January 2020 - 19

Problems with finding qualified
staff include referees. The nationwide
referee shortage put many districts in
a precarious position, leaving them
scrambling to find a solution and
postpone games in some sports.
" I'm worried about the shortage
of officials in all sports, " said an
administrator. " Schools and programs
continue to be added, but the numbers
of men and women who sign up to
officiate games continues to decrease. "
3
.Reduced school funding. Budgets
.at most schools have stabilized, and
some have enjoyed a healthy recovery.
But that doesn't mean funding is sufficient
to run an entire athletic program.
Funding issues have ranked in the
top three in every year of our survey.
Participation numbers from the NFHS
show that more and more students
are playing high school sports, yet few
schools see an increase in their budget.
Combine that with rising costs, and it
puts athletic directors in a bind.
" We have almost no discretionary
spending, " an administrator said. " We
pay for salaries, officials and required
equipment, and almost nothing else. "
" We have limited the number of
players on teams, " said another athletic
director. " Coaches are getting their
commercial driver's licenses so we don't
have to pay the bussing costs. "
The lack of district funding puts
more pressure on athletic directors to
find new revenue streams. Fundraising
expectations ranked 11th on our list of
most concerning issue, up from 12th
last year and 16th in 2017-18.
4
.Problems with parents. Meddling
.parents continue to be a headache
for coaches and athletic administrators,
and few schools have developed
effective solutions.
In our survey, 38.4% of athletic
directors considered problematic
parents a " very concerning " issue.
Whether it's a parent lobbying for more
playing time, or a group of parents
trying to oust a coach, interference is
a significant problem in high schools
across the nation. Athletic directors
believe it has diminished their ability to
hire good coaches.
" We've created this Little League
mentality that everyone gets a trophy, " one
athletic director said. " There's acceptance
that parents have the right to confront
coaches on issues about personnel,
playing time and substitutions, and they
feel it's appropriate to make negative
posts on social media. Administrators
need to be up front in establishing
boundaries for parents and studentathletes,
and be willing to enforce those
boundaries appropriately. "
Coach & Athletic Director also
conducts an annual high school
coaches survey. This year, combative
parents ranked as the seventh most
concerning issue.
5
.Additional responsibilities. When
.funding declines, coaches quit and
volunteers disappear, it's the athletic
directors who are left picking up the
pieces.
The athletic administrator's job has
evolved over the last 10 years, and that
means taking on responsibilities that
were not traditionally associated with
the position. Some athletic directors
coach a sport or teach classes in
addition to overseeing everything
involved with athletics.
New responsibility has been a top-five
concern in all nine years of Coach &
Athletic Director's survey. This year,
28.4% of administrators said it was a
" very concerning " problem.
WHAT'S ON YOUR MIND: A 5-YEAR SNAPSHOT
Here's our annual ranking of the most concerning issues for high
school athletic directors compared with how they ranked in previous
years. Percentages represent athletic directors who said they were
at least moderately concerned about that particular issue.
2019-20 RANKINGS
1. FINDING QUALIFIED COACHES 93.3%
2. FINDING STAFF/VOLUNTEERS 84.3%
3. REDUCED SCHOOL FUNDING 83.3%
4. PROBLEMS WITH PARENTS 81.9%
5. ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES 80.6%
6. COMMUNICATION W/ CONSTITUENTS 75%
7. DECLINING PARTICIPATION 74.5%
8. LEGAL/LIABILITY ISSUES 73.9%
9. HR ISSUES WITH STAFF 71%
10. ATHLETE SPECIALIZATION 70.8%
11. FUNDRAISING EXPECTATIONS 57.7%
12. LGBT ISSUES 56.2%
13. KEEPING UP WITH TECHNOLOGY 55.8%
14. ILLEGAL TRANSFERS 53.3%
15. ELIGIBILITY ISSUES 50.4%
16. PUBLIC SENTIMENT ON SPENDING 50%
17. CHALLENGING SUPERVISORS 49.3%
18. COMPETITION FROM CLUBS 49.3%
19. PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS 45.6%
20. JOB SECURITY 37.5%
18-19
1
4
3
2
5
6
8
9
10
7
12
17
11
15
14
18
13
16
20
19
17-18
1
5
2
6
4
10
8
7
9
3
16
13
12
14
15
18
17
11
19
20
16-17
1
6
2
3
5
9
10
4
8
7
15
11
14
12
16
18
13
17
19
20
15-16
1
7
2
6
5
9
10
3
8
4
12
18
11
13
14
17
16
15
19
NR
NR: NOT RANKED
COACHAD.COM 19
http://www.COACHAD.COM
January 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2020
