Coach Smith was an easy hire as the head coach of a new high school lacrosse team in Tennessee: She had two decades of coaching experience and a doctorate in sport and exercise science.
After signing the paperwork, which guaranteed a stipend of $1,200, Smith — we’re using a pseudonym to protect her identity — had four days to complete a background check, CPR and concussion training and a fundamentals of coaching online course. After spending $300 to check all these boxes, the job was hers.
The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association’s mission statement highlights how high school athletes should be molded into good citizens and have their educational experiences enhanced by playing sports.
Yet Coach Smith hadn’t received any guidance on how to accomplish these goals. She didn’t know how a high school coach would be evaluated — surely it went beyond wins, losses and knowing CPR — or how to make her players better students and citizens.
Over the past 15 years, research from Assistant Professor of Kinesiology, Recreation and Sport Studies Jedediah Blanton and co-author Scott Pierce of Illinois State University has focused on maximizing the benefits of high school sports and recognizing the factors that limit those benefits from being reached. They seek to know what high school sports aspire to be and what actually happens on the ground. Read more at The Conversation.
UT is a member of The Conversation, an independent source for news articles and informed analysis written by the academic community and edited by journalists for the general public. Through this partnership, we seek to provide a better understanding of the important work of our researchers. Read more of our articles published by The Conversation on the UT news site.
—
MEDIA CONTACT:
Stacy Estep (865-974-8304, sestep3@utk.edu)
