Radio Raves
March 23, 2012
You wouldn’t think that radio would be found on a list of bold new communication ideas, but sometimes what’s old is new again. And effective.
The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) and the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) are providing public service announcements to all the nation’s radio stations. The MHSAA distributed CDs of the PSAs to Michigan’s 293 radio stations in January.
Each CD has four PSAs. And each PSA ends with the message: “High school sports – a winning part of a complete education.”
One month after our distribution of the CDs, Michigan ranked in the top five states in terms of the number of airings and the estimated monetary value of the airtime.
To hear these messages, click here and look for the Participate & Succeed logo.
Coaching Advancement
March 21, 2014
Over the past nine months we have marched down the field in our effort to enhance the health and safety preparation of those who coach school sports. There have been two big plays during this offensive drive.
Last May, the Representative Council adopted the requirement beginning in 2014-15 that all assistant and subvarsity high school coaches must complete the same rules/risk management session as high school varsity head coaches, or, in the alternative, complete one of several free, online health and safety programs posted for this purpose on MHSAA.com.
Last December, the Council adopted the requirement beginning in 2015-16 that all high school varsity head coaches must have current certification in CPR.
It’s my hope that we will not fumble now that we’re in the red zone, that we won’t drop the ball before crossing the goal line on this current health and safety drive focusing on enhanced preparation of coaches.
The next play the Representative Council is considering is to require that all persons hired for the first time at any MHSAA member high school as a varsity level head coach must have completed the Coaches Advancement Program Level 1 or 2.
More than 10,000 people already have done so; and other people who want to be high school varsity head coaches have more than two years to complete this requirement.
Finishing this drive won’t put Michigan’s high school coaching standards at the head of the class; but it will keep us in the classroom of best practices for coaches education. The standard of care is advancing nationwide and on all levels of sports.