Plenty of blame, no excuses

Coaching certification program must improve, immediately

This isn’t about us trying to be the state’s unofficial hall monitor, because nobody makes for better hall monitors than high school coaches. No permission slip? Coach will have that kid skipping back to class pronto. Someone’s banging on a locker? Coach will end that noise.

The good coaches, and there are hundreds around our state, teach accountability, resilience and attention to detail, enforce discipline and show us that caring about the others in the locker room as much as ourselves is the essence of teamwork. The great ones make sure we don’t forget it the rest of our lives.

That’s why it was so surprising and disappointing to see a CT Insider investigation reveal 112 high school coaches at Fairfield and New Haven county public schools were not certified for all or part of a period between 2018 and 2020. Some schools didn’t confirm information from the state database, so the number undoubtedly is higher. There also are parochial schools and six other counties in the state. You can do some of the math.

Did coaches get lazy? Did they procrastinate and recertification skipped their mind? Were some being underhanded? Arrogant? Obstinate? Were the young ones financially over-burdened by an expensive program? Were others a victim of bureaucratic red tape?

What the hell happened to the accountability and attention to detail they preach to our kids in the locker room?

A deeper dive shows there is plenty of blame to go around for athletic direc

tors, school administrators, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference and state education officials. What there isn’t room for are excuses. And that does start with the coaches. It is their profession. It is their noble calling. It is their jobs.

It does not end with them. After the interminable mayhem over COVID-19 and defining sports seasons, the CIAC and state will be cut no slack in this space.

In place since 1985, state law requires a 45-hour certification course that includes concussion education for first-time coaches who do not have a teaching certification. Ethical standards, stress, working with college-bound athletes, sportsmanship, organization, planning, nutrition, drugs, bullying, injuries, communication and more are covered. A significant portion is learning to deal with parents. Coaches also must be certified in First Aid and

CPR.

This isn’t a small matter. This is vital matter.

Anyone who thinks this is only a clerical deal just isn’t thinking. This isn’t a lawsuit waiting to happen. It is a lawsuit that has happened and led CT Insider colleagues to bring an important issue to light to help end the sloppiness and delays that have haunted the certification process.

A family brought a negligence lawsuit last year against the Weston Board of Education, claiming their son was injured during a freshman basketball practice overseen by an uncertified coach. One boy punched another’s mouth in December 2018, causing physical and emotional harm, according to the lawsuit. As has been reported, there is considerable legal back and forth. The overarching point is the school district left itself open to a costly argument that the coach was not adequately trained to handle the situation.

Now, can you imagine if one of our kids went into a diabetic shock, cardiac arrest or began choking and the uncertified coach wasn’t trained to do anything about it?

Part of the certification is a background check by the state, including the DCF. That can be time-consuming, yet parents need to have some assurance their kids are safe from sex offenders and an array of potential criminals or unqualified coaches.

So, yes, it is a big deal. The uncertified coaches need to be at one number: Zero. And the number needs to be zero by the end of the calendar year. The coaches who never have been certified need to be off the field tomorrow.

The good news is the vast majority among the 112 involved lapsed five-year certifications or one-year emergency coaching permits. Three-hour refresher courses are all five-year coaches need. A certified teacher doesn’t need to take the 45-hour course but must have the concussion education and be certified in CPR and First Aid. So this can and must be cleaned up expeditiously. Some of those 112 already have.

Kaylan Ricciardi of the state Department of Education has said flatly that it is the responsibility of the coach and the employing school district to maintain certification. There are no repercussions from above. The state is issuing no fines. Coaches aren’t being suspended. Yes, individual schools and athletic directors can keep coaches off the field until they are certified. Yet the Bureau of Educator Standards and Certification Department doesn’t even notify the school or the coaches that their certification has elapsed or is up for renewal. Hell’s bells, even the forever-maligned DMV sends you a notification to renew your driver’s license.

Yes, a coach can find the information on a public database — and look at the mess that CT Insider found. Top to bottom, this is a box of unaccountability tied together by a giant bow of red tape.

Some are quick to point out coaches aren’t vigilant enough anticipating renewals. Others say ADs aren’t vigilant enough in holding the coaches accountable. Still others point out that it takes too long for the applications to be approved and processed by the state once the coaches have taken the course. The standard processing time is six to eight weeks.

A CIAC spokesman pointed out the Department of Education is responsible for the certification process and the CIAC’s sole involvement is with the coaching education curriculum.

See, no one wants to take responsibility. It’s the other guy’s fault. Exactly the opposite of what the coach is preaching to his young athletes.

Some argue that volunteer coaches shouldn’t have to take the 45-hour course. That concussion education, CPR and First Aid is enough. Some school districts do allow this if contracted coaches are on the scene.

The $375 for the course on-site and $475 online is a very steep price for a 23year-old volunteer. One of the solid objectives of a 45hour indoctrination is to sew successful careers in coaching and avoid some parent jumping in for a year or two to coach his kid. Can we help at least partly finance the young coaches of the future?

The courses have been expanded in recent years beyond CIAC headquarters in Cheshire to satellite sites.

One coach I know took the course at Eastern Connecticut State as an elective and paid for it as part of tuition. The on-line option has gained traction and became the only option when COVID hit.

Because of a backlog of application during the pandemic, those whose coaching permits expire between March 15 and Dec. 21 have been given a one-year extension.

Yet here’s the kind of outdated, goofy stuff the CIAC and state always seem to employ: Even after online completion, the actual application has to be mailed to the Department of Education.

This is 2020 Connecticut. Not 1950 Albania.

We have the technology to make notifications quicker, the application process more accessible and smoother. We have the educated adults in the AD offices and in human resources to make sure coaches are reminded in advance. There are schools out there with perfect certification marks.

And we sure better have the spine to fine schools and suspend coaches if they allow their certifications to lapse. If the Department of Education is too bogged down with what they deem more important matters, empower the CIAC. Good grief, if the CIAC can’t adequately notify and punish schools on uncertified coaches, why have a CIAC at all?

In the meantime, coaches, look in the mirror after you preach about accountability and attention to detail to your kids.