The Florida High School Athletic Association has several training requirements for head football coaches. Coaches must comply or face fines and risk eligibility.
Florida law requires all public school coaches to complete a sports safety course. In March, the FHSAA partnered with the National Center for Sports Safety to educate coaches through the PREPARE program. PREPARE is a sports safety course, developed in 2004, that teaches how to prevent common injuries, recognize symptoms of potentially dangerous conditions and respond to emergencies.
There are two required core courses by the FHSAA – Fundamentals of Coaching and First Aid for Coaches.
There is an elective: "Concussion in Sports – What You Need to Know."
Sources: National Federation of State High School Associations, Florida High School Athletic Association.
The new concussion rule is one of more than 10 major changes approved by the National Federation of State High School Associations football officials committee. The West Coast Officials Association abides by the national federation rules and requires training.
Officials must:
Take an online basic rules course.
Attend 10 mandatory training meetings that discuss a variety of subjects.
Complete an online exam, with a mixture of questions on rules and safety issues, and scoring at least 76. For Western Conference contests, which include Hillsborough County public schools, they must score at least 80.
Source: West Coast Officials Association.
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