‘ This is the first time we have decreased in enrollment’
State sees significant drop in coaching permit applications
Applications are significantly down for those seeking permits to coach sports at schools in the state since March, according to data provided by the state Department of Education.
The state had received 1,011 applications for fiveyear coaching permits and 545 for one-year temporary permits through November.
Those are down from 2,162 and 807 at a similar point last year, although comparing the numbers is difficult due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Though 2019’s figures were expected to be higher than usual, this year’s figures are still down from 1,711 and 693 through November 2018.
“No way to tell (the reason) for sure, but this is the first time we have decreased in enrollment,” said Fred Balsamo, president of the Connecticut Association of Athletic Directors, which helps get coaches
certified.
The pandemic also created a backlog of applications, and amid other logistical issues, many permits expiring this year were granted an extension due to the pandemic.
State law requires coaches at public schools, volunteer or paid, kindergarten through 12th grade, to receive a permit from the state Department of Education.
The state moved to a five-year recertification process in 1999, thus the expectation for higher application rates every five years, including 2019. Prior to 1999 the state granted permanent certifications.
Running names provided by districts or on school websites against a state database, a CT Insider investigation that ran in October found over 100 local coaches who weren’t listed as certified.
All coaches must get regular certification in first aid and CPR and, by a separate law, must receive concussion education. Those who aren’t certified teachers must take a 45hour course through the Connecticut Coaching Education Program to receive their first five-year permit and another shorter course when they renew.
“We are (down) 11%,” Balsamo said. “It’s hard to calculate because we canceled three classes last spring.”
High school athletics paused on March 10; that’s when the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, the state governing body, canceled the remainder of its winter postseason.
The spring season never started. A shortened fall season began practices in late September and ran through mid-November. This school year’s winter season will begin at earliest with Jan. 19 practices.
The CIAC did not sanction varsity tackle football this fall after the state Department of Public Health recommended against playing. Though many schools and leagues took part in football-related activities like 7-on-7 passing games and competitions for linemen, not every school did, and not all had full coaching staffs.
CIAC executive director Glenn Lungarini said he hadn’t heard much recent chatter about the certification process.
“People know the CIAC doesn’t certify, the state Department (of Education) does,” Lungarini said.
Lungarini said there had been talk in recent years about streamlining the application process and moving more of it online along with classes; the contactless pandemic world has done that by accident.
“That can help in meeting people’s busy schedules,” Lungarini said.
Peter Yazbak, director of communications for the state Department of Education, noted that the current five-year renewable permit system took effect in 1999, so there is typically an uptick in years ending in 4 and 9 as those permits come up for renewal.
January and February of this year saw more permit applications versus the same months in 2019, the state department’s data said. The department received 343 five-year applications and 109 temporary requests in January and February 2020, up from 225 and 96 a year earlier.
Since 2013, five-year permits issued had ranged from 1,731 in 2017 to 2,385 in 2014. Through November, the state had issued 969.