Should high school coaches be paid to only coach?

[Al Woods]

Pay The Coach!

Question: Should high school coaches be paid to only coach and should they be paid full time to only coach their sports (maybe a second sport) instead of being a teacher and coach?
Many high school coaches are teachers and I feel that if they had more time to work with the players, they could do a better job with the development of the kids.

[Tessa]

I think this is a great idea! That's selfish of me seeing as how I am a coach, but I spend countless hours outside of practice everyday working on things for the team. It is a full time job, but since I also have to work another full time job, sometimes my preparation for practice suffers making the hours I have with the girls less affective.

[Al Woods]

I just think high school coaches should be given more freedom to coach. Hiring a high school coach full-time is a good first step. I know many school systems may not be able to afford to pay a coach full-time but you’ve got to ask yourself this question: how important is high school sports to the students and parents?

[Mike Doyle]

Wow a coach who is paid a years wage for a 26 game season. Now that is stuiped. The truth is then only the schools with big coffers like New Trier or Lake Forest will bid 1.3 million to get the best coach. Lake Forest High School signs Scott Skiles to a 11 million dollar 9 year commitment to take over it's basketball program. Coach Skiles formally of the Bulls and Bucks, was a hard nosed professional coach, who had an overall pro record of 250 wins and 987 losses. If Coach Skiles makes the Sweet Sixteen he will receive a 500,000 bonus with another 500,000 for making the state finals.

You may laugh at this but this is how coaching is for many college teams. High School sports is suppose to be for fun. For love of the game. Remember when Jordon signed with the Bulls and had the "Joy of the Game" clause. Basketball and sports in general is in place to give kids pride in there school. It's in place to keep them off the street, so instead of doing something destructive they are doing something constructive. It's in place to help a student athlete build pride and self worth in themselves. It shouldn't be a privilage so you schools can hold athletes to higher standards then the rest of the student body like most administrators think, it shouldn't be taken for granted like most athletes think. It should be a place of refuge, a place to build life long bonds with good friends. A place where team work is taught. A place where one should just care about themself but should care about how there actions effect everybody else. Finally it shouldn't be a place where Coach X makes millions, when to many good coaches are out there who would do it for free for the stewartship of the game.

We might as well start open recruiting of 5th grade ball players for High School. Could you imagine:

Witney Young Signs Little Billy Smith from Prussing School in Jefferson Park. The 5th Grader is 4 ft. 6 inches with an impressive 14 inch vertical, his shot can't reach the rim yet but has great arch and striaght as an arrow. Billy drives both left and right handed and if his legs were long enough he could go between them. When asked about his letter of intent Billy was quoted as saying, "I'm tired of playing with a center that catch I should start varisty as a froshman, no problem."

[Al Woods]

High school sports is suppose to be fun. You are suppose to have pride in your school and team but with trying to get into college for that sport, you have so much pride in is hard!

These student athletes are going to need help trying to win scholarships or to be able to get strong financial packages. Having a coach full time I think would offer so much more than just playing the games. Yes, high school sports is fun but nowadays with recruiting the way it is, these kids need full time help.