(Last updated: )
Through
providing opportunities for healthy competition,
This handbook was designed to
aid coaches in the preparation, leadership, and maintenance of a quality
experience for the youth who participate on
Chain of Command
In accordance with Board
Policy and in order to maintain effective communication among the many adults
who have varying degrees of interest in and/or authority over the athletic
program, a chain of command is set forth.
Work duplication, misunderstandings, progress delays, disappointment,
and overall ineffectiveness are too often the result of people who bypass the
chain of command in order to pursue perceived unmet needs. Coaches are to approach others with needs
that relate only to their roles. For
example, coaches should approach the athletic secretary for clerical needs and
approach the athletic director with administrative needs. Likewise, assistant coaches should approach
their respective head coaches, not the principal, with issues that pertain to
their respective athletic program’s needs.
Assistant Coaches fulfill the aims and objectives of the sport program
as outlined by the head coach and school administration. They assist head coaches in instructing
athletes in individual and team fundamentals, strategy and physical training
necessary to realize a degree of individual and team success. They support the head coach in modeling and
instructing in a way that will foster leadership, self-discipline, academic
improvement, and a positive self-concept within each student-athlete. They also support the head coach in working
within the framework of the goals of the school system, the policies and
procedures of the IHSA, the Board of Education,
Athletic Trainer provides diagnosis and care for athletic injuries by
coordinating efforts with team and family physicians to provide therapeutic
rehabilitation in an attempt to expedite the athlete’s return to competition
while keeping the student’s mental and physical welfare as the top
priority. The current athletic trainer
is
Trojan Booster Club President provides leadership for the functions of the Trojan
Booster Club. He/She is not an employee
of the school district, yet works with the athletic director in a partnership
to help communicate and meet the needs of the athletic program.
Trojan Booster Club Parent Liaison Prior to the start of a season, head coaches will
need to choose a parent volunteer to act as a liaison between the Booster Club
and the head coach. Liaison’s may include but are not limited to: coordinate
parent volunteers to work the concession stands/ticket takers, coordinate
parent volunteers for Booster Club events, disperse Booster Club
information/materials to head coaches, make suggestions to Booster Club for
enlarging/expanding fundraising activities, etc…
Pre-Season Responsibilities (before
the first scheduled practice)
□ Attend
an IHSA rules interpretation meeting (if applicable). The IHSA requires that coaches attend this
meeting annually.
□ Plan
and hold a coaches’ meeting (if applicable).
Invite employed and volunteer coaches to discuss expectations, roles,
and goals.
□ Submit a volunteer coaching form for each volunteer
coach to the athletic office.
□ Confirm
that the program’s published schedule corresponds to the
program’s contracted events (found in the athletic office). Notify the athletic secretary of any
inconsistencies.
□ Submit
transportation request forms (located in the athletic office) for the season’s
travel needs to the athletic secretary at least three weeks before the first
scheduled contest that requires travel.
School employees may not transport students in their personal
vehicles. Any school employee who
transports students in a district-owned vehicle must first have a chauffeur’s
physical on file at the central office (Kim Traub, 639-1019).
□ Secure
needed keys through the athletic secretary.
A key to the training room will only be issued if requested. Coaches are never to allow a student to use
these keys, whether supervised or unsupervised.
Keys are not to be passed from one coach to another via a student
courier. Any key loss must be reported
immediately to the athletic director.
□ Collaborate
with other coaches who are in-season to determine
facility space for practices. Weekday
facility time slots are 3:30-5:30; 5:30-7:30; 7:30-9:30. Saturday facility time
slots are also available. Practices are
not to be held on Sundays or during times of student non-attendance. On school days, practices may not begin until
3:30p.m. Space priority will be
determined first by in-season sport, then by varsity level, then by JV or
fresh/soph level, then by freshmen level.
Boys and girls teams of the same sport and level must receive equal time
in primary facilities. Secure facility
space through a face-to-face meeting with athletic secretary.
□ Plan
and hold an organizational meeting for prospective participants and their
parent(s)/guardian(s). Secure facility
space (if needed) through a face-to-face meeting with the athletic
secretary. Publicize the meeting by
submitting an email
to athletic secretary by 2:00 PM the day before to be included in the daily
announcements.
□ Develop
an accurate roster of participants.
Create a directory of participants’ parents’ names, phone numbers, email
addresses, home addresses, and other pertinent information (i.e. medical
conditions that may impact the participant’s training). Include uniform numbers, positions, heights,
and weights (as applicable for public address announcer and media personnel).
□ Determine
whether any participants are involved in other activities during the season. If
so, meet with the other coach or sponsor to determine at which practice
sessions and contests/events the student will attend. In the event a student is
scheduled for a practice and a contest/performance on the same day or evening,
the contest/performance should always take precedence with no penalty to the
student in the activity in which he/she cannot participate. In the event a
student is scheduled for activities of equal classification (i.e. two
practices/rehearsals or two contests/performances occurring simultaneously) the
student shall be allowed to make a choice without pressure or penalty from
either of the coordinating adults of the two activities.
□ Submit a roster of participants to the
athletic secretary at least two school days before the first scheduled
practice.
□ Inventory
the program’s supplies and equipment. Follow the purchasing procedures and submit a purchase
order (located in the athletic office) for equipment to the accounting
secretary. Save enough funds from the
program’s allotted budget for end-of-season awards and banquet needs. Purchase orders for funds from the program’s
budget must be submitted by May 1.
Coaches may request that uniforms and equipment be provided through
funding from the Trojan Booster Club by submitting a Booster Club Request Form
(located in the athletic office) to the athletic director. Coaches need to follow the uniform and equipment
rotation schedule. Coaches who want to fundraise on behalf of their individual
teams must clear the fundraiser in advance with the athletic director to ensure the efforts
will not interfere with the Trojan Booster Club. If approved the coach must
complete and submit a Fundraising Form to the athletic director
and building principal. ‘Old’ uniforms
and equipment can be disposed of by requesting that they be declared ‘surplus’
district property by the Board of Education.
Send such a request to the athletic director
in writing. Once the Board declares
items as surplus, they can be donated to the Trojan Booster Club, given to
former or current participants, or otherwise disposed of properly.
□ Plan
and hold a captain’s meeting (recommended). Invite captains and assistant
coaches to discuss expectations, roles, and goals.
□ Plan
and hold a parent meeting. Secure
facility space (if needed) through a face-to-face meeting with the athletic
secretary. The overall objective of a
coach-parent meeting is to improve parents’ understanding of youth sports. Plan for an hour-long meeting, but be
prepared to go a little longer if needed.
The meeting does not have to be elaborate to be successful. However, the importance of being well
prepared and organized cannot be overemphasized. To improve organizational quality, a written program outline should be developed and
followed. The meeting should be
scheduled as early in the season as possible – the sooner the better. A letter of invitation should be used to
notify parents. Include brief statements about the objective of the meeting,
its importance, and information about the date, time, location, and directions.
A team roster, with addresses and telephone numbers, should be sent along with the
letter. Follow-up telephone calls are recommended to remind parents about the
meeting. Secure a parent to serve as the team’s liaison to the Trojan Booster
Club and report that parent’s name to the athletic secretary.
□ Ensure
that all volunteer coaches’ paperwork is on file for the District and school.
In-Season Responsibilities (from
first practice to last contest)
□ Issue uniforms and equipment to
participants.
□ Report roster changes to the athletic secretary within 48 hours of any
changes.
□ Submit
required reports on the IHSA
website. Click on the
□ Keep accurate records of equipment issuance.
□ Obtain
locks (if needed for sophomores only) from the staff member of the P.E.
department who is responsible for issuing locks.
□ Refer
special student concerns to appropriate school officials/professionals:
·
Medical illness:
contact parent/guardian
·
Psychological:
contact a guidance counselor
·
Behavioral: refer
to the CHS student handbook and extracurricular code of conduct
·
Alcohol/Drug:
contact counselor, athletic director, and parent/guardian; refer to the CHS
student handbook and extracurricular code of conduct
·
Child advocacy: all school employees are federally mandated
to report suspected child abuse. You
must call IDCFS Child Abuse Hotline at 800-252-2873 AND notify the building
principal IN PERSON that you made such a call to DCFS and why you did so.
·
Any student
violation of the extracurricular code of conduct must be reported in writing to
the athletic director as soon as the coach is made aware of a situation.
□ Maintain
locker room, gym, field house, and facility security by locking all doors and
turning off all lights to each facility after its use. Do not leave lights on and doors unlocked; assuming that another team
will be arriving soon.
□ Plan
for and report to the athletic secretary by email any necessary
early releases from school/class for students to participate in a contest. Early releases may be requested only for
contests that require travel. Include
the name and location of the event, the participants’ names, and release
time. When determining the release time,
work backwards forty-five minutes from the contest’s start time, subtract time
for travel to the contest, and subtract ten minutes for students to get from
their classes to the bus. The athletic
secretary will forward the notice to all staff via email.
□ Report contest results to local media
personnel/conference personnel as soon as possible after each event.
·
Charleston Times-Courier 238-6856 bnielsen@jg-tc.com
·
Coles County Leader 253-2358 news@colescountyleader.com
·
WEIU-FM 581-6116 hitmix@weiu.net
·
Terry
Roche (Robinson H.S.) (618) 544-8834 troche@roe12.net
□ Enforce
participant eligibility. Inform
participants and their parents when participants become academically
ineligible. Review the academic
eligibility requirements with participants and provide resources for academic
improvement.
□ Assist
athletes in the college recruitment process.
Refer to the NCAA
website for additional information.
□ Report cancelled away contests to the
athletic director immediately (639-5026 or 549-2030).
□ Within 24 hours of an injury, report
participants’ injuries as a result of practicing/competing to the athletic trainer.
□ Within
24 hours of an accident, report participants’ injuries as a result of accidents
by submitting a complete accident report form to the school’s health
office. Immediately make a contact to
the student’s parent/guardian.
□ As
needed and prior to traveling, submit a request for funding of additional
travel expenditures. Additional travel
expenses may be paid by the district as follows: meals/lodging for a regular season tournament
(if sufficient funding is provided to our school as a result of attending the
tournament); meals/lodging for IHSA state-finals contests. Meal and lodging expenses for other trips
will not be paid from district funds.
Overnight trips may be approved for contests in which over 200 miles of
travel is required and where the event begins at 10:00 a.m. or before.
□ Plan
an awards banquet. Some coaches seek a
committee of parent volunteers to organize the event. Report the event’s date and setting to the athletic secretary. If school facility space is needed, secure
facility space through a face-to-face meeting with athletic secretary.
Post-Season Responsibilities (after
the last contest)
□ Implement
a procedure to ensure that each participant returns all uniforms and equipment
that was provided by the school.
□ Keep
an accurate record of returned uniforms and equipment and report lost or
damaged equipment to the athletic director. Equipment and uniform inventory
should be completed prior to and after the season.
□ Ensure
that all equipment is washed, repaired, and safely stored; make arrangements
for receipt of equipment during the off-season, if sent to a commercial repair
company.
□ Vacate
locker rooms at the conclusion of the program’s season. Ensure that program’s areas are returned to
pre-season condition and ready for the next program’s season.
□ Organize
your program’s trophy case. Conference
and state series’ awards should be prominently displayed and orderly. Remove non-first place and/or outdated awards
so that the trophy case has a non-cluttered look. Only Apollo Conference or State series
trophies should be displayed in the trophy case.
□ Submit a list of participant awards to the
athletic secretary (varsity letter winners, final roster).
□ Order special awards for an awards banquet.
□ Submit a list of special awards to the local
media after the program’s awards banquet.
□ Submit
an Annual Sport Report to the athletic
secretary within 15 days after the program’s last contest. Include your one,
three, and five year Booster Club requests with this document. You may also
include a self-assessment, parent assessments, and athlete assessments with
your report.
□ Submit
any requested changes for next season’s schedule to the athletic director within 15 days after the
program’s last contest.
Transportation
of Student-Athletes/Participants
□ All
student-athletes/participants must be accompanied by the coach or Charleston
CUSD #1 approved supervisor in any contest or event that is sponsored by
Charleston CUSD #1, the Illinois High School Association, or any other State or
National sanctioned body in which the student-athlete/participant is representing
Students
must ride with the team unless previous arrangements have been made. Students
who choose to ride to or from a contest with a parent must have signed parental
consent form turned in to the coach prior to the student athlete being released
to a parent.
Extra Curricular Employment
Certification
- The Board of Education believes that each extra curricular program should be
under the supervision of a certified faculty member. At times, however, certified faculty members
are not available to coach a program during a season. After an effort has been made to secure the
services of a certified faculty member, non-faculty coaches may be employed.
Qualifications
of Coaches - Athletic coaches shall
be regularly certified to teach in the schools of
(a) teaching or supervising
classroom activity at least two periods daily in
(b) employed full-time in
any elementary or junior high school in the legal attendance area of
(c) an assistant teacher,
resource aide, lay supervisor or other paraprofessional who is employed at
least half-time per day in Charleston High School; or
(d) a full time teacher in
any elementary district, any of whose territory is a part of
(e) teaching full time,
within the provisions of the Illinois School Code, in a member high school or
in a vocational or special education cooperative in which Charleston High
School participates; or
(f) a retired teacher from
If
If
If
If
Students in teacher-training institutions may be
assigned to assist with the coaching of athletic teams in
An individual approved to coach in
c. Extra-Curricular
Assignment Procedures - The following regulations will be in force when
coaching/sponsor vacancies arise:
1) The
administration shall survey the coaching/sponsor staff in February of each year
to determine coaches/sponsors intentions for the following year.
2) At the
March/April Board of Education meeting, recommendations for coaching/sponsor
assignments for all Fall and Winter sports will be made. Coaches of Spring sports will be notified in
May that contracts for Spring sports will be awarded in June/July after
completion and evaluation of their current season.
3) When
vacancies develop or new positions are added to the coaching/sponsorship staff,
the following actions shall be taken:
a)
The administration shall post the position to determine whether currently
assigned staff members have interest in the positions.
b)
Once interested candidates are identified, the administration, in consultation
with the head coach/sponsor, shall determine whether the interested persons
possess the minimum qualifications necessary to perform the responsibilities of
the positions.
c)
The administration shall then notify interested candidates whether or not
further consideration will be extended based upon individual qualifications.
4) Interviews
will be conducted by building administration, in consultation with the
appropriate staff, and will recommend the best qualified candidate(s) to the
superintendent. Consideration given to the following:
a)
Certified faculty assigned in the building in which the coaching vacancy exists
b)
Certified faculty assigned to a building other than where the vacancy exists
c) Substitute teachers
d) Non-faculty school employees
e)
Individuals who are not employed by the school district in any capacity, such
as college students, residents of the community, etc.
Note:
individuals employed as coaches/sponsors from categories above, will be
compensated, assigned and evaluated in the same way as all other coaching
positions.
5)
If a teacher at
one building is assigned to a coaching position in another, the principal is
authorized to make a reasonable effort to schedule the persons teaching
assignment, either on a temporary or permanent basis, to assist the coach in
performing the athletic responsibilities.
However, the individual’s teaching assignment shall not be unduly
impaired by this scheduling arrangement, and it must be understood that such
arrangements can be made only in a limited number of situations.
5)
6)
When a
coach/sponsor is assigned to a position in a building other than the level of
the teaching assignment, the coaching/sponsor assignment will be reviewed on an
annual basis by the administration and building principals involved. The
purpose of this reconsideration will be to determine whether it is desirable to
continue the coaching/sponsor assignment which causes scheduling difficulties
at both levels. Factors to consider in this matter include the following:
a) the
level of competition being coached,
b) normal
practice and game times, and
c) availability
of other candidates.
d. Terms
of Coaching Contract - All coaching assignments shall be for one school
year. A supplemental contract shall be
executed according to the adopted salary schedule.
1) Each
head coach/sponsor shall schedule a conference with his/her athletic
administrator no later than 30 calendar days after the final contest of the
season to evaluate the program.
2)
The coach/sponsor
shall evaluate assistant coaches/sponsors in writing to the principal and
athletic administrator.
3)
The principal has
the responsibility of recommending to the superintendent coaching assignments
for the next school year.
4) Subject
to requirements of law, the Board of Education has final authority for
employing or discontinuing employment of coaching personnel.
e. Non-faculty (Walk-on) and Volunteer Coaches Guidelines
1) Coaching
positions that are filled by a person who is not a certified faculty member of
the
a) Recruiting,
selecting, orienting and supervising non-faculty coaches/extra-curricular
sponsors.
b) Communication
between the athletic administrator and the coach/sponsor.
c) Limited
school day and interpersonal relationship between the player and the coach.
d) Philosophical
difference concerning academics, program goals, bench decorum and public
relations with parents and fans.
e) Time
conflicts between that coaches/sponsors occupation and coaching/sponsorship
responsibilities
f) Filing
reports with the administration and collecting, care and storage of equipment
are not a priority of the non-faculty coach/sponsor.
2) The
non-faculty coach/sponsor needs to place special emphasis on the philosophies,
goals and objective of the Charleston Community Unit District #1 by
a) Meeting
the qualifications required;
b)
Meeting with the
administration prior to the start of the season for orientation/indoctrination
in the policies and regulation contained in the extra curricular handbook. (All non-faculty coaches must attend this
meeting prior to the start of their sport season);
c) Calling
the athletic office or administrative daily or as determined on a prearranged
basis with the administration;
d) Attending
all program staff meetings or holding periodic conferences with the head coach,
athletic administrator or administration;
e) Following
all procedures specified in the respective coaches /sponsors job description;
f) Setting
aside time before or after practices to meet individually with team members;
g) Conferring
with the athletic director/administration during last week of season to discuss
the awards banquet, end of season reports, returning of keys and the
collection, cleaning, repair and storage of equipment;
h) Being
loyal to the school, its traditions, and supporting all of the
i) Establishing
communication with parents and athletes.
3) Volunteer
Coaches must have appropriate paperwork on file at both the Central and
Athletic Offices prior to contact with student athletes. Forms include but are
not limited to:
a) Illinois
State Police Criminal Background and Fingerprinting form
b) Volunteer
Coaches’ Form (must be signed by Athletic Director, Head Coach, and Building
Principal
c) Proof
of completion of IHSA approved coaching certification course or a four-year
college degree
d) Medical
Physical Examination
f. Non-discrimination
Policy - It is the policy of this district to provide, through a positive and
effective affirmative action program, equal opportunities for employment,
retention and advancement of all people regardless of age, color, creed,
national origin, political affiliation or gender.
The purpose of this policy is
1) To
provide all students with an opportunity to relate, cooperate and learn with
members of various racial and ethnic backgrounds and to increase knowledge and
enhance multi-cultural understandings;
2) To
provide equal opportunities to all students for participation in all of the
educational
3) To
ensure equal opportunities for the employment, promotion and transfer of all
persons. The Board of Education encourages all personnel in the school district
to assist in the accomplishment of this goal through their personal commitment
to the concept of equal opportunity for all people regardless of race, color,
creed, national origin, political affiliation or gender.
Therefore, the Board of
Education establishes a program of affirmative action to ensure that all
personnel policies relevant to recruitment, employment and promotions of
employees of the school district will provide equal opportunities for all
persons in order to achieve these goals.