The National Federation of State High School Associations recently celebrated conducting its 10 millionth course. NFHS Association offers educational materials to coaches, administrators, students and parents.
The program began offering courses in 2007 and is headquartered in Indianapolis. Westfield resident and NFHS Association Director of Educational Services Dan Schuster
“Our primary purpose is to serve our member state association, so here in Indiana it’s the IHSAA,” Schuster said. “Every state has an IHSAA if you will. Our primary mission is to create services and programs to best serve them.”
The organization has more than 72 online courses. Some of the most popular courses regard concussions. Schuster said the uptick in administrators taking courses about concussions began in 2010.
“That became a very important and big topic very quickly,” he said. “In 2010, we created a partnership with the CDC for a concussion in sports course and a course we developed for students themselves. Half of our courses are in concussion education. What the NFHS does for its member state associations is provide timely resources, timely education. That was a resource millions of people have been able to use to fulfill their requirements to follow (concussion) legislation and be able to have education on important things like recognizing the signs and symptoms of concussion.”
Schuster said the organization’s main goal is educating parents or adults on how to react in the stands or on the sidelines while a child is participating in sports or other organized activities.
“One thing we are seeing more so in the media is adult behavior,” he said. “We have a concerted effort put together to really educate adults and help them with their emotions and controlling them. Ultimately, we all have good intentions and we want nothing but the best for our kids, but we have to be able to control our emotions and our behavior. It’s about us as adults taking a hard look at what we are doing in the stands and creating the best environment for our kids to enjoy the high school experience, whether that’s in the choir, the band or on the basketball team.”
For more, visit nfhs.org.
