Why let just anybody
coach isle students?

One way to avoid disciplinary problems
among young athletes and coaches is to hire
only those qualified to work with children

Last March, after two coaches at Lanai High School were fired and nine of 11 players on the girls basketball team were dismissed over allegations they drank alcohol together on a team trip to Oahu, the stepfather of one of the athletes exclaimed, "I want somebody in jail." His demand raised an interesting question: Who was to blame? At first, the finger pointed solely to the two coaches.

But should the coaches shoulder all the blame? How free from negligence was the athletic director, or the principal who hired the coaches, or the schools superintendent, or even the Board of Education? They have contributed to a system that is all too often forced to hire coaches from outside the school's faculty.

Times have changed in high school athletics. Not long ago almost all coaches came from within the teachers' ranks, but today school teams are dominated by wannabe coaches who are not professional educators.

A second question arising from this event is, why do teachers on staff no longer accept these demanding after-school coaching duties? The reasons are many.

Young people are more likely to get into mischief when supervision is lacking. When the coach is a teacher on the school's campus, student-athletes were less likely to misbehave. At Lanai High School, it appears as if the coaches became the perpetrators.

Who will deny that leadership is important? How about the value of role models? When you see a coach attempting to manipulate and intimidate game officials to gain an advantage, what message do you think this sends to the athletes? Should we be surprised when these same youngsters use similar tactics when their history teacher has to enforce class rules? We shouldn't be, because the athlete is merely mimicking behavior learned from watching the coach.

Coaches from outside the school seldom come with real qualifications to work with children. Oh, they might be parents, but what qualifications do you need to become a parent? When you are in desperate need to fill a coaching vacancy, it doesn't matter whether the candidates know anything about child psychology, school law, first aid, care and prevention of athletic injuries, or care about anything concerning the school except their team.

Athletics, band, cheerleading and other extracurricular programs are the nucleus of the last frontier in education today. This last frontier might be the only area in which students can be asked for a 100 percent effort and coaches can hope to get it. Just as teachers in the classroom, they need to be qualified for the responsibility, or somebody might be liable.

So who is liable for this drinking episode with the coaches and their team? In the pursuit of raising test scores and now meeting the No Child Left Behind requirements, most of the best candidates for coaching positions are not interested. Is the fact that there is a dire shortage of teachers related to this same problem?

This Lanai drinking episode exposed the tip of an iceberg. Only a pessimist would question the value of supporting athletic programs in scholastic circles, but if its mission is doomed to failure because of lack of qualified leadership, the question becomes, "Is it all worth it?"

The educational values delivered through scholastic athletic programs are in jeopardy. The system is stacking the cards against obtaining real success, which is not necessarily measured in terms of wins and losses.

Is the trend of hiring coaches from outside eroding the reasons why we have athletic programs in our high schools?

What school wouldn't benefit from having its coaches teach at the school? On the other hand, what are principals doing to provide their teachers with incentives to coach?

On campus, licensed teachers are in the best position to provide the necessary leadership and become the role models our scholastic athletic programs need. Why our school system is breeding this shortcoming needs to be addressed, or should we just let anybody coach our students?