Coaches needed to offer middle school sports in Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS — Girls in seventh grade at Wilson Middle School were disappointed earlier this month to learn they would not be able to play basketball if the school district could not find a coach for the team.

While the position has since been filled by a teacher at McKinley STEAM Academy — Myles Monnahan — the girls missed their first game and two weeks of practice. And the need for coaches in Cedar Rapids middle schools still is great — with 13 coaches needed for spring and fall sports in 2023.

While many of these positions used to be filled by teachers in the district, some are now are declining the positions, citing burnout, said Adam Zimmermann, executive director of middle schools for the district. Other former coaches may be starting families and can’t commit the time anymore, he said.

“It’s harder and harder to get people to take on these roles,” he said.

Middle school coaching positions are filled by 148 educators and staff and 24 community members throughout the year, Zimmermann said. Head coaching contracts at Cedar Rapids middle schools range from $3,264 to $3,766 for about seven weeks, depending on years of experience, he said.

“This is indicative of where we are in education,” said Wilson Principal Michael Waters, citing just as dire a need for more teachers, paraeducators, bus drivers and nutrition services workers.

Wilson Middle School, 2301 J St. SW, is the smallest middle school in the district. There are only 35 teachers at Wilson — or up to 30 fewer teachers than at other middle schools in the district. Wilson also offers Kids on Course, which is predominantly staffed by Wilson teachers, further drawing from the potential pool of coaches, Waters said. Kids on Course — a program that provides tutoring, mentoring and family engagement — is not offered at every middle school.

In the fall, Wilson combined seventh and eighth grade boys football, a solution created out of lack of players, not because of a lack of coaching staff for that program, Waters said. Wilson did have a seventh grade girls basketball coach hired earlier this year, but that person had to vacate the position before the start of the season, Waters said.

“I want to make sure we find someone whose passionate about working with kids,” Waters said. “It’s easy to find people who are passionate about their sport. That needs to come second at the middle school level. Most kids aren’t passionate about the sport yet. They’re just figuring it out.”

At a school board meeting last week, Evette Creighton and her daughter Evie, 12, a seventh-grader at Wilson, expressed their frustration. Evette said she was disappointed in how the school communicated to her and her daughter that seventh grade basketball might not be offered if a coach couldn’t be found.

"I couldn’t wait for seventh grade basketball,“ Evie said, something she had been looking forward to since elementary school. ”We were supposed to start practice two weeks ago.“

“There has not been a contingency plan established to provide a solution,” Evette said. “This is an equity issue perpetuating the ongoing, unfair treatment of girls in our society.”

Middle school athletics are a critical opportunity for students who are exploring their interests to experience what it’s like to be a part of a team and school community, Zimmermann said.

Authorization is required to coach middle and high school athletics in Iowa, according to the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners. Coaches must be at least 18 years old with a high school diploma or equivalent, have concussion training certificate, CPR training and a 55-hour workshop certificate from an approved provider or college coursework.

The course — which must be paid for by the applicant — includes structure and function of the human body, prevention and care of athletic injuries, human growth and development and ethics of coaching. Kirkwood Community College offers the course for $395.

School sports are not offered to sixth-graders in accordance with the Iowa High School Athletic Association and Iowa High School Girls Athletic Union, Waters said.

Among the middle school coaches needed are these in 2023:

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