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NFHS: PREPARE Sports-Safety Course accepted as First Aid Equivalent for Level 1 – Accredited Interscholastic Coach Certification
Author: Zackery Moore
The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) certification program seeks to provide interscholastic coaches with proper training.
Birmingham, AL — PREPARE, a sports-safety course created by the National Center for Sports Safety, has been accepted as a first-aid equivalent for the newly launched Level 1 – Accredited Interscholastic Coach Certification.
A coach must take three required professional development courses online to become certified by the NFHS – Fundamentals of Coaching, First Aid for Coaches or its equivalent and a sport-specific course or Teaching Sport Skills. The cost of Level 1 certification is $50 and an application can be completed online at www.nfhslearn.com. The PREPARE course can be found at www.SportsSafety.org.
The NFHS believes the duty of coaches today is teaching life skills to students through sports. "This does not automatically happen. It must be intentional," said Tim Flannery, NFHS assistant director and director of the NFHS Coach Education Program.
Flannery said when interscholastic coaches receive the proper training, they are able to provide their students a well-rounded education applicable to life beyond the playing field, and the entire community sees the benefits.
"School administrators today must continually demonstrate the educational value of athletics to ensure the support of the community, and having trained coaches on staff is paramount to that success," said NFHS Executive Director Robert F. Kanaby.
"We are excited about the opportunity to work with NFHS and will continue to use our research to enhance our course," says NCSS Executive Director, Pat Lynch. "We are also in the process of developing a video on sports safety for parents and athletes, as well as a poster series for coaches. These 2 new items will again, promote injury prevention and the importance of sports safety."
About PREPARE
PREPARE is a sports-safety course aimed at educating coaches on how to prevent common injuries, how to recognize symptoms of potentially dangerous conditions and how to respond in emergency situations. PREPARE participants will gain valuable information that is relevant on and off the playing field.
The PREPARE course is available online for $36 and was designed with convenience in mind. Users can bookmark their spot so they can exit and re-enter the course, it's accessible 24 hours a day and online learning gives users the opportunity to learn at their own pace. The course is also available in a hands-on setting in various states. To find out more about a hands-on class, call the NCSS office at 866-508-NCSS.
Information covered includes: emergency planning; heat and cold illnesses; principles of first aid and head, neck and facial injuries, and several other sports safety topics.
World-renowned orthopedic sports medicine surgeon, Dr. Lawrence Lemak, founded the National Center for Sports Safety, a non-profit, in 2001, to promote the importance of injury prevention and safety on all levels of youth sports through education and research. The NCSS focuses on decreasing the number and intensity of injuries through developing and teaching sports-safety courses. NCSS also collects, analyzes and researches injury data to improve safety practices. In addition, the NCSS is developing a video for parents and athletes to educate them on heat illness, concussions, pre-participation physicals, Staph/MRSA infections, and heart/genetic disorders. More updates about this project will be available on www.SportsSafety.org.
About NFHS
Since January of 2007, more than 110,000 Fundamentals of Coaching courses have been delivered to interscholastic coaches across the United States. Currently, 45 member state associations are using the NFHS Fundamentals of Coaching course as a requirement for coaching or as continuing professional development.
NFHS will offer three new courses by late spring: Fundamentals of Coaching Softball, through partnerships with the Amateur Softball Association of America and USA Softball; Fundamentals of Coaching Basketball; and an NCAA Eligibility Course. All NFHS coach education courses are available at www.nfhslearn.com.
The NFHS, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, is the national leadership organization for high school sports and fine arts activities. Since 1920, the NFHS has led the development of education-based interscholastic sports and fine arts activities that help students succeed in their lives. The NFHS writes playing rules for 17 sports for boys and girls at the high school level. Through its 50 member state associations and the District of Columbia, the NFHS reaches more than 19,000 high schools and 11 million participants in high school activity programs, including more than 7.5 million in high school sports. As the recognized national authority on interscholastic activity programs, the NFHS conducts national meetings; sanctions interstate events; produces publications for high school coaches, officials and athletic directors; sponsors professional organizations for high school coaches, officials, spirit coaches, speech and debate coaches and music adjudicators; and serves as a national information resource of interscholastic athletics and activities. For more information, visit the NFHS Web site at www.nfhs.org.
