SAFETY TRAINING
SportsYou, Atavus partner to help coaches through pandemic Coaches had to find creative ways to communicate with state athletic association officials, parents and players this spring, and some of the biggest state athletic associations in the country chose to manage that communication online. BY DAN GUTTENPLAN
W
hen coaches in Texas noticed a trend
of decreasing participation numbers in high school football, they decided to do something about it. The Texas High School Coaches Association attributed the drop in participation to the increased number of news stories highlighting concerns about player safety. In the spring of 2018, the state’s governing body, the UIL Legislative Council, announced mandatory tackling certification for coaches. In cooperation with UIL, THSCA became the first state in the country to require all football coaches to successfully complete tackling certification. With 23,000 junior high and high school coaches needing certification by August 1, 2019, the THSCA and UIL approached Atavus to help implement a certification program. Atavus educates coaches to teach a safe, high-performance tackling technique. Resources such as drill videos, practice plans, coaching tips, and practical, how-to advice are designed to give high school coaches the tools needed increase player safety and improve performance. Starting the week of March 23 – just after the spread of the coronavirus caused schools to close -- the Texas High School Coaches Association (THSCA) required coaches to use the sportsYou app for certification and professional development opportunities. A free communication app, sportsYou gives coaches the ability to privately communicate, schedule and share media with their teams. With no character limits and the ability to send one-way messages, sportsYou is a highly versatile communication app for coaches.
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■■Atavus and SportsYou partnered to educate coaches in Texas.
“In order for coaches and teachers to keep getting funding, they have to provide curriculum, and our platform enables them to do this,” said sportsYou co-founder Brad Matthews. “They’re putting out a video curriculum with an ability to share daily exercises, sports performance courses, motivational speeches, game film, and information on strength training and nutrition.” Both the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association and the Indiana Football Coaches Association also committed to partnering with sportsYou for communication with coaches in March. Coaches in Texas, Illinois and Indiana can share information from the state athletic associations on safety, nutrition, training techniques and instructional videos with their own players. Whether on your phone or computer, in minutes you can set up as many teams/groups as you want on sportsYou. You can create private teams or groups for the varsity, junior varsity and freshmen programs. You can also take it a step further to share specific information to only your defense, offense, special teams and so on. While face-to-face coaching opportunities will be restricted for the unforeseeable future, the sportsYou app offers coaches the opportunity to reach and motivate their players virtually. In addition to easy-to-use instant messaging, sportsYou allows coaches to display a calendar for their athletes for training purposes. No more questions and confusion on schedules as everyone knows the workout - and gets notifications on changes immediately through sportsYou.
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THE COMMUNICATION PARTNERS Atavus
Atavus improves defensive performance and maximizes player safety. Introducing Tackalytics™ through data-driven tackle training and assessment. Tackalytics™ is a grading and reporting platform that coaches can utilize through Atavus. A coach can send Atavus film following a game and receive analytical feedback on tackling technique as well as insights and video cut-ups with examples of exemplary and poor tackling technique. WEB: www.atavus.com/
sportsYou
A free communication app, sportsYou is created specifically for the needs of coaches. It gives coaches the ability to privately communicate, schedule and share media with their team. With no character limits and the ability to send one-way messages, sportsYou is a highly versatile communication app for coaches. WEB: www.sportsyou.com
