A coach's speech to the Peoria Public Schools District 150 Board regarding coaching and policy in District 150. 9/2016

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“Athletes first, winning second” is the NFHS (National Federation of High
Schools) coaching philosophy adopted by the IHSA and taught through its ASEP
certification process.
Sadly to say that this philosophy is not embraced by all coaches and schools in
District 150. How do I know?
During my time with the district, I was Head track coach of both boys and girls at
Lincoln Middle School, Assistant boys track coach at Manual HS, Head girls
basketball coach here at Roosevelt Grade School and volunteer assistant coaches of
both track and basketball at both Manual and Roosevelt prior to that for a number
of years. I was the first and only head coach of the District 150 grade school
summer girls basketball camp and grade school co-ed track & field camp.
Because I was not a teacher, I was required to take the ASEP certification courses
which included a sports first aid and more recently a concussion requirement.
However, in order to be a grade school coach, there was and is NO course or
training requirement.
The current practice of the District is that if you are a teacher or an assistant, then
you can step right into coaching both at a high school or grade school level with
little more than concussion training, CPR training and sports first aid training at the
high school level and only CPR training at the grade school level.
Aside from standard District wide employee CBT training on such things, there is
no specific coach training at either high school or grade school level for sexual
harassment or sexual abuse, nor are there any defined coaching standards of
conduct, team building and program progress monitoring.

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In this District, We have coaches loosing whole teams (causing athletes to quite
and walk off, or kicking athletes off the team for little or no reason) during the
course of the season without ever having to explain and or meet with either athletes
and or parents to discuss the woefully inadequate results. YET, those same coaches
maintain a stipend and pay from taxpayers without their actions being called into
accountability.
We have coaches who have never had to produce a coaching plan or explain team
philosophy to an administrator or overseer IF they were ever overseen. How is
their work justified? By Principals who know very little or nothing about the
sports, the needs or interactions?
I know of situations where coaches, have received multiple complaints from
athletes and parents about their demeanor, behavior and inappropriate actions, but
who continue to disrespect the “public” that is a part of our name.
I recently received a half page guideline from a coach (which I thought was at least
a positive step) that stated that the coach was unavailable to be contacted by a
parent at “any time” on a game day. In other words, “don’t contact me for anything
until I am ready to be contacted”…What of athlete injury or emergency? The same
sheet spoke that athletes would be held “accountable”.
Standards such as these are not only hypocritical but wholly inadequate for a
PUBLIC school. This is not a private or exclusive institution or an institution
where talent has been hand selected. A PUBLIC school is an institution where
every employee should be accountable to the PUBLIC that it serves, EVEN
coaches!

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One particular coach, who I personally reported for sexually grooming a child,
although removed from girls coaching, yet continues to coach District children. In
part because the Principal was afraid of union reprisal. In this case, no sport
specific sexual harassment or sexually inappropriate ID training had been delivered
to anyone. Neither the principal or the coach knew the nuances of sports specific
sexual “grooming” and how to identify and avoid it.
As a USATF coach, part of my annual training is to complete a Safe Sport training
whereby we review standards of accountability towards athletes, parents and
families. We are taught to identify hazing, sexually inappropriate interactions with
athletes and implement safeguards and standards. Similar to ASEP we are taught
to create a team philosophy that values our product, ie: the children and families.
Unfortunately, this District neither adopts nor implements a real program to place
athletes first!
Ooh we have some excellent coaches, and calling their names would take quite a
while, and although winning is good, it may be a surprise that some of the best
coaches don’t always have the most winning records.
Successful coaches, value their product, and look to improve their skills and the
skills of their athletes.
Yes, we have some good coaches, but we MUST do much better across the board
and at all levels of student athletics.
This is at a time when Americans are spending more dollars than ever before on
youth athletics and athletic development. Parents are investing heavily in their

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children. Look at Peoria’s basketball camps and the explosion of AAU athletics.
This is at a time when Universities are placing high net investments into athletic
programs seeking to enhance visibility and increase opportunity for their
student/athletes and bolster collegiate enrollments. In other words, this is about
truly creating opportunity for ALL student athletes.
Peoria athletes are second to none in my opinion, however, our children need better
support. We don’t need coaches penalizing athletes because they can’t practice on
Sunday or because they missed a summer camp. We don’t need coaches who see
parents as a burden.
We need coaches who teach skills and fundamentals, who can assess and identify
talent and give athletes the opportunity to play and be a part of the team.
Just because a person is a teacher, does not mean they should be or can be a coach.
Open up coaching to qualified individuals who are willing to contribute their time
and experience to our children. In crease the number of Black and minority
coaches at institutions who very rarely, if ever see Black leadership in a position
directly interfacing with them.
Do not continue to prohibit our children by allowing unprepared, untrained and and
undedicated individuals to discourage their horizons in athletics. Take the same
diligence with athletes and their care as is taken with classroom instruction.
Pastor Havey Burnett
ASEP/IHSA Certified Coach
USATF Coach Peoria Inner City Track Club