Sports Coaching – Page 27 – The Sport Journal

Parameters That Influence Vertical Jump Height

Submitted by: Dawn T. Gulick, James Fagnani, Matthew Long, Kenneth Morris, and Brian Hartzell – Widener University; Marcia Epler – Lebanon Valley College

Abstract

Plyometric activities use rapid switching from eccentric to concentric contractions to increase speed or force of muscle contractions. Training the stretch-shorten cycle by jumping enhances athletic performance. This study sought optimal box heights athletes could drop from to obtain maximal rebound height. Division-III collegiate football players (n = 55) older than18, weighing no more than 100 kg, and with no lower-extremity injury were the participants. Initial data collected measured height, weight, leg length, age, standing vertical jump, and quadriceps strength. Peak torque and work per repetition were calculated for eccentric and concentric quadriceps activity. Participants completed 3 box drops from each of 4 different box heights as vertical rebound was measured. ANOVA showed rebounds did not differ significantly by box height, nor did rebound from any height differ significantly from standing vertical jump. Little to no correlation (Pearson’s r < 0.25) was found between vertical rebound from any height and concentric or eccentric work per repetition or eccentric peak torque. Fair correlation (Pearson’s r = 0.29–0.33) was found between concentric peak torque and vertical rebound from all heights. Leg length correlated moderately (Pearson’s r = 0.56–0.61) with vertical rebound from all heights. Because results indicate greater box drop height is not statistically associated with greater vertical rebounds, using a box height above 0.12 m (the shortest tested here) is likely to increase injury risk without providing any accompanying benefits. The study is limited by the fact that jumping technique was not included as a variable, although clearly technique could be a component in rebounding.

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U.S. Sports Academy2016-10-24T10:17:51-05:00July 7th, 2008|Sports Coaching, Sports Exercise Science, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off

Program and Facility Emergencies in Youth Sports, Part II: Dealing with the Event

Submitted by: Richard Gershom, Ashland University and Kimberly Peer, Kent State University

Communication
plays an integral role in the prevention of youth sport injuries, as the
evidence in Part I of this paper suggested. Communication regarding
expectations, policy and procedures, and post-injury protocol can facilitate a
safe youth sport environment. However, preventing youth sport injuries also
involves several other areas, such as protective equipment, strength and
cardiovascular conditioning, environmental and facility management, proper
coaching, and proper nutrition and hydration. According to the American College
of Sports Medicine (1993), 50% of injuries that occur in children and
adolescents are preventable. Even when steps are taken to ensure safe
participation in youth sport programs, however, injuries will happen; what happens
before, during, and after an emergency can make the difference in the eventual outcome
of injuries.

Dealing with
emergencies in youth sport requires sufficient preparation and planning to
ensure prompt resolution of the event. Prevention measures preclude injury or
have the potential to reduce the severity of injuries and should thus be
considered most effective (Roberts, 1998). League administrators and youth
coaches must ask and answer several questions: Who is the most qualified
individual to treat injuries? Are the persons dealing with the emergencies
adequately prepared for a variety of emergency situations? Are coaches properly
trained to coach? Are there mechanisms in place for prompt medical care? Coming
prepared with this kind of information prior to any emergency can promote
optimal medical care and prevent litigation.

Coach and Parent Education

To make decisions
in answer to the questions just reviewed, league administrators must understand
the qualifications of coaches. The National Association of Sports and Physical
Education (NASPE) has developed standards of fundamental competency that
communities, school systems, private leagues, parents, and athletes should require
of coaches. League administrators and parents are responsible for ensuring that
youth coaches are appropriately qualified to supervise the sport in question and
to maintain a safe playing area and environment. Moreover, coaches should be
required to complete (at a minimum) a community course in first aid and CPR;
there are several sport safety courses available as well that are recommended
for all youth coaches.

A critical
component of caring for an injured athlete is familiarity with the medical
history and condition of the athlete. Before activity commences in any sport, each
athlete should undergo a pre-participation physical examination. This examination
should be required of all athletes prior to participation and should be
comprehensive. Necessary checks include a medical physical to assess heart and
lung function; a medical history to identify any pre-existing problems and
family health history; a musculoskeletal examination assessing alignment,
strength, flexibility, and laxity; a “vitals” examination ensuring heart rate,
blood pressure, height, and weight are appropriate for the individual; body
composition assessment; vision screening; and finally, a sport performance
assessment determining whether the individual’s cardiovascular condition
and strength are appropriate for the anticipated exertion.

First Aid Equipment

In addition to
familiarity with each athlete’s health status, it is also key to have
appropriate emergency medical supplies available. Most youth leagues provide
first aid kits or small athletic trainer kits for each team. When preparing a
kit for a team in a given sport, it is crucial to plan for a broad scope of
needs, stocking the kit properly to address all of them. Kits must be prepared before
each practice or contest in order to be of reliable use. Having the correct
supplies could be the difference in delivering essential care to an injured
athlete appropriately.

Although a wide
variety of first aid supplies can be helpful depending on the sport, there are
items of common value across sports. Key items include the following:

information such as phone
numbers, release forms, and emergency cards (as well as paper and pen)
instruments including paramedic
scissors, tape cutters, tweezers, fingernail clippers, fingernail files,
and a microshield or CPR mask
bandages and related supplies including
athletic tape, tape adherent, underwrap, elastic tape, band-aids, gauze
pads, ace wraps, and petroleum jelly
splinting supplies including slings,
safety pins, finger splints and other splints, and crutches
eye care kit including contact
solution, contact case, saline, and a pocket mirror
miscellaneous items including
rubber gloves, antiseptic cleaning solution, insect repellent, water
bottles, ice chests and/or coolers, tongue blades, and felt or foam
padding material

This list is not exhaustive but it provides
the foundation of a well-stocked sport first aid kit. In some sports, kits may
need to be augmented with items such as mouth pieces, nose plugs, analgesic rub,
hand cream, sun glare, and feminine hygiene products. Organization of the kit
is important in emergency situations when first aid must be provided quickly.
Similar items should be stored in the same area of the kit; there should be
nothing unnecessary in the kit obscuring needed items that need to be located
quickly following an injury.

Administrators and
supervising coaches must make certain that each youth coach is qualified to use
and comfortable in using all first aid kit supplies. A general rule is not to
pack in the kit any supply with which the coach or coaches are uncomfortable.
It is important to designate one person to maintain the first aid kit and order,
as needed, items replenishing the kit’s supply.

Although they can
be expensive, first aid kits are highly recommended for all youth sport
programs. League commissioners typically determine who purchases kits and supplies
to stock them. When there is no funding for emergency medical supplies, asking
health care facilities and drug stores to donate supplies is a potential
course; firefighting and other emergency departments may also be willing to
help. League administrators and/or coaches are ultimately responsible for
providing players with the best possible first aid should they be injured; the
expense of good first aid kits is, ultimately, relative.

After an Injury

Providing care is a
top priority in an emergency. Care can be provided best and most quickly when
those involved remain calm while activating appropriate medical assistance. When
a young athlete may be injured, it must always be remembered that nothing less
than his or her well-being is at stake. It is therefore better to err on the side
of cautiousness, when in doubt about the injury or first aid, by seeking
additional medical assistance immediately. It should also be remembered that
children’s and adolescents’ bodies are distinct from the adult’s and cannot
always be treated in the same way. Therefore, it is always recommended that a
young athlete seek medical attention from a physician for any injury that does
not improve in a short period.

Fortunately, most
injuries in youth sports are not complicated and can be resolved with little
medical intervention. Often, the best approach is what has been called, for
ease of memory, RICE, which stands for rest, ice, compression,
and elevation. Rest the injured area by supporting it with a sling, splint,
or crutches. Ice the injury for approximately 20 min at a time. Compress the
area with an elastic bandage to control swelling. Finally, elevate the area
above the level of the heart, also to manage swelling. These steps comprise a standard
and long-advocated treatment for many sport injuries.

When an emergency
has occurred and first aid has been rendered, notification of certain
individuals becomes necessary, when those individuals are not present at the
sport facility. Again, parent phone numbers and the league commissioner’s phone
number, along with emergency numbers, should be kept easily available in the
front of the first aid kit. It is also recommended that useful emergency information
is provided as a courtesy to each visiting team, for example on a reference
card. Having access to emergency numbers and directions to nearby hospitals is
greatly appreciated by teams unfamiliar with an area.

Conclusion

All sports pose
some injury risk. While coaches and administrators should make every effort to
keep that risk as low as possible, they must also ensure that appropriate care
is available in the event an injury does occur. Injury-prevention programs are
advocated by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and are readily
available to the general public (Purvis & Burke, 2001). Completing the programs
can help prepare youth coaches to manage emergency situations. Furthermore,
youth sports leagues are well advised to maintain a written emergency plan that
staff know how to implement. The plan should be reviewed yearly by league
officials, coaches, parents, and care providers from the local community’s emergency
medical service. It is important that this plan be reviewed yearly due to the
typically high number of changes in coaching staff each year.

References

American
College of Sports Medicine (1993). The prevention of sports injuries of
children and adolescents. Medicine and Science in Sports Exercise, 25(8),
1–7.

National
Association of Sport and Physical Education. National standards for athletic
coaches. Reston, VA: Author.

Purvis,
J. M., & Burke, R. G. (2001). Recreational injuries in children: Incidence
and prevention. Journal of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, 9(6),
365–374.

Roberts,
W. O. (1998). Keeping sports safe: Physicians should take the lead. The
Physician and Sports Medicine, 26(5).

U.S. Sports Academy2017-08-07T11:43:32-05:00July 7th, 2008|Sports Coaching, Sports Exercise Science, Sports Management, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off

Marketing the Triathlete

Submitted by: Adam Epstein, South College

This article will explore the triathlon world and address issues that should increase the likelihood of securing product and financial sponsorship for the triathlete. Throw out the textbooks. Forget about product, price, place, promotion for now. The only way you will be successful in marketing an elite triathlete is to have as your client an exceptional triathlete who can win races (or consistently finish in the top three) and give exposure to companies’ products and logos. This is especially true in a bear financial market in which corporate budgets are tight. (There is debate in the triathlon community as to whether to use the world “elite” or “professional” to describe exceptional athletes; triathletes are not generally paid a salary.)

Assuming you do have a truly talented, exceptional triathlete as a client, how do you maximize your client’s sponsorship potential in order to generate the revenue he or she needs to remain in the sport? Unlike other professional athletes, triathletes are not normally part of any team. There are no players’ associations (unions), no collective-bargaining agreements, and no salaries per se in the sport of triathlon. Dollars are generated in two ways: money earned at the races themselves (of which agents usually do not take a percentage) and money generated by sponsorship contracts (that’s where the money is made).

The sports marketer’s goal must be to find sponsors who will reward the triathlete for performance and exposure. Fortunately, triathlon involves swimming, biking, and running (in that order). Such diverse categories allow the sports marketer to seek sponsorship from many companies. Such a wide net of potential sponsors is found in very few sports.

Ironman vs. Olympic Triathlons

The sports marketer must understand that the triathlon world is divided into two major (and very different) categories: the Ironman¹ triathlon and the Olympic-distance triathlon. Only a handful (at best) of the world’s triathletes can excel in both categories. Expect that your client will focus on only one of them. Some sponsors are concerned only with efforts in one category or the other.

The Ironman distance triathlon is truly a grueling race: a swim of 2.4 mi, a bike race of 112 mi, and then a marathon run of 26.2 mi. The Ironman distance races are often finished in the 8-to-10-hr range (you are reading that correctly), by the best competitors. Sponsors are likely to think of the Ironman triathlon when first presented with the opportunity to sponsor a triathlete.

Currently, the Ironman Triathlon World Championship—sometimes called simply Ironman Hawaii—is held in Kona, Hawaii. Another 24 Ironman events constitute the Ironman Triathlon series and are held throughout the world² ; some involve the full race distances, and some are half-Ironman distances. Unless they are among a select few competitors who earn “lottery” slots, triathletes must qualify to compete in the Ironman Triathlon World Championship, based upon their elite or amateur status.

Much of the reason for the Ironman triathlon’s success is that NBC television broadcasts the Ironman Triathlon World Championship every year. Outside this event, virtually no other triathlon is broadcast on a major network, except during the Olympic Games.

The Olympic-distance triathlon differs markedly from the Ironman triathlon. The Olympic version comprises a 1.5-k swim (.9-mi), a 40-k bike ride (24.8-mi), then a 10-k run (6.2-mi). This sport of sprint triathlon made its Olympic debut in 2000 at the Sydney Olympics. Unlike the Ironman distance, this distance is truly a swim, bike, and run sprint. The Olympic distance, also called ITU distance (for International Triathlon Union, the international federation for the sport of triathlon), is often filled with loops on the bike and is designed to be spectator friendly. Such races are often completed in the 2-hr range by the best competitors. Triathletes earn points based upon a formula that weighs the size of the triathlon and the rankings of other participating competitors. World rankings are established under the ITU point system. Networks such as the Outdoor Life Network, ESPN, and ESPN2 broadcast Olympic-distance triathlon events, but often at off-peak hours of the day or night.

Important Triathlon Organizations and Other Resources

USA Triathlon (www.usatriathlon.org) is the national governing body for the sport of triathlon in the United States and is one of many national governing bodies under the purview of the United States Olympic Committee. The International Triathlon Union is another leading triathlon organization and maintains a website (www.triathlon.org). Visiting the two groups’ websites will allow the novice sports marketer to learn which sponsors already participate in the sport. Contacting these sponsors is a good first step. Recognize, however, that the ITU has very clear guidelines about the size and number of logos that may appear on a competitor’s jersey (Ironman triathlons do not have such limitations).

Beyond the websites, the novice sports marketer’s research might start with subscriptions to Triathlete magazine (www.triathlete.com) and Inside Triathlon (www.insidetri.com). Additionally, Katherine Williams’s Triathlon Sourcebook provides the names and e-mail addresses of athletes, coaches, companies, and events. The book is published every other year (1997, 1999, 2001); the next one is due in January 2003. It usually sells for around $30, a worthwhile investment for an agent, and you can contact the author directly at kwilliams@triathloncentral.com. Finally, visiting sponsors’ websites can give you an idea of how serious they are about participating in the sport of triathlon. Fortunately, communicating via e-mail controls up-front costs in terms of promotion of the triathlete.

Company Sponsorship and Contracts

Clearly, a sports marketer’s best first step toward securing sponsorship for an elite triathlete is to find sponsors who are already involved in the sport. Table 1 lists various product areas in which there are manufacturers who have sponsored elite triathletes.

Table 1: Triathlete sponsors and their product categories

Product Category	Examples of Sponsors
	Saucony / Speedo / TYR / Adidas / Nike
bikes	Javelin / Trek / Elite / Cannondale
aero bars	Profile
wheels and components	Spinergy / HED / Zipp
tires	Continental
shoes and pedals	Speedplay / Carnac / Time
helmets	Rudy Project / Giro
wetsuits	Speedo / Orca
glasses	Rudy Project / Oakley
nutrition	Twinlab / Met-Rx / Powerbar / Clifbar
hydration	Gatorade / Endurox / Push / Fuel Belt
bike case	Tri-All Sports
other/out-of-sport products	Timex / financial services company

If you are lucky, you will find a few sponsors who are not involved in the sport of triathlon and wish to sponsor a triathlete. However, almost all sponsors expect some sort of return on their advertising investment. In seeking sponsors outside the triathlon sport, expect to receive a lot of “no thank-yous” and letters or e-mails of rejection (unless your triathlete—at either distance—is a world champion or national champion). The most likely time to find an out-of-sport sponsor is just prior to the Olympics and shortly afterward, if the triathlete wins a medal. Once a sponsor is interested, a contract may be written. In general, sports contracts focus on salary and on performance and exposure bonuses. Some companies provide only product; others frown on salary unless the triathlete is an experienced, elite professional. Use caution if you are considering a multi-year contract, especially if your client’s performance (and exposure) is anticipated to increase over time.

Publicizing an Elite Triathlete Client

Vital to your success in serving the elite triathlete client is exploring the designs of competitors’ websites. Typically, sponsors’ logos are posted and offer links to the sponsors’ websites (in turn, expect a sponsor’s site to offer links to the athlete’s site). Visiting www.usatriathlon.org will help you locate elite triathletes’ websites; the ITU website also provides links to some nice websites. Do not reinvent the wheel when working to promote a triathlete via a website; do realize that building a website costs money, and ensure that both you and your client know who will pay costs associated with the site, including the hosting fees and charges for updates and structural changes. (Updating the website in a timely manner is important.)

Attending triathlon events is always a plus for the marketer. Meeting personally with sponsors is vital to business relations and your own exposure. Often, an expo takes place in conjunction with larger triathlon events; it can be a prime time to meet with sponsors maintaining booths for promoting their products and services. Since the agent assists in the coordination of publicity for the triathlete, contacting sponsors ahead of time at an expo is a plus; of course a cell phone is essential.

Conclusion

Remember, the agent is only as good as the triathlete. A client in the news—providing exposure for sponsors—is the client most able to obtain sponsorship. Nevertheless, representing your client responsibly by completing preliminary research and establishing and maintaining contacts increases the likelihood that your client will enjoy considering as many sponsorship opportunities as possible. To really appreciate the sport and those who compete in it, you might even try swimming, biking, and running on your own.

Making a living as a triathlete’s agent may not be possible. However, it is often just as rewarding to hear the cheers of fans at races and to know that you had a small something to do with the success of a triathlete. The satisfaction lasts even when the race is just a memory, and the race-results are only a link on the Internet.

Author Note

Adam Epstein, J.D., M.B.A., chairs the legal studies department at South College in Knoxville, Tennessee. Epstein also serves as an adjunct assistant professor of sport management at the University of Tennessee. He has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in legal studies, paralegal studies, sport management, and business management since 1994.

¹Registered trademark of World Triathlon Corporation, Inc.
²See www.ironmanlive.com

U.S. Sports Academy2015-10-24T01:32:24-05:00April 16th, 2008|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Coaching, Sports Exercise Science|Comments Off

National and State Youth Baseball Coaching Requirements: A State Case Study

Submitted by: Coop DeRenne, Associate Professor, University of Hawaii, Charles Morgan, Assistant Professor, San Diego State University, Ronald K. Hetzler, Associate Professor, University of Hawaii & Brad T. Taura, University of Hawaii

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the requirements placed on coaches by national and state youth baseball organizations. Administrators from five national youth baseball organizations and from five youth baseball leagues in Hawaii participated in the study (N = 61). A 12-item survey was used to determine the organizations’ requirements pertaining to coaches’ education, certification, experience, and professional growth. Results indicated no requirement by either the national or the Hawaii youth baseball organizations that coaches have a high school diploma. Furthermore, neither the national nor the state organizations required a national coaching certification. Only 6.98% of the national organizations and 11.11% of the Hawaii organizations required coaches to have experience as a player, while 4.65% of the national organizations and 7.41% of the Hawaii organizations required them to have prior coaching experience. Only 44.19% of the national organizations and 55.56% of the Hawaii leagues required background checks for coaches. Coaches’ attendance at coaching training seminars was required by 9.3% of the national and 11.11% of the Hawaii organizations. Clearly, youth baseball coaches in both national and state organizations are subjected to organizational requirements at minimal levels. Based on the results and on the existing literature, the authors recommend a model for certifying youth baseball (and other) coaches.

National and State Youth Baseball Coaching Requirements: A State Case Study

Through sports, youth coaches help parents and teachers develop the whole child or teenager in preparation for life. Sports are an important arena wherein coaches have the wonderful opportunity to guide and nurture the physical, mental, social, and emotional development of youth athletes. Coaching is of great value to society, according to Gilbert, Gilbert, and Trudel (2001), because there are millions of children and teenagers who “establish a segment of themselves in organized sports during a period of their lives that is critical to their personal development.” (p.29)Within the athletic arena, coaches assume the role of educator presenting youth with opportunities to learn and use both sports skills and life skills. But as Martens (2004) has argued, coaching is more than teaching, since “[c]oaches not only guide athletes in learning technical, tactical, and life skills, they also orchestrate and direct their lives in the performance of these skills” (p. vi)

The vast majority of youth programs in the United States rely on volunteers, notably parent-coaches (Wiersma & Sherman, 2005). Because of the volunteer nature of youth coaching, it is not surprising that coaches have various educational and athletic backgrounds (Martens, 2004). Most volunteer coaches receive only limited formal training or education in coaching to prepare them for their respective coaching endeavors (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2001; Gilbert et al., 2001; Gould, Krane, Giannini, & Hodge, 1990; Weiss & Hayashi, 1996). The majority of youth coaches nationally may be inadequately prepared to appropriately nurture children’s physical, mental, social, and emotional development. Research suggests that formal coaching education influences a coach’s ability to affect learning and performance in positive ways (Martens, 2004); coaching education is rarely mandatory (Clark, 2000), despite such findings. Furthermore, the available data describing standards that state and national sports organizations set for youth coaches are limited. The primary purpose of this study was, therefore, to determine these standards, or coaching requirements, in a sample of national youth baseball organizations as well as youth leagues in the state of Hawaii.

Methods

Every administrator (N = 61) at the five national youth baseball organizations and five statewide Hawaiian youth baseball organizations involved in the study completed a survey. These administrators included national directors, regional directors, and state directors, as well as the local presidents from the state leagues. The 12-item survey contained sections on (a) required certification, (b) required play and coaching experience, (c) required continuing professional education, and (d) educational background. Each survey question was designed to elicit a yes response (1) or a no response (2). The instrument’s intent was, first, to obtain from each administrator a description of any coaching certification that was required of or recommended for head baseball coaches by the organization (Questions 1–3). Next, the survey asked about experience head baseball coaches might be required to present, both as players and as coaches, and also whether they underwent any criminal background check (Questions 4–6). Then, the survey asked whether an organization required head baseball coaches to demonstrate professional growth through formal continuing education, and whether mandatory meetings of team parents were (Questions 7–10). Finally, the instrument surveyed the administrators about any education requirements established for head baseball coaches (Questions 11–12) (see Table 1). Frequency distributions and percentages quantifying the administrators’ responses were determined so that the five Hawaii youth baseball leagues could be compared and contrasted. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Results

Table 1 and Table 2 present descriptive statistics. Concerning the required certification of coaches, results indicate that neither the surveyed national youth baseball organizations nor the surveyed state leagues required any formal certification of head baseball coaches. In addition, according to the administrators, only three national organizations (6.98%) required head coaches to pass CPR and first aid certification examinations before they could act as coaches (see Table 1). One local president of a Hawaii state league similarly required coaches to obtain CPR and first aid certification prior to the season (see Table 2).

Concerning play and coaching experience required of coaches by national and state youth baseball organizations, only 3–5% of the national organizations required their head coaches to have any playing experience or any earlier coaching experience in baseball prior to coaching. Similarly, only 7–11% of the surveyed administrators from Hawaii state leagues reported that league coaches were required to have experience playing or coaching baseball.

In addition, only 44.19% of the national organizations required background checks for head baseball coaches prior to their assignment as coaches. Hawaii league administrators were slightly more likely to require background checks (55.56%), with just over half reporting their organizations required background checks.

Table 1

Number & Percentage of National Organization Administrators’ Yes/No Responses to 12 Items

Requirement	Little	League (n = 9)	PONY (n = 1)	Babe Ruth/	Cal Ripken (n=4)
	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
Certification of head coach mandated by national group	0 (0%)	9 (100%)	0 (0%)	21 (100%)	0 (0%)
Certification mandated by national group may be modified by administrator	9 (100%)	0 (0%)	18 (85.71%)	3 (14.29%)	4 (100%)
CPR/first aid certification of head coach	2 (22.22%)	7 (77.78%)	1 (4.76%)	20 (95.24%)	0 (0%)
Baseball playing experience of head coach	0 (0%)	9 (100%)	3 (14.29%)	18 (85.71%)	0 (0%)
Baseball coaching experience of head coach	0 (0%)	9 (100%)	2 (9.52%)	19 (90.48%)	0 (0%)
Criminal background check for head coach	7 (77.78%)	2 (22.22%)	4 (19.05%)	17 (80.95%)	0 (0%)
Annual examination over rules & regulations for head coach	0 (0%)	9 (100%)	1 (4.76%)	20 (95.24%)	0 (0%)
Academic preparation in coaching for head coach	0 (0%)	9 (100%)	4 (19.05%)	17 (80.95%)	0 (0%)
Seminars in coaching offered to head coach	9 (100%)	0 (0%)	14 (66.67%)	7 (33.33%)	2 (50%)
Mandatory team parent meetings	1 (11.11%)	8 (88.89%)	8 (38.10%)	13 (61.90%)	0 (0%)
High school diploma needed by head coach	0 (0%)	9 (100%)	0 (0%)	21 (100%)	0 (0%)
College degree needed by head coach	0 (0%)	9 (100%)	0 (0%)	21 (100%)	0 (0%)

Table 2

Number & Percentage of National and State Administrators’ Yes/No Responses to 12 Items

Requirement	National	(n = 34)	Hawaii	(n = 27)
	Yes	No	Yes	No
Certification of head coach mandated by national group	0 (0%)	43 (100%)	0 (0%)	27 (100%)
Certification mandated by national group may be modified by administrator	40 (93.02%)	3 (6.98%)	26 (96.30%)	1(3.70%)
CPR/first aid certification of head coach	3 (6.98%)	40 (93.02%)	1(3.70%)	26 (96.30%)
Baseball playing experience of head coach	3 (6.98%)	40 (93.02%)	3 (11.11%)	24 (88.89%)
Baseball coaching experience of head coach	2 (4.65%)	41 (95.35%)	2 (7.41%)	25 (92.59%)
Criminal background check for head coach	19 (44.19%)	24 (55.81%)	15 (55.56%)	12 (44.44%)
Annual examination over rules & regulations for head coach	1 (2.33%)	42 (97.67%)	0 (0%)	27 (100%)
Academic preparation in coaching for head coach	4 (9.30%)	39 (90.70%)	3 (11.11%)	24 (88.89%)
Seminars in coaching offered to head coach	31 (72.09%)	12 (27.91%)	20 (74.07%)	7 (25.93%)
Mandatory team parent meetings	9 (20.93%)	34 (79.07%)	6 (22.22%)	21 (77.78%)
High school diploma needed by head coach	0 (0%)	43 (100%)	0 (0%)	27 (100%)
College degree needed by head coach	0 (0%)	43 (100%)	0 (0%)	27 (100%)

Finally, concerning the professional growth or continuing education of youth baseball head coaches, only a small portion (9.30%) of the national organizations required head coaches to complete any coaching education prior to becoming a head coach, according to surveyed administrators. A similar 11.11% of the state organizations required coaching education for head coaches. While the organizations tended to lack continuing education requirements for head coaches, 80% of the studied organizations at the national level did offer seminars for their coaches (see Table 1), as did 74.07% of the Hawaii baseball leagues (see Table 2).

In addition, 3 of the 5 national organizations did not mandate team parent-coach meetings, and the remaining 2 indicated that only a small number of coaches in the organization held parent meetings at which head coaches addressed team goals and rules, player responsibilities and discipline, and parents’ and coaches’ behavior. The survey data from administrators of Hawaii leagues were similar, with only 22.22% mandating or even offering a limited number of team parent meetings.

Discussion

The results of this study are consistent with the majority of published work, although they do challenge a few earlier findings. Concerning certification, for example, our survey findings support the literature, with no contradictory results obtained: The national organizations and Hawaii organizations require no formal certification of coaches. The present findings furthermore show that the national administrators, collectively, joined the Hawaii local presidents in reporting that the organization or league they represented had autonomy to modify certification requirements. (Nevertheless, according to this study’s results, neither national nor Hawaii youth baseball administrators have created certification requirements for their coaches.)

Findings of the present study diverged from those in the literature, however, in terms of required CPR and first aid certification of coaches. According to earlier published research, no national organization requires CPR and first aid training for coaches. Our survey findings identified three administrators (from the Little League and PONY organizations) who said they required head baseball coaches to become CPR and first aid–certified; in addition, one local president in a Hawaii organization required coaches to obtain such certification prior to the season. This raises a meaningful question: Given that the present study found national and Hawaii administrators alike to affirm their autonomy to modify the certification requirements applied to coaches, why did only four of them deem CPR and first aid certification important enough to mandate?

Concerning the experience requirements established for head coaches, the present results might be described as disturbing. Only a very small percentage (see Tables 1 and 2) of national administrators (6.98%) and Hawaii league local presidents (11.11%) said their organizations required coaches to have played baseball in high school. While play experience does not guarantee that a coach can motivate each player to psychomotor, cognitive, and social growth, coaches who played in high school seem likelier than coaches lacking that background to offer the relevant experiences (and strong knowledge base) that benefit teams. DeRenne’s discussion (1993) of four “I’s” suggests goals for the volunteer parent-coach, all of which are built on the kind of information a former player should possess. According to DeRenne, team members must be informed, instructed, and inspired by the coach if coaching is to be successful; to accomplish these tasks requires good information, for which even the best intentions are no substitute (1993).

Even more disturbing than organizations’ lack of requirements about coaches’ experience as players is their lack of standards concerning prior coaching experience. An astoundingly low 4.56% of national administrators and 7.41% of Hawaii administrators (see Table 1 and Table 2) required their head coaches to have prior baseball coaching experience. First-year head coaches who are appointed or elected “team leader” despite having no athletics background may find the road difficult to navigate; on the other hand, the first-year head coach who is an experienced assistant coach steers clear of many difficulties. It should be remembered that on-the-job training of coaches comes at the expense of players. DeRenne (1993) has also addressed the importance of experience as well as information, writing that knowledge is the sum of information plus experience, and noting that, “[W]ith [k]nowledge comes AWARENESS. If you have good information, practical experience, and have gained some knowledge, you are dwelling more on what can go right and less on what can go wrong” (p. 11)

The present study’s findings furthermore diverged from the literature in terms of background checks for prospective coaches. According to one article on Little League Baseball, the organizations requires of all its coaches, volunteers, or other persons who may regularly contact Little League athletes to be cleared by a sex offender background check (“Criminal and Sex Offender Registry,” 2005). The present findings, however, showed only 77.78% of Little League administrators to require criminal background checks and substance abuse screenings for all prospective coaches. The Little League organization might look to its brother organization, the Police Activities League, or PAL, for a model of responsible administration: PAL demands 100% compliance with its background check policy concerning coaches.

In terms of professional growth or continuing education requirements for youth baseball coaches, the present findings indicate that national and Hawaii organizations send mixed messages to coaching volunteers. There was no annual rules-and-regulations examination for coaches in 97.67% of national organizations and in 100% of Hawaii organizations, according to our findings. Similarly, 90.70% of national organizations and 88.89% of Hawaii organizations did not mandate any coaching seminars or other training sessions, although, interestingly, they did tend to offer coaches optional seminars, clinics, or the like, in hopes of fostering professional growth (72.09% of national organizations, 74.07% of Hawaii organizations).

Finally, concerning coaches’ educational backgrounds, the present study found not one national or Hawaii league administrator who said an organization required head baseball coaches to hold a high school diploma or college degree. While a completed formal education does not in itself guarantee coaching success, diplomas do indicate some degree of responsibility and maturity, qualities that are necessary in those who lead young athletes.

Recommendations

The research findings prompt a strong suggestion to national and state youth baseball organizations that they adopt coaching certification as policy. Ideally, any prospective head coach in any national or state organization would be required to meet uniform certification criteria. Specific certification criteria should include (a) mandatory attendance to coaching training or seminars leading to successful completion of an examination; (b) passing an examination/certification in CPR and first aid; (c) mandatory preseason parent-coach team meetings, (d) high school playing experience, (e) high school diploma; (d) criminal background check extending to substance abuse, as well; (e) high school playing experience; and (f) experience as an assistant baseball coach or head coach in another sport.

Furthermore, it is recommended that the coaches be required to conduct mandatory pre-season meetings with team parents and that the youth baseball organizations each appoint a supervisor responsible to oversee and unify youth baseball policies based on guidelines from the National Alliance of Youth Sports (NAYS, 2005) recommendations. Finally, Wiersma and Sherman’s (2005) eight recommendations for preparing youth sports coaches also merit adoption. These researchers called for NASPE standards to be incorporated into “content that encompasses issues specific to communities” They also advocated league programs that foster mentoring between experienced and new coaches; called for consistency across organizations in terms of requirements for coaches’ preparation; and recommended board members’ greater presence at practices and games. Wiersma and Sherman also point to the benefits of season-long and even year-round educational opportunities for coaches, and also of university-community collaboration to devise and implement sound programs and policies. They argue that the content of coaching educational programs should suit the age, gender, and athletic level of an organization’s players. Finally, Wiersma and Sherman suggest, and the present researchers agree, that the purview of conduct codes for players’ parents should be limited to behavior that is observable, and that codes should accommodate “objective enforcement”

References

American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Sports Medicine and Fitness & Committee on School Health. (2001, June). Organized sports for children and preadolescents. Pediatrics, 107(6), 1459–1462. Retrieved March 28, 2008, from http:// aappolicy. aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;107/6/1459

National Alliance for Youth Sports. (n.d.) Recommendations for communities. Retrieved January 1, 2006, from http://www.nays.org/nays_community_recommendations.pdf

Clark, M. A. (2000). Who’s coaching the coaches? In J. R. Gerdy (Ed.) Sport in school: The future of an institution (pp. 55-65). New York: Teachers College, Columbia University.

Criminal and sex offender registry search tool available to local Little Leagues (2005). Little League Baseball, Updated January 7, 2005.

DeRenne, C., & House, T. (1993). Play ball: The new baseball basics for youth coaches, parents, and kids. Minneapolis, MN: West.

Gilbert, G., Gilbert, J., & Trudel, P. (2001). Coaching strategies for youth sports. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 72(5), 41–46.

Gould, D., Krane, V., Giannini, J., & Hodge, K. (1990). Educational needs of elite U.S. national team, Pan American, and Olympic coaches. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 9, 332–344.

Martens, R. (2004). Successful coaching. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Martens, R., Flannery, T., & Roetert, P. (2003). The future of coaching education in America. Retrieved September 15, 2004, from http://www.nfhs.org/cep/articles/futurecoaching.htm

National Association for Sport and Physical Education. (1995). National standards for athletic coaches. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt.

Weiss M., & Hayashi, C. (1996). The United States. In P. DeKnop, L. M. Engstrom, B. Skirstad, & R. Weiss (Eds.), Worldwide trends in youth sport (pp. 43–57). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Wiersma, L., & Sherman, C. (2005). Volunteer youth sport coaches’ perspectives of coaching education/certification and parental codes of conduct. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 76, 324–338.

Author’s Note: Correspondence for this article should be sent to Coop DeRenne,
Associate Professor, University of Hawaii, KLS Department, 1337 Lower Campus Rd.
Honolulu, Hawaii 96822. Email: Coop@Hawaii.edu.

U.S. Sports Academy2015-10-22T23:43:39-05:00April 2nd, 2008|Sports Coaching, Sports Facilities, Sports Management|Comments Off

The Impact of the HIPAA Privacy Rule on Collegiate Sport Professionals

Submitted by: Richard Bell, Mesa State College, United States Sports Academy National Faculty, Sarah Elizabeth Ratzlaff, Disney Sports, Steven Ross Murray, Mesa State College

Abstract

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted on August 21, 1996. Its fundamental purpose was to improve both the portability and the continuity of health insurance coverage. Title II of the act, intended to reduce paperwork, contained a clause called the Privacy Rule. The Privacy Rule is responsible for much confusion and controversy, particularly in collegiate sport settings. This paper identifies issues with the HIPAA Privacy Rule and suggests methods with which collegiate sport professionals can deal with those issues.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted on August 21, 1996, by the 104th U.S. Congress as Public Law 104-191 (29 U.S.C. §18). The act amended both the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA [29 U.S.C.§1182(a)(1)], and the Public Health Service Act [42 U.S.C.§ 6(a)]. Its main purpose was to improve both the portability and continuity of health insurance coverage for workers and their families, especially as individuals changed employers. Title II of the act was intended to reduce paperwork—making it easier to detect and prosecute fraud and abuse—and to streamline industry inefficiencies (Office of Civil Rights, 2003). However, one specific clause in title II part C, titled “Administrative Simplification,” has had implications beyond the original intent of the act. This clause is referred to as the Privacy Rule; it was effective on October 15, 2002, and is responsible for much confusion and widespread controversy (Kuczynski & Gibbs-Whalberg, 2005), especially in collegiate sport settings.

“Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information” is the Privacy Rule (45 CFR parts 160 and 164). The Privacy Rule implements the privacy requirements of the Administrative Simplification subtitle of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. The Privacy Rule was added to the legislation at the request of the insurance industry. It was intended to be a confidentiality provision—controlling the use and disclosure of health information—by establishing for the first time a set of national standards for the protection of personal health information. Before the enactment of this act, an individual’s health information was readily available and able to be shared among insurance companies. The resulting effect of this ethically questionable, yet legal, sharing of health information was across-the-board rejections of many persons who requested, and often needed, health insurance.

The Department of Health and Human Services is responsible for the enforcement and implementation of HIPAA. Being a federal agency, its power is far-reaching and at times intimidating. The passage of HIPAA and more specifically of the Privacy Rule has had an immediate impact on sporting organizations and personnel, especially with the normative method by which injuries are reported and information concerning athletes is released. The challenge facing sport professionals is determining if HIPAA applies to them, and if it does, establishing protocol for performing their duties adequately while being in compliance with the federal regulations. This paper will identify issues with the HIPAA Privacy Rule and suggest methods with which sport professionals can cope with these issues.

Operational Definitions

Personal health information is defined by HIPAA as individually identifiable health information. This includes any demographic or personally identifiable data relating to physical or mental health conditions, as well as information relating to the provision of health care and payment; however, patient information that is redacted for identifiable information is not subject to HIPAA guidelines (Jones, 2003). The Privacy Rule (also known as “Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information”) is in title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part 160 and subparts A and E of part 164. The full text of the Privacy Rule can be found at the HIPAA privacy website of the Office for Civil Rights, http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa.

The Privacy Rule specifies that all covered entities follow five steps to ensure the privacy of patients’ health information (Dolan, 2003):

Notify patients about their rights and inform them of how their information will be used.
Adopt and implement privacy procedures.
Train employees on privacy procedures.
Designate an individual to be responsible for ensuring that privacy procedures are adopted and followed.
Ensure that patient records containing individual identifiable health information are secure.

Some of the problems encountered from the Privacy Rule are best reflected in the following two questions: What constitutes a covered entity, and how does HIPAA interact with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) in the collegiate sport setting? In addition, the Privacy Rule also affects how information about an athlete’s injury can be provided to the media as well as to coaches and athletic administrators (Wyatt & Carden, 2003).

Covered Entities

The Administrative Simplification standards adopted by the Department of Health and Human Services under HIPAA apply to any entity that is a health-care provider that conducts certain transactions in electronic form; or is a health-care clearinghouse; or is a health plan. An entity that is one (or more) of these types of entities is referred to as a “covered entity” in the Administrative Simplification regulations found at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/HIPAAGenInfo/06_AreYouaCoveredEntity.asp. Covered entities are expected to adhere to the policies of the Privacy Rule. Any organization that bills for medical services or transmits personal health information electronically will fall under the guidelines of the Privacy Rule.

A college, university, or high school, then, is not automatically a covered entity simply because it has an athletic trainer on staff. Only if the athletic trainer bills the student-athlete or the student-athlete’s insurance plan for outside treatment may the institution become a covered entity. Further, a physician who bills, transmits claims to a health plan, or receives payments through some type of electronic form is considered a covered entity under HIPAA regulations (Magee, Almekenders, & Taft, 2003). Moreover, hybrid entities exist: organizations including some part that is a covered entity and another part that is not. This typically transpires in a university setting in which the student medical and health centers are covered entities, but the rest of the departments are not. HIPAA regulations allow an institution to designate which components are involved and which individuals are covered within the respective components. This allows the institution to place HIPAA requirements on a specific category of persons it has defined as its health-covered components (Hill, 2003).

Questions also have arisen about whether non-covered entities that interact and share information with covered entities consequently become covered. Though the distinction is a bit murky, the answer seems to be no. Information communicated from a covered entity to a non-covered entity is no longer subject to the Privacy Rule, and the non-covered entity does not change its status (Office of Civil Rights, 2003).

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which oversees the regulation of HIPAA, has established the following website with information about the law along with a tool that can be used to see what qualifies as a covered entity: www.cms.hhs.gov/hipaa/hipaa2/support/tools/decisionsupport/default.asp. Additional online resources are available from HHS that provide a general overview and an explanation of individual rights; see the website www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/consumer_rights.pdf.

HIPAA and FERPA

The interaction of HIPAA’s Privacy Rule with the FERPA adds to the confusion surrounding HIPAA. FERPA applies to all schools receiving federal funding. The intent of the act is to allow parents access to information about their children, while safeguarding information from release to other parties. However, the act does allow for information to be released, without consent, to school officials who have a legitimate educational interest in the student (e.g., faculty advisors, registrars). Exempted from the definition are education records, as those are defined in and covered by FERPA, and also treatment records of students 18 years of age or older that are made and maintained by the student’s treating physician or other medical professional and are available only to that physician or professional. Under HIPAA, protected health information excludes individually identifiable health information in education records that is covered by FERPA (Windley & Walueff, 2005). It appears that FERPA’s application takes precedence over HIPAA (Pitz, 2003).

HIPAA and the Athlete

Within sport, it has been standard practice for information about players’ injuries to be communicated to a wide range of individuals, from physicians and athletic trainers to coaches, school administrators, and even the media. The biggest concern for many sport organizations has been how the privacy act will affect these procedures. Professional teams have feared that athletes may withhold injury information before signing contracts (Jenkins, 2003). Both professional and college teams are unsure if information can be provided to trainers and coaches by team physicians. Another major concern for both types of teams is what, if any, information can be provided to the media (Elmore, 2002), as it disseminates information rapidly and readily to the populace as a whole.

For professional teams, health and injury information is considered criteria for employment, because of the nature of the job. Therefore, an injured athlete would not be able legally to withhold injury information from a team to whom he or she is contractually obliged. This also means that health and treatment information could be shared with coaches and team owners (Magee, Almekinders, & Taft, 2003).

Depending upon the status of a team physician for college teams, there are different stipulations about what information can be shared. Some team physicians conduct part of their practice through the student health center. In this case, the physician falls under the guidelines of FERPA and should be allowed to share information with coaches and athletic trainers. A physician not employed by a university-run health center will be subject to the HIPAA guidelines. In this case it is possible that, in order for any information to be released to athletic trainers, an authorization form would need to be signed. An exception to HIPAA exists that specifically states that information can be released to another provider for treatment purposes. What is unclear, however, is whether or not a trainer is considered a provider under HIPAA guidelines (Hill, 2003).

For coaches and other school administrators, an authorization would need to be provided before this information could be shared. Another concern is on-field evaluations information. Can this be shared with the necessary parties? The answer, it seems, is that these evaluations would fall under the category of emergency evaluations, for which prior authorization is unnecessary.

Finally, regarding the sharing of information with the media, this issue is clear-cut. Under HIPAA, personal health information can be provided to sports information staff or the media only with authorization from the athlete (Magee et al., 2003).

Solutions

Any sport entity that is covered under HIPAA needs to review its existing practices, policies, and procedures. Relationships with other businesses also will need to be reviewed as they fall under HIPAA guidelines. Utilizing experienced legal counsel to determine status under HIPAA and also to recommend authorization forms, privacy notices, and business-associate contracts is recommended (Kibbe, 2005).

One way that some schools are fulfilling the authorization constraint is by requiring athletes to sign authorization forms in order to participate in athletics. Signing the form is mandatory if the student-athlete wants to participate in athletics. Surprisingly, HHS approved this measure (Hill, 2003). Other schools that have not implemented such a policy suggest always getting permission from athletes when reporting to the media. Even when an athlete has consented to the sharing of information with one media outlet, consent should be given for each media entity that subsequently becomes involved.

Schools choosing to opt for signed consent and authorization should ensure that their forms meet the requirements of HIPAA. Authorization forms should contain a statement about what information will be shared and with whom and for how long; moreover, the form must have an expiration date. The form should be specific about who may disclose the information and about what information may be disclosed and to whom. The form also should state that the athlete cannot be denied treatment for refusing to sign and that, if information is disclosed to a non-covered entity, it may no longer be protected under HIPAA. The form also needs to contain a statement that an athlete has a right to revoke authorization at any time (Hill, 2003).

Consequences of Inappropriate Release of Information

The Department of Health and Human Services has stated that most of its enforcement will be compliance-driven and that the rule focuses on seeking voluntary compliance and providing technical assistance to covered entities. Entities found in violation will be given opportunities to demonstrate compliance or to submit a corrective action plan. However, HHS has outlined both a civil penalty of up to $25,000 per person per year per standard, and the following criminal penalties for knowingly disclosing information (Jones, 2003): knowing disclosure, $50,000 and 1 year imprisonment; false pretenses, $100,000 and 5 years’ imprisonment; intent to sell, $250,000 and 10 years’ imprisonment.

HHS has released information about filing a complaint against a covered entity that is non-compliant. Individuals who believe their privacy rights have been violated must file complaints in writing, either electronically or on paper, within 180 days of when they knew or should have known that the act or omission occurred. A form was developed by HHS to assist anyone who wants to file a complaint and is available at www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa.

To safeguard protected information, covered entities need to ensure that personal health information is secure. Any records need to be kept in locked file cabinets. When athletic trainers treat athletes, they need to make sure information about the athletes is not discussed where others can hear it. Any consultation with parents or other involved parties needs to be done with a degree of privacy. Moreover, computer security measures must comply with the HIPAA standards.

HIPAA and Sport Managers and Their Employers

The largest concern for most institutions relates to treatment and injury information for student-athletes. Sport managers need to investigate their institutions’ status as a covered entity and review their compliance with HIPAA and the Privacy Rule. If an institution is a covered entity, the sport manager will need to fully understand the implications of HIPAA and insure that the department is in compliance by safeguarding personal health information, training staff, and obtaining the appropriate authorizations. A further implication of HIPAA concerns the status of sport facilities. If medical information about patron accidents is kept or if a facility employs a nurse or EMT unit, then it is considered a covered entity.

Though HIPAA and the Privacy Rule may seem daunting, most institutions and organizations have only had to make a few changes to their policies to be in compliance. As the act is relatively new, however, sport managers need to continue to update their knowledge of HIPAA to ensure full compliance.

References

Dolan, T. G. (2003). PTs respond to HIPAA: The real world experience. PT Magazine of Physical Therapy, 11(7), 52–56.

Elmore, L. (2002). Law injects confusion into injury reporting. Street and Smith’s Sports Business Journal, 5(26), 30.

General Overview of Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information, 45 CFR Part 160 and Subparts A and E of Part 164 (2003).

Hill, D. (2003). A matter of privacy. Athletic Management, 15(2), 37–42.

Jenkins, D. (2003, September 12). Hiding the hurt: Privacy act puts twist on obtaining injury reports. Chattanooga Times Free Press, p. D5.

Jones, D. (2003). HIPAA: Friend or foe to athletic trainers? Athletic Therapy Today, 8(2), 17–19.

Kibbe, D. C. (2005). 10 steps to HIPAA security compliance. Family Practice Management, April, 2005, 43–49.

Kuczynski, K., & Giggs-Wahlberg, P. (2005). HIPAA the health care hippo: Despite rhetoric, is privacy still an issue? Social Work, 50(3), 283–287.

Magee, J. T., Almekinders, L. C., & Taft, T. N. (2003). HIPAA and the team physician. Sports Medicine Update, March–April, 2003, 4¬–7.

Office for Civil Rights. (2003). Summary of the HIPAA privacy rule, (May 2003). Retrieved March 28, 2007. http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacysummary.pdf

Pitz, S. M. (2003). HIPAA and the sports media: Separating fiction from reality. Nevada Lawyer, 11(8), 12–14.

Windley, V. R., & Walueff, G. (2005, June). HIPAA, right to privacy, contracts. NAEB Journal, 4–6. Retrieved from the Internet March 28, 2007. http://wikis.oet.udel.edu/uapp667sinesummer05/index.php/Main/HIPAA

Wyatt, B. M., & Carden, K. E. (2003, April). The HIPAA privacy regulations and access to athletes’ medical information. Ropes & Gray Sports Law Newsletter, 6–7. Retrieved from the Internet March 28, 2007. http://www.ropesgray.com/files/Publication/3b22be16- 0237-4e05-9e11-af29b45830aa/Presentation/PublicationAttachment/0e23970d-d944- 4ace-acce-893ed0f9dba7/Newsletter_April%202003_Sports%20Law%20Group.pdf

U.S. Sports Academy2013-11-25T21:55:05-06:00April 2nd, 2008|Sports Coaching, Sports Management, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off