Publication Date

1998

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Lambrecht, Keith W.

Degree Name

M.S. Ed. (Master of Education)

Legacy Department

Department of Physical Education

LCSH

Football coaches--Legal status; laws; etc.--Illinois; School sports--Coaching--Law and legislation--Illinois

Abstract

Coaches' liability is quickly approaching the forefront of concern, primarily due to an increase in the number of lawsuits resulting in massive verdicts for athletes injured as a result of the action or inaction of coaches. The purposes of this study were (1) to determine to what extent current practices of Illinois high-school football coaches adhere to standard guidelines set forth by the legal court system and (2) to determine the Illinois high-school football coaches' knowledge of standard guidelines. The population for this study consisted of 553 Illinois high-school football coaches who were listed in the directory of Illinois High school Associations for the year 1997. The subjects were categorized into two groups (Divisions 1, 2, and 3 coaches, and Divisions 4, 5, and 6 coaches). The identification of the possible legal duties listed on the questionnaire proceeded in two steps: (1) six broad duties of a coach as well as 22 duties that directly pertain to the six broad duties were derived from the review of literature, and (2) a modified delphi panel was employed to expand, modify, and validate the questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of specific statements, developed by the researcher, that directly ABSTRACT corresponded to the 22 duties for coaches. The subjects t were asked to indicate their knowledge and current practice of each of the 60 items on the questionnaire. From a mailing of 553 questionnaires, 30.9% were returned and 28.6% were deemed usable. For each of the six broad duties, analysis using a Wilcoxon Sign Rank Test (p < 0.05) revealed a significant difference between coaches' practices and the standard guidelines. Illinois high-school football coaches do not practice with full compliance the standard guidelines set forth by the legal court system.

Comments

Includes bibliographical references (pages [73]-74)

Extent

v, 106 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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