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NFHS Coach Education Program Surpasses 500,000 Users

INDIANAPOLIS, IN (April 9, 2012) — The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) has reached a milestone with its online Coach Education Program as more than 500,000 individuals have now registered on the site at www.nfhslearn.com. Amazingly, this feat occurred in slightly more than five years since the start of the program. The 500,000th user was officially recorded on February 28.

The NFHS Coach Education Program Web site was launched on January 3, 2007 with The Fundamentals of Coaching and First Aid for Coaches. Since then, the program has added 24 more courses on a variety of topics.

Tim Flannery, CMAA, NFHS Director of Coach Education, said the 500,000 mark is important because it signals that a majority of interscholastic coaches are taking advantage of the program’s resources.

“The whole purpose of the program is to educate coaches on their roles in an educational-based setting,” Flannery said. “We are making good progress at reaching all coaches. Once we are connected with them, we can help them become better at what they do.”
Flannery estimates that there are about one million interscholastic coaches across the country. He said that goal-setting has been important throughout the program’s existence.

“We’ve surpassed every goal we have set annually, and we are well on our way to consistently reaching 100,000 unique visitors per year,” he said. “That growth will be great for the student-athletes because there is a good chance that each respective coach is receiving the proper training.”

The NFHS Coach Education Program was launched to keep costs down and promote learning among interscholastic coaches. There are currently 26 available courses, but Flannery estimates that there will be 35 or more by the end of 2012. He says the next step is getting coaches who have already taken the core courses to come back and utilize the other educational opportunities that the program has to offer.

“We don’t think it’s a one-and-done situation,” he said. “It’s an ongoing professional development program. No one course will make a large difference by itself, but over time, a combination of courses can. Now that we’ve connected to a majority of coaches, we need to encourage them to stay connected.”

In addition to the 500,000-user milestone, the free Concussion in Sports – What you Need to Know course has now been accessed by 400,000 people, making it the most-used course on the site. In addition to coaches, Flannery said parents and officials also are among the users of the free courses.

More than 220,000 people have taken the Fundamentals of Coaching course – one of two core courses, along with First Aid for Coaches. The NFHS also offers 13 sport-specific courses, eight elective courses and three free courses.
All NFHS Coach Education courses are available at www.nfhslearn.com.
 
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This press release was written by Alex Swenson, an intern in the NFHS Publications/Communications Department. He is a student at Franklin (Indiana) College and is majoring in broadcast journalism and public relations.
 
About the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS)
The NFHS, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, is the national leadership organization for high school sports and performing arts activities. Since 1920, the NFHS has led the development of education-based interscholastic sports and performing arts activities that help students succeed in their lives. The NFHS sets direction for the future by building awareness and support, improving the participation experience, establishing consistent standards and rules for competition, and helping those who oversee high school sports and activities. The NFHS writes playing rules for 17 sports for boys and girls at the high school level. Through its 50 member state associations and the District of Columbia, the NFHS reaches more than 19,000 high schools and 11 million participants in high school activity programs, including more than 7.6 million in high school sports. As the recognized national authority on interscholastic activity programs, the NFHS conducts national meetings; sanctions interstate events; offers online publications and services for high school coaches and officials; sponsors professional organizations for high school coaches, officials, speech and debate coaches, and music adjudicators; serves as the national source for interscholastic coach training; and serves as a national information resource of interscholastic athletics and activities. For more information, visit the NFHS Web site at www.nfhs.org.
 
MEDIA CONTACTS:          Bruce Howard or John Gillis, 317-972-6900
                                         National Federation of State High School Associations
                                         PO Box 690, Indianapolis, Indiana 46206
                                         bhoward@nfhs.org or jgillis@nfhs.org
 
Bruce Howard
Director of Publications and Communications
National Federation of State High School Associations
PO Box 690
Indianapolis, IN 46206
317-822-5724
317-822-5700 (Fax)
bhoward@nfhs.org

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