Our Customer Service Manager is the Freshman Coach @ local HS. He shared a email from the AD that I thought would be of interest. From the Wisconsin Athletic Directors Association. Topics are broken down into issues and interventions. This is just a summary.
Topic #1 Club Sports: Specifically, What types of club sport issues and other out of season distractions have you had to deal with, and what types of interventions have worked for you in easing these particular situations.
Issues, Club V Ball affecting G Bball.
Middle level Bball, Dual participation.
Facilities use.
Movement of students to new districts due to club affiliations.
Club baseball players led (3 of 6) led their teams to State.
College Scouting is being done more @ the club level than @ schools.
Some sports being played year round.
Overuse of athletes, Injuries and burnout.
Multi-sport athlete numbers a decreasing.
Coaches just want to deal with ONLY the top athletes.
Club S****R/Middle school Bball conflict.
Financial burden on families.
Unrealistic expectations caused by club success.
Missing school practices.
College recruiters calling clubs instead of HS coaches.
AAU equals scholarship mentality.
Out of season leagues occurring and AD's are not aware- Rules and eligibility broken without AD knowledge.
Interventions,
Early interventions and open line of Communication between clubs and HS. Sharing and coordination of schedules and facilities.
Educate parents of the benefits of being multi sport athletes.
Communicate WIAA out of season contact rules to coaches.
Inform and involve coaches associations in interventions.
Convince Coaches to set summer, be summer/ minimize summer activities.
Find ways to recognize and reward multi-sport athletes.
Teach realistic expectations with regard to scholarships.
Establish unity among HS coaches vs. club coaches and how to handle school/ club athletes.
WIAA transfer rules, Lose of eligibility if athlete transfers to another district.
Meet with athlete and parent if the athlete misses a in season contest, due to club commitment.
Instead of focusing on the negative impact of club sports, turn the focus to the positive of participation in school sports and find ways to communicate this among the athletes.
WIAA maximum # of interventions for out of season leagues.
Possible 2 week moratorium with NO CONTACT.
The WIAA has a lucrative TV contract for HS Boys Bball in March. If the best players in the state DO NOT participate in HS but Club, Will that contract and funds go away??