There are 10 amendments to the Constitution, Bylaws and Rules of Eligibility for the membership to consider and vote on at the 2015 Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Annual Meeting Wednesday, April 22 at the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Stevens Point.

The lone amendment for the Bylaws would require coaches at all levels of interscholastic competition to complete and maintain certification in First Aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillator (AED).

An informal recent survey revealed fewer than half of all coaches are trained and equipped to respond to emergencies requiring First Aid, CPR and AED.

Student-athlete safety continues to be the top priority in the development of rules in interscholastic athletics, and reasonable measures proposed to enhance safety and the well-being of high school athletes typically receives unanimous acceptance and support. 

For this purpose, the executive staff has made a point to include certification components of coaches education on the agendas for the Area Meetings, Annual Meetings and committee meetings the last couple of years.

From a WIAA historical perspective, coaches education and student-athlete well-being have been intertwined since the 1950s. Properly preparing coaches has been considered a long-standing responsibility of schools in providing the safest school sports experience attainable. In 1986, the WIAA began requiring basic education for coaches who were not licensed as teachers. In 1993, the WIAA launched an optional national coaches education program, which covered sports medicine, psychology, pedagogy and sports law/liability.

However, little progress has been made in coaches education since that time, even though the whole landscape of interscholastic athletics and the world around it has changed dramatically. How kids play and train is much different; there are more non-staff coaches today, and more coaches that were not physical education majors in college or had coaching as a minor; in addition, attitudes toward liability and litigation, as well as the role of government legislation have changed significantly.
 
Concerns for the requirements, if passed, include the costs for schools and/or coaches, time contraints and the sensitivity to the impact of additional responsibilities will have on hiring and retaining coaches.
 
While acknowledging these concerns as reasonable, the Wisconsin Medical Society believes they pale in comparison to a student-athlete’s safety and well-being, and it “strongly supports” adoption of the amendment for the beginning of the 2017-18 school year.

It may not be possible to have an athletic trainer, nurse or doctor at every high school event.  In these situations, the coaches are the first responders. Having coaches properly trained in First Aid, CPR and AED is the next best option to respond to a medical emergency involving student-athletes. It is compelling to recognize a class action suit that has recently been brought against the Illinois High School Association seeking a requirement to have an athletic trainer or medical professional at all practices and contests.

Research indicates that more than three-quarters of the time, coaches are the first responders to health emergencies at high school athletic events. While the head coach is the person most likely to be present at all practices and contests and the first to respond to emergencies, who would help the head coaches if they were to have the medical emergency or are not present? That is the impetus with all coaches­–not just head coaches–trained in proper emergency response procedures. 

According to a recent Wisconsin Medical Journal article, 90 percent of athletic directors can agree that a required coaches education program is a step in the right direction. Despite the overwhelming acceptance of the concept, the article also revealed only 55 percent of athletic directors support mandating requirements. 

Another consideration that shouldn’t be discounted when the membership casts its vote is the desire to be proactive and remain among the nation’s leaders in student-athlete wellness independent of intrusions from outside influences.

The Sports Advisory Committee, Advisory Council and the Board of Control each voted unanimously to advance the proposal to the membership, and both the Sports Advisory and Board voted unanimously to support adoption of the language. The Advisory Council voted 12-2 in support of the amendment’s passage.