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 | Topic:  High School Sports

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Does Every Coach Need Core Values? A Blueprint for Building Significant Sports Programs

Clay Burnett

Time: 3:00

In the world of high school athletics, core values are the guiding principles that shape a team's culture, behavior, and overall reputation. Just as student-athletes rely on consistent coaching and training to improve their performance, coaches need clear values to direct their decisions, foster unity, and build a sense of purpose. So, does every coach need core values? The answer lies in how these principles impact both individuals and teams.

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13-Point Checklist: AD Readiness for Next Season

Clay Burnett

As an athletic director, your list of demands, responsibilities, and requirements is exhausting. This summer must hire coaches, clear athletes, inform parents, and prepare venues... and those are just a few to-do's on your list.

The time commitment and communication requirements are daunting, but every year you do it. And, education-based athletics will continue to thrive based on the herculean efforts of people like you.

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13-Point Checklist: AD Readiness for Next Season

Clay Burnett

As an athletic director, your list of demands, responsibilities, and requirements is exhausting. This summer must hire coaches, clear athletes, inform parents, and prepare venues... and those are just a few to-do's on your list.

The time commitment and communication requirements are daunting, but every year you do it. And, education-based athletics will continue to thrive based on the herculean efforts of people like you.

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The Athletic Director's COVID-19 Reopening Sports Checklist

Clay Burnett

We get it. New national, state, and local guidelines land on your desk every day. Plus, you can't forget all those other issues. Coaches, communication, concussions, clearances, and compliance...  yeah, they'll all be issues again too.

Before you unlock the gates, be sure that you have the procedures in place to establish evidence-based records providing support for your reopening decisions. Create a plan that includes a centralized database of evidence to help confirm and justify decisions. Because as you know, every decision will be scrutinized and questioned.

Download and print our "Reopening Sports Checklist" to reduce your workload and close lurking loopholes. 


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How To Use Mobile Health Screening Tools in Your Reopening Plan

Clay Burnett

On-site health screenings help prevent exposure to illness and may be required by federal, state, or local guidelines. The question is:

How can your school streamline staff and student screening to create a safe learning environment?

The answer: use a mobile screening solution to...

  • Keep your staff and students safe
  • Create a statistical record
  • Make evidence-based decisions concerning reopening
  • Provide proof when communicating with families and stakeholders

Watch our 2-Minute Video to learn more

 

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Smart Strategies to Meet NFHS COVID-19 Guidance

Clay Burnett

Superintendents, technology directors, and athletic directors awake each morning to a new batch of news from federal, state, and local resources. The news can range from regulations to recommendations surrounding the health and safety of their students, athletes, and communities. At the same time, these school district leaders receive both praise and pressure from their stakeholders.

According to the National School Board Association ("NSBA"), school district leaders should first follow guidance from state educational agencies and public health departments. After ensuring a school district is in compliance with federal, state, and local health protocols, school boards must face the challenge of preparing for both an outbreak and a reopening.

Unfortunately, time is a limited resource. School district leaders must adapt quickly using trusted resources and tools to help increase compliance with policies and procedures in order to create a safe school.

FinalForms helps leaders meet the snowballing administrative demands of COVID-19.

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6 Tips for Dealing with Politics in High School Athletics

Clay Burnett

Athletic programs deliver a ton of upsides to communities. They teach the importance of teamwork and hard work, they build camaraderie, and they can even bring an entire community together.

Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons—such as selfish and aggressive parents, coaches that show favoritism, and donor and booster club influences—student athletics can have a dark underbelly. In this blog post, we’ll take a quick look at why bureaucracy happens and provide six tips athletic directors can use for dealing with politics in high school athletics.

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How to Reduce Risk When Hiring High School Coaches

Clay Burnett

One of the primary responsibilities of an Athletic Director is hiring coaches. But finding qualified coaches can be difficult—especially for sports like bowling, lacrosse, and cheerleading.

Being a coach is an important job that comes with public pressures and very little pay. Finding the right person can be tough, but it’s worth the effort.

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Top 10 Safety and Legal Issues in High School Athletics

Clay Burnett

As an athletic director, you’re tasked with doing everything you can to ensure an optimal athletics experience for all students, parents, coaches, and members of the community. To do that, you need to keep safety and legal issues in high school athletics top of mind. Mitigating risk, ensuring compliance, and preventing negligence are all important pieces of AD job descriptions today. This is in large part because districts across the country face increasing regulations and we live in an increasingly litigious society.

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Schools Used FinalForms to Send 4.5M Emails in March

FinalForms Media

While your staffers may think "forms" when they hear FinalForms, our stats tell us there is an even more popular use for our online registration system: email communication. Staying connected with staff, parents, and students can be an uphill battle. However, in the midst of the current COVID-19 pandemic, email communication is a critical lifeline. Staffers relied on FinalForms' uninterrupted, zero-delay service to send 4.5 million emails last month. 

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