Unit B 1

PE 607 Unit B

Part 1 – Communication (40pts)

1.1A – Off-season letter to your athletes:

Welcome to Mustang Track and Field,

The start of school year and pre-season is right around the corner. Like most of you, I

cannot wait to get started!

As we enter pre-season, what we do during the off-season, will impact our pre-season and

training going further. In track and field, and in life, continue to strive for greatness and set the

bar high for yourself. During the fall, we will start practice on Tuesday, September 11th 2019.

We have a great group of freshman athletes coming in this year to compliment the

returning athletes. We are looking to build off of our performance from last indoor and outdoor

season. If we are determined to make a difference in this conference, we will need to work hard

and be committed to our off-season program.

The coaching staff has planned a 12 week lifting and training program during the off-

season. This program isn’t developed to force us to come into the pre-season already in shape.

This program was developed to keep us physically active all summer during your off-season.

If anyone has questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to get ahold of one of the

coaches! Enjoy your summer vacation.

1.1B – Letter to your administration detailing the goals of your program and the benefit of

athletics to your athletes:

1.1C -

Dear student athletes and families,

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Welcome to the 2018 – 2019 indoor/outdoor season of Mustang Track and Field! We are excited

to get started this fall and looking forward to the competition seasons next semester. This letter is

to review some important information for the Mustang Track and Field program.

The pre-season will start Tuesday, September 11th and we will be practicing together for eight

hours a week due to restrictions of the NCAA. The athletes will be running two-three times a

week and lifting four days a week. In-season will start Monday, October 15th and we will be

allow to work with the athletes for 20hours a week. Throughout the season, we will be

fundraising. As family members, guardians, or parents, you may receive letters through the year

while we fundraise asking for donations. Please, do not feel obligated to donate but if you can we

will use your donation to pay for gear, travels fees, food, etc. All donation will be seen by the

athletes one way or another. Here is the competition schedule for the upcoming season:

Indoor

December 8th @ Minnesota State – Mankato, MN

January 18th @ South Dakota State – Brookings, SD

January 25th @ Minnesota State – Mankato, MN

February 1st @ North Dakota State – Fargo, ND

February 9th @ Saint John’s – Collegeville, MN

February 15th @ South Dakota State – Brookings, SD

February 22nd @ Minnesota State – Mankato, MN

March 9th NCAA Indoor Championships @ Pittsburg, KAN

1.2 – Outline for booster club presentation:

- Introductions (coaches and athletes)

- Talk about what we’ve been doing as a team

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- Talk about any upcoming fundraising

- Talk about the schedule and upcoming events

- Conclusion

*First booster club event of the year

1.3 – Agenda for a coaches meeting:

- Introductions

- Expectations

- Coaching philosophy/team’s vision

- Eligibility rules

- Go over schedule for upcoming season

- Workout program

- Recruiting (what we’re looking for, what we need, etc.)

*First meeting of the year

1.4 – Press release to the media:

MARSHALL, Minn. – Southwest Minnesota State University Director of Athletics Tomi Davis

announced today the hiring of Bruce Wayne as the head women's hockey coach at SMSU.

SMSU announced the addition of the women's hockey program on May 10 and will begin

competition during the 2020-21 academic year.

Wayne comes to SMSU after spending the past eight seasons as the head women's hockey coach

at NCAA Division I Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio.

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"We are excited about the fire and experience Coach Wayne will bring to the newly addition of

the women's hockey program at SMSU," Davis said." Coach Wayne will build our women's

hockey program on the values of academic success, a great student-athlete experience,

community engagement and a strong work ethic in and outside of the hockey ring. We welcome

Coach Wayne to the Mustang family and look forward to his arrival.”

During Wayne's tenure at Ohio State, he helped turn the program around after years of losing,

lead the team to win a national championship, set the record for the highest scoring team in

NCAA history, coached several All-Americans, and players who went onto play professionally.

"I want to thank Ms. Davis for giving me the opportunity to development the women's hockey

team at SMSU," Wayne said. "Also, I want to thank people such as, Jacob Hall and the

committee, for all of their assistance throughout the application and interview process. I am

excited to be joining the Mustang family."

Prior to Ohio State, Wayne spent four seasons as the assistant men’s hockey coach at Mankato

State University in Mankato, MN. During his tenure, the team broke 10 school records while

winning the National Championship in 2008.

"The NSIC is regarded as one of the strongest conferences for all sports," Wayne said. "It’s been

my goal to start a program from the bottom up. I am excited to put this program on the map."
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Wayne is a 2007 graduate of Minnesota State with a degree in business and earned his master's

degree in marketing from Minnesota State as well in 2009.

1.5 – Email concerning one of your athletes to your athletic trainers, team physician, or

medical personnel:

Emails to athletic trainers, team physician, or medical personnel about an injured athlete should

be clear and precise. For example:

Dear Alex Tomlinson,

One of our sprinters, Jimmy Johns, is complaining of pain and tightness in his right

hamstring this morning. At practice yesterday, Jimmy’s workout was 10x100s with two minute

recovery. During the sixth rep, Jimmy was 20meter from the finish line than he pulled up and

started limping off the track. Immediately after, I told him to go into the training room to see

you, but I’m afraid he did not go.

Did he come to see you yesterday? If so, what are your thoughts?

If not, what hours are you in your office for us to stop by to get him check out?

Thank you,

Mathew

1.6 – Write 3-5 paragraphs covering your communication with officials during an athletic

competition.

All athletes, coaches, and staff members are expected to treat the coaches, officials, other

teams, bus drivers, and anyone else during the season with respect. Athletes will always act in a

manner that they can be proud of since we do represent Southwest Minnesota State University.

Athletes will be suspended or removed the team for any inappropriate or disrespectful behavior.
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How coaches communicate with officials will influence how athletes communicate with

officials as well. As a coach, we MUST set the example. Every meet great officials with a

handshake, an introduction, and a conversation about the meet. Send the officials respect before,

during, and after the meet. Do not make remarks, shout, or use body gestures towards officials.

Athletes catch onto what coaches are doing and will react the coach’s actions.

For example, upon arriving to the meet, meet one or multiple officials of the meet. Shake

his/her hand and introduction yourself with confidence. Strike up a conversation about how

many years the official has been officiating the sports and/or why they officiate. As the meet

goes on and the official makes a “bad call,” ask the official in friendly, kind manner as to why

they made that specific call. After having the conversation with the official say, “Thank you.”

Once the meet is over, tell the official for explaining their reasoning for their “bad call,” and

thank them for being a part of the meet.

Part 2 – Special Topics, Civic Engagement, Family Life, Camps, Clinics, Workshops, and

Evaluations (40pts)

A. Civic Engagement:

Within the community, the coaching staff and athletes fundraise. One of the fundraisers we

do is going around the community and rake leaves from community member’s yards. Thinking

of it now, we should do the same throughout the winter. We should go around shoveling

community member’s driveways and sidewalks. Another fundraisers we do is we work the high

school football games and college football games. We work the concession stands and manage

the sitting.

B. Family Life:
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Wow. Just wow. I am in wow over the reflection of her marriage with her husband, who was

a football coach for over 20years. During her reflection, I didn’t realize how much her and/her

family help her husband through the season. For example, the big list she mentions within her

reflection. His lifestyle ended up being his family’s lifestyle without question. I could see how

being a coach could end a couple’s relationship or pull the person away from coaching. The

amount of effort she had to put in due to him not being there such as doing all the bills, paying

attention to the kids all the time. She did all of this while having her own career on top of it. I

don’t know anything about Dr. Petersen, or where he coached. Also, I am wowed by the fact that

they had specific days and times where they spent time together away from football. Looking in

the past at my first full-time coaching position at a college, I did everything surrounding track

and field. I ate, breathed, and slept track and field but I am single so I didn’t have to worry about

a significant other and/or children. I was in the office by 9am and I left at 10-11pm. I would only

leave for lunch, working out, practice, and supper. I could say I had an issue balancing my work

with my life. Hopefully, I’ve learned from my past experience for my future career.

C. Camps, Clinics, Workshops:

Throughout my years working in the college track and field system, I have attend multiple

track and field conventions. Every year, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches

Association holds a convention in December in different locations in the south. It’s a weeklong

convention which has awards for best male and female athletes, and educational seminars. The

seminars vary from seminar to seminar. One seminar could be how to program for a sprinter, and

another seminar could be how to create a strength and condition program for throwers. I have

never been a presenter or leader for the convention. Last year, the convention was in Phoenix,

Arizona and this year the convention is in San Antonio, Texas.

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D. Evaluations:

I think the evaluations depend on what level the coach is at and which coach it is. A head

coach will have a different evaluation than an assistant coach and an assistant coach will have a

different evaluation than a graduate assistant. Also, a college coach (D1, D2, D3, NAIA, JUCO)

will have a different evaluations compared to a high school or middle school coach. When

evaluating a college head coach, I think the athletic director, and assistant coaches should input

on the evaluation. When look at the high/middle school level of coaches, I think the athletic

director, assistant coaches, and maybe even parents have input on the evaluation. I say the

parents because the coaches are dealing with underage athletes. For the athletic department, I

think head coaches, and school administration should have the input on the department’s

evaluations.

Part 3 (20 points)

Research Articles and Application #1:

In the past few years, the talk of concussions has sky rocketed. The talk started with the

NFL and how many concussions players get and how man concussions are possibly hidden from

the public’s eye. One of the biggest controversies is the return to play (RTP). How long does it

take to heal from a concussion? Is it safe to participant in a contact sport again? To be honest,

there is no right answer as experts have different opinions on the topic but this article from the

University of Nebraska – Lincoln goes over their expert’s return to play issues in correlation to

concussions. The experts at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln say that the majority of

concussion symptoms resolve within ten days to two weeks (Doolan et al., 2012). As previously

mentioned, there is no gold standard approach to concussions because it varies. Their

recommendations for return to play protocol takes at least a week once there are no more
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symptoms. The return to play athletes will follow six steps with each step last 24hours. Step one,

no activity so rest and recovery. Step two, light exercise at 70% which consists of walking,

biking, etc. to increase the heartrate. Step three, sport specific drills such as doing drills. Step

four, noncontact drills such as running routes. The objective is to add coordination to the

exercise. Step five, full contact practice. Step six, return to play. At any time, if an athlete

receives any symptoms of a concussion than they revert back to step one. The experts mentioned

the thought of retirement. Retirement is individualized but should be recommended for athletes

who are out for an entire season due to a concussion, multiple concussions throughout the year;

and a decline in academics, performance, or any psychological setback.

As a track and field coach, I do not have to deal with concussions, for the most part. Out

of all the years of being an athlete and coaching I’ve only witnessed one athlete get a concussion.

This athlete received a concussion because they tripped at the finish line and bashed his head on

the track. It was very clear he had symptoms as soon as he got up because he was dazed and

confused. He ended up being out for two weeks in a non-contact sport so that tells you that

concussions vary from person to person. As a former athlete, I’ve never been officially

diagnosed with a concussion but learn more about concussions this past semester I have learn

that I probably have had multiple concussions because of the minor symptoms I’ve had such as

seeing stars.

Research Articles and Application #2:

Middle school, high school, and college athlete’s diets are almost never talked about.

Yes, some coaches my touch the basics of eating right and healthy but not many get their athletes

the help they need to succeed. Dr. Shriver, Betts, and Wollenburg found out that collegiate

women athletes fail to meet this standard. Collegiate women athletes failed to meet their
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minimum energy and carbohydrates needs, but also fail to meet the basic guidelines for a

nutrition diet. This is important for athletes because athletes burn more calories than the average

human or the average human who workouts. In order for athletes to compete at the highest

levels, their diets need to full of the proper nutrient. Look at professional athletes. They all look

like models. They have toned, chiseled bodies. Yes, they work out a lot but the majority of it

comes from their diets.

As a coach, I’ve only know of a few athletes who had a proper diet. Those athletes had

the toned and chiseled bodies but those athletes also performed at the highest level. Those

athletes were in the top 3 of their divisions. As a former athlete, I did not eat the best food in the

world and I know that. I fueled my body with as much food as I could to get me through the

night until the next morning for breakfast. As I look back, I wish I would have fueled my body

with the proper nutrients. For my future athletes, I plan to mention diets. I plan on hiring

registered dietitian to come in and speak with my athletes on why we should eat healthy, what

foods we should eat, how possible set up some type of meal plan so they are educated.

Works Cited

Doolan, A. W., Day, D. D., Maerlender, A. C., Goforth, M., Brolinson, P. G. (2012). A review of

return to play issues and sports related concussion. Faculty Publications, Department of

Psychology. 717.

https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1717&context=psychfacpub

Shriver, L. K., Betts, N. M., Wollenberg, G. (2013). Dietary intakes and eating habits of college

athletes: are female college atheltes following the current sports nutrition standards?

61(1), 10-16. Journal of American College Health.

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http://mj7kn4np9m.scholar.serialssolutions.com/?sid=google&auinit=LH&aulast=Shriver&atitle

=Dietary+intakes+and+eating+habits+of+college+athletes:+are+female+college+athletes+follow

ing+the+current+sports+nutrition+standards%3F&id=doi:10.1080/07448481.2012.747526&title

=Journal+of+American+college+health&volume=61&issue=1&date=2013&spage=10&issn=07

44-8481