A coaching dilemma?

A discussion centered around physical education teachers also serving as coaches with Sampson County Schools sports teams was brought up during the Sampson County Schools work session earlier this week.

“You guys requested information about our PE positions and the number of coaches that we have in those positions, athletic director James Lewis said, addressing the board. “We have 29 PE teachers in Sampson County. I think we have seven that are not coaching any sports. We have a problem finding athletic coaches in the county, and that’s common throughout the state.”

Lewis mentioned that a lot of those in coaching positions are volunteers. He assured the board that even with volunteers filling the coaching positions, they still go through a vetting process that includes background checks.

Even with the volunteers filling in vacant spaces, Lewis told the board they needed something more.

“At one time in Sampson County, we required every PE teacher to coach at least one sport, and that has kind of slipped through the cracks over the years,” Lewis told the board. “In my opinion, we need to try to get back to that. We need those folks helping us in a coaching profession.”

County schools superintendent Dr. Jamie King explained that a previous superintendent, Dr. (Ethan) Lenker, would explain to PE teachers when they were hired that they would also have to be a coach.

“What Dr. Lenker would do is, when we were hired, my understanding is, when we were hired in elementary, Dr. Lenker and Dr. (Wendy) Cabral would meet with that person and explain that because the board was putting funding to elementary PE positions there was a caveat that they also coach, then that person needed to understand that they were hired with the intent that they would also coach,” King explained.

After Dr. Lenker left, the conversations slowly began to fade away until they were nonexistent.

Board member Jennifer Naylor, a former educator, spoke up saying that while having PE teachers as coaches was not a policy, she believed it should become a conversation.

”As an advocate for sports and as a former coach for Samson County Schools, I have a passion for this. While our coaching pay scale is not great, and not where it needs to be, we owe this to our kids, I feel like,” Naylor told the board. “We have one, that to my knowledge is coaching in another district, and I feel like that’s not serving the kids in that district.”

She reiterated that it shouldn’t be a policy, but that there should be a conversation sooner rather than later so the PE teachers know for next year this is something the board would like to happen.

Board of Education chairman Daryll Warren agreed with Naylor’s stance, noting that it takes a lot of volunteers to make sports happen, but coaches should also come from inside the building to be able to hold the student-athletes accountable for their actions.

“I know, and I’m speaking for Hobbton Middle, we’ve gone for a long time where we’ve not had staff members as the head coaches or even assistant coaches. There’s no accountability inside the building for those kids,” Warren said. “The administration handles it, but a lot of times if those kids know that that coach is over their shoulder or walking the halls and looking, they straighten up and they handle things a little bit better.”

Lewis said the hardest place to fill positions for coaching is in the middle schools.

Most of the coaching slots are paid positions, Lewis said. The only time they would not be paid is if there are only a certain amount of paid coaching slots, and the team has more coaches than what they can pay. There are also people who want to volunteer to coach, but they can’t be there every day, so they’ll go through the hiring process and take the needed courses paid for by the school, but they won’t get paid to be a coach.