, 2001), a story on Hannah Paarlberg, a girl wrestling against high school boys in Indiana. Hannah later transferred to California and became the first girl to wrestle her way to the State Tournament by defeating all of her male competition, making her the most accomplished high school female wrestler we are aware of.
February 11, 2007 - After Title IX? High School Reporting, Op. Ed. by Marci Seman published in Southwest Florida Herald-Tribune, Feb. 11, 2007 (this piece advocates the High School Sports Information Collection Act of 2003, which did not pass but was introduced as the High School Sports Information Collection Act of 2007). The 2003 Act did not pass - click here for details.
February 7, 2007 - Follow the High School Sports Information Collection Act of 2007 by clicking on the following: Bill Summary, Bill Text, Bill Status.
Birmingham, AL. 2006 - Important Title IX whistleblower protection established in Jackson v.