How important are letters of
recommendation and references? In my opinion they are very important. Seldom,
if ever, will a candidate list someone as a reference who would give a negative
recommendation. I will often ask a candidate if they would give me someone who
would give a negative recommendation and why that person would be negative. I
want people who are honest. My concern is a way to find out if they really did
what they said they did. One way to do this is to ask for a detailed sample
program from a team or individual they have worked with. Evaluate this sample
program against the following criteria, does the program include:
Injury
prevention component
Speed
Development component
Strength/Power
development component
Sport specific conditioning component
Flexibility
component
Are
there provisions for recovery?
Is the
program realistic given the time, personnel, facilities and equipment
available?
Is the
program adaptable?
Was this program a real or a
theoretical model program? I would also ask for video of a workout from the
program as it was implemented. A face-to-face interview is a must for any
candidate you are seriously considering. This should be as extensive possible
and be conducted by all the key people that will be working with the potential
candidate. I would also consider an audition. This scenario would involve the
potential candidate actually showing a workout in a typical coaching setting in
which they would be working.
In addition it is necessary to
evaluate the candidate relative to their other experiences. Often the persons
success or failure is not determined by technical expertise but by
administrative, management, and personnel considerations. The following are
those types of considerations that need to be evaluated:
Facilities
Planning and Organization
Equipment
Purchase
Organizational
abilities and Skills
Program
Planning, Implementation and Compliance
Leadership
ability
Work
ethic and work habits
Personal
grooming and fitness
Athletic
background
Computer
skills
In terms of knowledge areas and
specific competencies the SPP should have a good background in all of the
following areas:
Strength
Training encompassing the whole spectrum of training methods
Plyometric
Training
Speed
Development
Flexibility
Sport
Specific Fitness Development
Testing
& Evaluation
Drug
Education/Awareness
Nutrition
Growth
and Development
How does the prospective
candidate compare to the existing staff members or the person they are trying
to replace. Along the same line of thought where does this person fit into the
department organizational structure?
Educational background and
certification are important considerations. It is my opinion that education and
teaching and coaching experience weigh more heavily than certifications. An
activity based physical education or sports science degree would be the best,
unfortunately those programs are now hard to find. A college degree should
be the minimum educational requirement, hopefully in some related field.
As far as certification, that is
another matter. I know many of these jobs list the NSCA CSCS certification as
required, I guess that is acceptable as long as the limitations are understood.
The CSCS does not require a practical component, it only requires passing a
written exam. This is an inherent weakness; nonetheless, it is still probably
the preferred certification. The NASM certifications though very popular carry very little or no
weight in my consideration of hiring someone. NASM is nothing more than a certification mill. To my knowledge, at last count, there were over 250 certification
programs in related fields. For someone doing the hiring it is very tough to
assess the relative merit and advantage of all of these. The biggest weakness
missing from almost all of them is a lack of a practical component. Ultimately
some certification is necessary to satisfy liability considerations.
The Sports Performance specialist
can have a very profound impact on the success of any athletic department.
Hiring this person or persons because of the relative undefined nature of the
field is not as simple as hiring an ATC where the profession is well
established and the roles are more clearly defined. I hope this will give you
some basic guideline to help in this process.