Case
Dealing with coaches

I work at a school where sports are emphasized in a major way. Students leave early for games on a fairly regular basis, and to make up for this, Tuesday is a make-up day for student athletes. It is unofficial and not enforced by the administration but most teachers stay late this day to allow students to make up work they may have missed. The set-up works out great, until. Until a coach comes, like one did to me, and demands the student come away from making up a test and come to practice. The coaches are also co-workers, and one would think they'd understand the emphasis on academics but that often seems to be over-shadowed by the importance of athletics. The question is, how would you handle it, if a co-worker (who also happened to be a coach) came to your room during a tutoring/make up time, and demanded the student-athlete leave early to come to practice?

Posted on: 10/17/15 | Views: 1235
Solution #1
Wow! I am a cheerleading coach, and I am in shock. If a teacher comes to me regarding one of my cheerleaders, I immediately handle the situation. I have allowed students to come to practice late or even miss practices for tutoring in classrooms. Academics come first. If this happened to me as a teacher, I would ask to speak to the coach in private. I would explain to them that the athlete would not be excused from my class anymore if assignments were not caught up and the student passing my class. I would also stress to them that if the students is failing, they will then by unable to participate in the sport PERIOD! I do understand that this can be a very touchy subject, and if all else fails, go to administration.

I agree. This has to be handled in a multi-pronged way.

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Solution #2
Wow, as a coach I can see this being an issue, but coaches need to realize that if students are not passing their classes, they cannot play sports. Therefore, if a coach came up to me and asked for my students to leave tutoring to go to practice, I would allow it. However, before allowing the student and coach to leave I would discuss with both them the best time for them to allow the student to come to tutoring. I understand that during the season the student-athlete is busy, and I would do everything I can to accommodate. However, the bottom line is student athletes are students first and athletes second.
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Solution #3
As a high school coach, I have worked with many coaches who get so wrapped up in coaching their sport that they seem to forget that academics come first. Sometimes coaches place the sport first and unknowingly pressure the student athlete into putting the sport before school. In this situation, I would probably not cause a scene in front of the student but later talk one-on-one with the coach about the importance of the student's academics and see if we could come to an agreement that the student attend the make-up work session.
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Solution #4
I would simply tell the coach that as soon as the student is done with tutoring I will send them his way but until then this is my time and academics are my top priority.
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Solution #5
If I was in this situation, I would pull the coach outside in the hallway so that you are not discussing the matter in front of the student. I would then explain to them that the students academics needs to come first because without a passing grade, the student will not be able to participate in the sport that they are in. You could even ask the coach to make a suggestion as to when they would like the student to work on their class work and maybe you two could come up with an arrangement.
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Solution #6
I would not let the student leave a make-up exam because it is not fair to my other students.
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Solution #7
This is shocking, the teacher/coach should understand the rules and how school comes first and sports are an extra. If the student is not passing their classes there is no more sports. I would have a private conversation with them and if that still does not work, have a word with the principal.
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Solution #8
Interesting situation, thank you for sharing.
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