Administrative Guide: Leading Coaches in an Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury Prevention Program

ABSTRACT
 ADMINISTRATIVE GUIDE: LEADING COACHES IN
 AN ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT INJURY
 PREVENTION PROGRAM
 by
 Nicole Motl
 Master of Arts in Education
 Educational Leadership and Administration Option
 California State University, Chico
 Spring 2011
 Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries are prevalent among student
 athletes, primarily females. Athletic administrators can play an important role in a high
 school student athlete’s career by addressing the importance of injury prevention. The
 athletic administrator’s role is to bridge the gap between the knowledge of healthcare
 providers and that of high school athletic coaches, parents and student athletes. This
 project focuses on the leadership strategies and duties of an athletic administrator for
 implementation of programs that optimize the health and potential of student athletes.
 The model program within this project addresses the causes, recovery, and
 prevention of ACL injuries. The program was developed with the assistance of an
 athletic trainer and feedback from high school athletic administrators. A program
 consisting of six exercises was created for administrators to have their coaching staff
 implement into their practice schedule. The model ACL injury prevention program was
 sent to high school athletic administrators along with a survey to gain feedback about
 whether their school currently has any injury prevention programs, whether they consider
 using this one, and how they would implement it with their coaching staff. Using the
 feedback, a plan was created for athletic administrators on how to carry out this program
 at their school.
 The administrative plan for this project uses a Direct Informational Approach
 for educational leadership, which involves eliciting the coaches’ opinions and
 participation. This program gives the administration the guidance of how to implement
 the program with the coaching staff by using the expertise of healthcare providers or
 athletic trainers. Athletic administrators would then take the steps to share the importance
 of this program with student athletes and their parents.

ABSTRACT ADMINISTRATIVE GUIDE: LEADING COACHES IN AN ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT INJURY PREVENTION PROGRAM by Nicole Motl Master of Arts in Education Educational Leadership and Administration Option California State University, Chico Spring 2011 Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries are prevalent among student athletes, primarily females. Athletic administrators can play an important role in a high school student athlete’s career by addressing the importance of injury prevention. The athletic administrator’s role is to bridge the gap between the knowledge of healthcare providers and that of high school athletic coaches, parents and student athletes. This project focuses on the leadership strategies and duties of an athletic administrator for implementation of programs that optimize the health and potential of student athletes. The model program within this project addresses the causes, recovery, and prevention of ACL injuries. The program was developed with the assistance of an athletic trainer and feedback from high school athletic administrators. A program consisting of six exercises was created for administrators to have their coaching staff implement into their practice schedule. The model ACL injury prevention program was sent to high school athletic administrators along with a survey to gain feedback about whether their school currently has any injury prevention programs, whether they consider using this one, and how they would implement it with their coaching staff. Using the feedback, a plan was created for athletic administrators on how to carry out this program at their school. The administrative plan for this project uses a Direct Informational Approach for educational leadership, which involves eliciting the coaches’ opinions and participation. This program gives the administration the guidance of how to implement the program with the coaching staff by using the expertise of healthcare providers or athletic trainers. Athletic administrators would then take the steps to share the importance of this program with student athletes and their parents.