How you keep your kids eligible

We check grades regularly but we also hold study table for those that are having troubles before school. They have to be there for 15 minutes and then they need to report to a teacher to get extra help.

We check our grades weekly and those who are in trouble, we try to get them the help they need either from a teammate or their teacher

We have a lot of helpful teachers who are willing to tutor so we take advantage of that by having weekly progress reports and kids who are slipping up have to go to study sessions or they will be held out of practice/games/suspended until they attend sessions and actively work to get those grades up. They are still responsible for any practices they miss which mean 6AM make-up sessions that are gruesome.

We try to have good communication with teachers. Alot of players just don't want to do homework, study, or were never taught properly so it is a challenge w/ grades. But bottom line is if they don't get grades up they won't be eligible and can't play. So we try to do everything we can to make sure our players can be successful in the classroom. Its not easy but taking football away and assigning makeup days is a good way to get players attention. If a player is having particular trouble with an area we try to get him all the help he can get, as long as they are doing what we need them to do we let them practice, play, etc. as long as they are eligible and following their program.

Best system I have been a part of:

Anyone with below a 2.5 goes to mandatory study hall implemented Monday, Wednesday, Friday before practice/game. Only excusable reason to miss is tutoring with a professor and that person must send note to coach. Study hall remains in effect until progress reports or report cards prove that you have above a 2.5.

Weekly grade sheets during the season (starting about week 2). They go out on Monday and must be signed by teacher by Thursday before practice. No gradesheet=no play. Teachers sometimes hassle over this but you easily get admin to back you when it's for the kid's academic improvement.

The HC that implemented this only had to sit a starter one time his first season. Team GPA rose from something like a 1.8 to a 2.6 his first year. 10+ kids had failed off in years past, his first year they only had 1 (non starter).

Like coachvann stated- hold them accountable and to a higher standard and they will rise up. Stick to your guns and sit the dude that doesn't turn in his gradesheet. If he can't buy in to what you're doing off the field how can buy in to what you're doing on the field? It'll pay off in the long run!

At our school, every freshman that is in a sport has to go to a 1 hour study table class after school...no exceptions. As soon as mid terms come out, if your grade is a 2.0 or above,you are good to go. Anytime it falls below that, you go back to study table. At any grade level, if you go below a 2.o you must attend study table. Below 1.6 you are ineligible.

Detentions are treated as a team failure, therefore team consequence (running, suicides etc.)

toughdowng,

Great point, what is your system for creating those opportunities?

Have open communication with all your players teachers. If a boy is struggling make him have a study hall after school. Sometimes the teacher will offer help. Also have other students on the team tutor him.

We check grades every two weeks ALL year long. We check grades, absences, and tardies. We have found:
1. This builds repor with the faculty.
2. Holds the kids accountable for the year, not just doing football season.
3. Doesn't allow kids to "slip through the cracks."

We start the year with a block of time built in for a Study Hall/Character Ed/Film/Weights before practice. Any kid that slips below a C average in any class, has MANDATORY Study Hall. The others have Character Ed/Weights/Film.

Each position coach is responsible for his kids. Because we have some DB/WR kids, the DB coach and I will split those kids up (we usually have the largest group anyway). The HC takes the QBs and gets involved with the really troubling cases--i.e. the knuckleheads that for whatever reason can't get their act together but who need football in their lives.