Last month, more than 2,100 high school athletic directors attended the 49th annual National Athletic Directors Conference in San Antonio, Texas, which was an all-time record. This conference is a collaborative effort between the NFHS and the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA).
The NFHS started this conference in 1971 with about 250 attendees in St. Louis. The NIAAA was formed in 1977 and was a part of the NFHS national office until 2006. Since that time, the two organizations have been partners in putting on this annual conference of high school athletic directors.
While a majority of the attendees at this annual conference are members of the NIAAA, the NFHS remains highly involved because our leadership recognizes the value of our nation’s high school athletic administrators to the overall effectiveness of interscholastic athletic programs nationwide.
In addition to the continual increase in attendance at this conference, the rise in focus on professional development has been even greater. Athletic directors and coaches touch the lives of our nation’s student-athletes more than anyone else, including parents in some cases. So, when you see more than 2,000 individuals coming to a conference to gain more insight in helping the millions of high school student-athletes, it is reason to get excited and be hopeful about the future.
In a similar fashion that the NFHS Learning Center has been one of the most successful programs in the 99-year history of the organization, the Leadership Training Program has been among the most significant efforts in the 41-year history of the NIAAA. Almost 50 Leadership Training classes were taught at the recent conference in San Antonio. When combined with the 65 courses available on the NFHS Learning Center, many of which are applicable to athletic administrators as well, it is obvious that athletic directors are vitally interested in growing professionally and learning more about various aspects of their important positions.
As the NFHS and its member state associations continue to support and promote the benefit and value of education-based activity programs, athletic administrators are the key individuals to keep these programs alive and vibrant in our nation’s schools.
Many of the nation’s athletic directors were previously coaches and have a tremendous heart for student-athletes in their schools, but now their task is to lead and “coach” the coaches. These men and women work long hours and are not in the limelight, but they are the heart and soul of education-based programs across the country. We salute these hard-working individuals and encourage superintendents, principals and school board members to lend their support to the athletic administrators in their schools.
And if athletic directors didn’t have enough to do already – from scheduling contests, to hiring coaches, to making budgets, to scheduling officials and many other duties – the lead article in this issue focuses on one of the most significant issues facing schools and, ultimately athletic directors, and that is the subject of afterschool safety and security.
Violence continues to occur in schools across the nation, and the article by Mike Dyer on page 16 looks at the issue from the perspective of afterschool athletics and activities. And, without a doubt, athletic directors will be counted on to formulate emergency action plans to ensure individuals who are involved in practice or other activities after school are in a safe environment.
It is unfortunate that athletic directors are having to move this item to the top of their “to-do” lists, but it is paramount at this point. And as this and many articles have suggested, it is not enough to simply have an emergency action plan on paper or in the files, it must be circulated to all key leaders and it must be practiced on a regular basis so that it can be quickly enacted when the situation arises.
School districts must empower athletic directors with appropriate budgets to cover the cost of security at events. If it costs more money for law enforcement at contests where situations have arisen in the past, hopefully those expenditures would not be questioned. The safety of our girls and boys, sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters, should never be questioned, whatever the cost.
The NFHS staff, our Board of Directors and our 51-member state associations are fully committed to assisting the 19,500 high schools in this effort. And we appreciate the great work of the NIAAA under the direction of Executive Director Mike Blackburn and the 11,000 local athletic administrators who are members of the NIAAA.
Collectively and collaboratively, we can meet the challenges ahead to protect and promote education-based sports and activities.