Athletic administration.

An athletic administrator's position is constantly growing, changing and evolving. There are more responsibilities, expectations and pressure than ever before and the following changes have had a major impact upon the administration of athletic programs.

1 TITLE IX

The passage of Title IX legislation in 1972 had an enormous, perhaps the largest, impact upon athletics in this century. This law provided equal opportunity for young ladies. An athletic director had to make sure that the program met the three-pronged criteria of compliance, and also had to find funding for the new initiatives to make it work. In addition, the implementation of Title IX also meant educating many of the constituents of an athletic program--coaches, athletes, parents, administrators and booster clubs.

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Unfortunately in some schools, trying to fulfill the intent of Title IX is still an ongoing challenge after all of these years. While many schools have done a great job and are in full compliance, a few individuals still don't get it. However, when one considers the intent of the legislation, the strides made with opportunities, facilities, coaching and everything involved in an athletic program, there can be little doubt that Title IX has had the greatest impact in the past century.

2 FINDING COACHES

Finding good, qualified coaches has become increasingly difficult and this does not just mean those for girls' sports. Thirty to forty years ago, physical education teachers filled many of the coaching positions. Over the years, due to changing requirements, PE staffs have become much smaller and those who still do teach in this discipline have given up many of their coaching responsibilities.

Furthermore, not only have many physical education teachers left the coaching ranks in the last two decades, but also many teachers in all disciplines, for that matter, are no longer coaching as long. In a recently completed study in Maryland, it was shockingly found that certified teachers filled only 40% of all coaching positions. The overwhelming majority of our coaching staffs are, therefore, not professionally trained teachers. When one considers that in the early 70's, almost all coaches were either required to be or were teachers, this represents a major impact upon our athletic programs.

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3 DEALING WITH PROBLEMATIC PARENTS

Whether due to expectations associated with legislation such as No Child Left Behind, the accountability movement in education or the pursuit of athletic scholarships for their children, some parents of athletes are more problematic than ever. While most parents are positive, supportive and appreciative, the challenging ones are meddlesome, obnoxious, demanding, and unreasonable and make an athletic administrator's life unbearable.

Finding methods to deal with these difficult parents is extremely taxing and time consuming. This unfortunately has created a huge impact upon athletic administration.

4 TIME CONSTRAINTS 

There is never enough time in an athletic administrator's daily or weekly schedule to get everything done. As our position has become more complex and demanding, athletic directors have had to learn to work smarter, because there is no way of adding hours to the day. The advent of technology--the use of computers, e-mail, Internet scheduling and BlueBerry's to mention just a few--has become an absolute necessity to survive in the position.

The downside to these technological advances, however, is that everyone now expects instant answers and immediate results. This means we are busier, more stressed and fatigued than ever. As a result, the athletic director's only salvation is to become more skillful with time management and to continually adjust and adapt to new advancements in technology.

5 FINANCING

Even though most athletic budgets only represent 1-3% of an entire school's spending, it is often the first casualty during economically challenging times. With the implementation of new graduation standards, required testing programs and the purchase of new technology for use in classrooms, for example, the educational dollar has never been stretched as far as it is currently.

To fill the increasing gap to keep the athletic program afloat, many athletic directors have had to aggressively fund raise. Also, marketing the program and increasing gate revenue has become imperative for many programs.

By Dr. David Hoch, CMAA, Baltimore County, MD