More than 32,000 youth athletes play on the fields of the Hillsborough County (Fla.) Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department. That is a lot of young lives that are influenced by the coaches and parents that volunteer in local youth sports programs.

A key tactic the Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department’s Youth Athletics uses to ensure the accountability of the more than 72 youth sports organizations that use their facilities each year is simple: education.

In order for youth sports organizations to hold practices and games on county property, their volunteers must be trained.

“All volunteers that interact with children in any capacity must receive the mandatory coach training,” said Aileen Henderson, youth sports coordinator for Hillsborough County, an Excellence in Youths Sports Award winner. Developed by the National Alliance for Youth Sports (NAYS) and Athletic Business magazine, the award recognizes programs that are doing superior jobs of conducting diverse activities with a focus on providing safe and positive experiences for all participants, including children, parents and coaches.
 
RESPONSIBLE COACHING
 
In conjunction with NAYS programming and the University of South Florida’s (USF) SMART Institute, Hillsborough County trains approximately 5,500 volunteers – between coaches and parents – each year in their roles and responsibilities in coaching.

One of the two approved coach education programs is the National Youth Sports Coaches Association (NYSCA), a program of NAYS. Over the past year almost 2,000 coaches of youth sports organizations that use county facilities have been trained through NYSCA.

(At left) Billy Graham, Kathy Eber, Mark Thornton and Aileen Henderson accept the Excellence in Youth Sports Award for Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department's Youth Athletic Services.

NYSCA provides coaches a thorough education on topics such as the psychology of coaching youth sports, communication, child abuse, injury prevention, nutrition and hydration, among many others. Coaches also sign the NYSCA Coaches Code of Ethics pledging to demonstrate sportsmanship and fair play, providing safe playing situations and using appropriate coaching techniques.

Additionally, Hillsborough County offers an in-house developed coach education program that focuses on positive coaching and sportsmanship, as well as awareness topics like bullying, abuse and sports related injuries, like concussions.

“All our youth sports organizations have bylaws requiring higher standards of expectations for all the volunteers,” said Henderson. “Each league individually promotes positive coaching techniques.”

Hillsborough County works with Dr. Barbara Morris, director of USF’s SMART Institute to develop concussion education, as part of their education requirements following the adoption of Florida’s youth athlete concussion bill, which went into effect in July 2012.

“Dr. Morris brings a level of professionalism and information we needed to provide that next level of service and education to those that attend our classes,” Henderson said.
 
APPROVED VOLUNTEERS
 
When a volunteer coach satisfies Hillsborough County’s education requirements, as well as background checks as indicated by Florida state law, they receive an ID badge.

“In an effort to make these approved volunteers recognizable to attendees at our athletic facilities, we implemented the picture ID badge system,” said Henderson. “This idea has proven to be an invaluable method of easily identifying volunteers that not only are background check approved, but have also received mandatory coach training and concussion education.”

In the near future, Hillsborough County plans to revise their current park license agreements that allow youth sports organizations to use their facilities, as well as to develop a standard operating procedure manual to accompany the agreement. According to Henderson, after these documents are approved by the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners, the City of Tampa will mirror their agreements, leading to a consistent standard for youth sports organizations in both municipalities.