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Coaches enjoy new status as educators

The working conditions of sports coaches are set to improve following legislative revisions this week.

The position of sports coach at public schools will now be brought under the general category of educational personnel, together with principals, teachers and other educators in the public-school system, after the Legislative Yuan amended the Statute Governing Recruitment of Educational Personnel (教育人員任用條例) on Thursday.

Previously, sports coaches were hired by individual schools on contract and were subject to rules different to other staff, despite the fact that they had to pass examinations and undergo a three-month government training course.

The amendment was jointly proposed by legislators from across the political spectrum.

They argued that formalizing the recruitment of sports coaches was vital to furthering the government's goal of improving competitiveness at international sporting events.

The lack of a rigorous recruitment system to date was the fundamental reason behind the government's failure to improve the country's performance in sporting events, the legislators said.

The amendment bringing sports coaches under the definition of educational staff protects both their working rights and affords them a sense of security, said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) and Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Chien Lin Hue-jyun (錢林慧君).

The passage of the amendment also brings hope to outstanding athletes who hope to take up coaching after retiring from their own on-field sporting careers.

"The amendment is an incentive for sportspeople because they will no longer need to worry about a career after retiring from the sports ground," Hung said.

The lawmakers also said the passage was a big wedding gift to the high-profile baseball pitcher, Chang Chih-chia (張誌家).

The recently-married professional baseball player was one of the high-profile supporters of the amendment.

Hung said that Chang should be relieved by the amendment because now he could become a professional baseball coach and contribute to baseball development in Taiwan after his career in the Japanese baseball league.

Chien Lin was equally delighted.

"A number of coaches have called to express their gratification at the amendment. They confirmed that [it] would lead to more outstanding sportspeople devoting themselves to training teenage athletes at school," she said.

Chiu Yung-shen (邱永盛), secretary general of the Chinese Professional Coaches Association, agreed with Chien Lin.

Chiu said the it would lead to a restructuring of sports education around the country.

For decades, many talented athletes chose to study at teachers' colleges to be physical education teachers rather than be educated at institutes of physical education because of the financial uncertainty that would result, Chiu said.

Now, distinguished athletes would study at institutes of physical education, Chiu said.

"We have been falling behind the international trend of enlisting professional coaches to help train young sportspeople. So the revision of the statute was a milestone," Chiu said.

Judo coach and former national judo champion Lin Pai-sung (林百松) welcomed the legislative amendment. He is one of 178 professional coaches to benefit from its passage.

The change "will not only entrench the rights of professional coaches, but also help us to gain respect from people who used to regard us as inferior to other teachers," he said.
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