Saint Francis clinic aims to educate coaches

High school players often spend parts of their summer attending various camps in order to hone their skills.

Officials at Saint Francis Medical Center think it's about time the coaches have their own clinic to attend. The first Saint Francis Medical Center Coaches Clinic will take place today with about 100 coaches from more than 20 area high schools expected to attend.

"There are a lot of programs for athletes, but not a lot of programs for coaches," said Trevor Sumner, account services coordinator at Saint Francis.

The clinic, which took much of its curriculum from suggestions made by local coaches, will cover such topics as nutrition, sports psychology, orthopedic surgery, athletic training and sportsmanship along with several demonstrations.

"We really wanted to hit the subjects they normally don't have access to," Sumner said. "We've created an avenue to get all that information."

With the topic of steroids such a big issue throughout the country, keynote speaker Frank Uryasz will discuss the subject of how coaches can help cut down on the use of illegal drugs and steroids by athletes. Uryasz, president of the National Center for Drug Free Sport, Inc., is a former member of the U.S. Olympic Anti-Doping Committee.

Sumner said clinic organizers received a lot of interest from area coaches on the subject of steroids.

"That was kind of the driving force in us picking that as a topic," he said. "He [Uryasz] was pretty excited to come down. He was excited we would have 100 coaches."

Other speakers and topics include Southeast Missouri State associate director of athletics Cindy Gannon on time demands for student-athletes; Ken Callis on sportsmanship; Debbie Schumer on nutrition; Gerry Salter on when an injury takes place; and Mark Donelson on injury prevention.

Along with the information offered to coaches at the clinic, one coach will have the chance to win five Frappier Acceleration speed and training scholarships.