The Teacher/Coach as Manager
What this domain tests
Management is the behind-the-scenes system that makes safe, legal contests possible: planning, facilities and equipment, transportation, budgets and boosters, records, supervision, and emergency action plans.
Core managerial functions
- Plan the season before it starts: practice calendar, facility requests, transportation, equipment inventory, parent meeting, eligibility checks, and budget.
- Organize supervision so no athlete is unsupervised in locker rooms, weight rooms, buses, or at contests.
- Control risk with a venue-specific emergency action plan (EAP): roles, communication, AED location, access route, and equipment.
Equipment, facilities, money, and travel
- Inspect facilities before use; remove hazards and document issues.
- Fit and inspect protective equipment; follow reconditioning schedules; helmets must meet NOCSAE and warning labels must remain legible.
- Booster clubs follow district policy and state association rules; funds often must flow through school accounts. No extra benefits that violate amateurism.
- Use school-approved vehicles and drivers; athletes do not drive themselves to contests unless policy permits.
Worked example
A booster club offers to buy helmets and pay for a summer passing-league trip. Reasoning: accept only through the athletic director and business office with district approval and compliant accounting; check state rules on booster involvement and out-of-season participation; confirm helmets are NOCSAE-certified and fitted. The coach cannot privately accept funds or arrange benefits outside school policy.
Traps that cost marks
Verbal inventories; no written EAP; letting boosters direct coaching decisions; assuming transportation is covered without confirming supervision; treating fundraising as outside school rules.