Coaching Education Changes!

In Iowa we are very proud of the efforts made our cheer coaches, their school administrators, the IHSAA and the ICCA have made to help educate our coaches for the benefit of our students!  There have been no requirements made of our coaches by the state, yet we have persevered!  Good job!

The National Federation of High Schools is committed to provided quality education for all coaches and now they have taken it one step further.  Many coaching education courses are online.  The NFHS knows how busy you are and online training can be done in your own home and on your own time.  This also helps to make the costs very reasonable.

Many of you are now Bronze and Silver Level credentialed!  Great!  Those credentials are yours and no one can take them away!  Remember that in order to stay certified in AACCA, you must renew every four years. 

With the addition of online course the NFHS has changed their program somewhat.  How will this affect cheer/spirit?  We are now placed in the same program as all athletic coaches.  The Federation has renamed it’s levels and re-written the program.   Please go to www.nfhslearn.org to learn more about the program and it’s requirements.

The first level of their program requires that coaches take the online course, “Fundamentals of Coaching.”  It costs you $35.  It if full of extra resources and excellent general coaches training.  The second course required is “Coaching First Aid.”  For Spirit/Cheer coaches the third and final course for the first level is “AACCA.”   It is designed so that the third course of the first level is a sports specific class and AACCA is that class for spirit. 

The exciting part is that two more courses should be done soon.  The first is the “Fundamentals of Coaching Cheer and Dance.”  This is a combination of the former Coaching Principles and Spirit Program Management programs.  Partner Stunt Progressions I is also in the works. 

Please go to www.nfhslearn.org and learn more.  Now coaches education will be more accessible for you! Rejoice!

Spirit and Safety Meet: USA Cheer and AACCA Join CDC in Raising Concussion Awareness

USA Cheer and the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators are bringing spirit and safety together as new partners in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Heads Up campaign. This joint effort will help build concussion awareness among cheer coaches, parents, fans and cheerleaders themselves.

Already through this partnership, coaches of the more than 325,000 cheerleaders attending cheer camps this summer received Heads Up concussion information.

Two studies reveal that the ever-growing popularity of cheerleading coupled with the year-round nature of the sport, has led to a higher total incidence of concussions in our sport than in many others.

That’s why we’ve joined this critical campaign and encourage our certified coaches to get involved and to learn more about concussion by:

• Visiting http://www.cdc.gov/Concussion to download or order fact sheets, the new cheerleading clipboard sticker, and other educational materials about concussion, at no cost;
• Posting the Heads Up Web button on your website, linking your visitors to a free, online concussion training for coaches; and/or
• Posting http://www.cdc.gov/Concussion to your website’s resources page or other appropriate pages.

Don’t forget the AACCA Concussion Management and Return to Play Protocol found at http://aacca.org/concussions. We urge every cheerleading coach, parent, and athlete to use this protocol in conjunction with CDC’s concussion materials to help health care professionals properly manage a safe return to activity for cheerleaders with a concussion.

As you may know, this February USA Cheer launched the USA Cheer Safety Council to raise the awareness of cheerleading safety and education. Visit www.usacheer.net to learn more about the USA Cheer Safety Council and its safety initiatives; sign the "I Cheer Safe" pledge; and then commit to using CDC’s concussion materials.

Join us in making spirited safety your top priority!