SEVEN DUTIES OF A COACH

1. To Provide Proper Health Care

2. To Provide a Safe Environment

3. To Warn of Dangers

4. To Properly Instruct

5. To Properly Classify/Evaluate Athletes

6. To Provide Supervision

7. To Enforce Rules and Regulations

1. TO PROVIDE PROPER HEALTH CARE

• Do you and your staff have proper first aid and CPR training?
• Do you have an emergency plan for treating injured players?
• Do you understand the difference between turnout shape, practice shape, game shape and tournament shape?

2. TO PROVIDE A SAFE ENVIRONMENT

• Do you know how to fit the player’s equipment properly?
• Are you putting ill-fitting or unsafe equipment on a player?
• Do you control/supervise practices and especially scrimmages?
• Do you teach proper techniques and correct improper techniques immediately?
• What do you do when an unsafe facility is noticed?
• How do you handle many players with a few coaches?

3. TO WARN OF DANGERS

• It is the responsibility of every coach to inform all athletes and their parents

or guardians of the inherent risks involved in lacrosse.

• A person cannot accept risk if they are not aware of it.

Warnings must be:

Obvious and direct

Specific to the risk

Comprehensible – students must be able to understand

Properly located and easily seen

Warnings must provide:

Knowledge of the Activity

Understanding of one’s own abilities

Appreciation of potential injuries that may occur

Warnings must change with changing:

Rules

Equipment

Strategy

Technique(s)

Warnings should include:

Specific risk by activity or equipment

“Sign-off” for parents and athlete acknowledging receipt of warning

Coaches should:

Have a pre-season meeting to review warning information for parents and players – avoids the “I didn’t know” syndrome

Keep signed copies of all warning letters, training rules and team rules

Meet with parents and players prior to start of practice to communicate procedures for your program and set guidelines for actions and protocols. This minimizes the “I didn’t know” or “you didn’t tell me” syndromes

4. TO INSTRUCT

• Coaches must:

Be aware of MISMATCHES and not allow them to happen

Have skills to match the risk of the activity

Make sure all persons associated with the program keep abreast of changes in rules, equipment, strategies and techniques. “I didn’t know” is not an excuse

5. TO PROPERTY CLASSIFY/EVALUATION PLAYERS

· As a coach, it is your duty to accurately group players for activities in a manner which players may participate safely. A coach is responsible for placing players in situations in which the player has the skills and conditioning to handle. It is your responsibility to supervise and observe the activity knowing how to deal with any incapacitating condition such as exhaustion, fatigue, physical distress.

Factors to consider:

Physical Skill, Age, Experience, Maturity, Size, Mental State

Physical Condition, Disabilities

6. TO PROVIDE SUPERVISION

· Critical elements of proper supervision

Was there a plan for supervision?

What are the ages of the players supervised?

What is the skill level of the players supervised?

Do players understand the directions given them?

· NOTE: Participation is NOT supervision.

7. TO ENFORCE RULES AND REGULATIONS

· Coaches should:

Enforce rules consistently

Get rid of rule if it is not enforced

Just because “they are doing it” doesn’t create the need for a rule or justify a rule change.

Compiled from WIAA information regarding Risk Management, 2007.