Take Advantage of NFHS Online Courses

Director's Column
by: Kenny Henderson, LHSAA Executive Director

The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) leads the development of education-based sports and activities that help our student-athletes advance in school and athletics. This organization sets guidelines for the future of our youth by building awareness and support, enlightening the participation experience, setting standards and rules for play and helping our athletic directors, coaches and administrators who oversee high school sports and activities in their communities.

To give you a little background information on the NFHS – it’s headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind. and serves its 50 member state high school athletic associations and the District of Columbia. The NFHS issues playing rules in 16 sports for boys’ and girls’ competition and administers fine arts programs in speech, theater, debate and music. It also provides a variety of program initiatives that reach more than 11 million student-athletes in approximately 18,500 high schools across the United States.

As part of its initiative to establish consistent standards and rules for completion and build awareness and support, the NFHS offers several online courses through its Learning Center, which can be accessed at www.nfhslearn.com. Here, coaches, athletic directors, school administrators and others can participate in courses and certification programs to help them in their careers. Although several courses require a fee in order to participate, the NFHS also offers 11 free, online courses ranging in topics.

The free online NFHS courses that are currently available include:

A Guide to Heat Acclimatization and Heat Illness Prevention
A Guide to Sports Nutrition
Coaching Unified Sports®
Concussion In Sports – What You Need to Know
Creating a Safe and Respectful Environment
Engaging Effectively With Parents (new for 2013)
NCAA Eligibility Center Coaching Education
Pole Vault: Successful Skill Development
Sportsmanship
The Role of the Parent in Sports
World Book: Learning Pro Courses
I highly encourage our member school coaches and other school personnel to participate in as many of the free courses as possible to help direct you in your careers of coaching and guiding our youth both on and off the field.

For more information about the many courses the NFHS offers or to take a free course online, visit their learning center’s website at www.nfhslearn.com. For more information about the LHSAA, visit our website at www.lhsaa.org.