Texas creates program to teach athletes about domestic violence

September 30, 2016 / Athletic AdministrationCoaching
The Texas coaches association has created a voluntary program designed to teach student-athletes about domestic violence and sexual assault.

thscaThe three-part video series, titled “Starting the Conversation,” focuses on communication between young men and women. The campaign was created as a response to the growing number of domestic violence and sexual assault cases in sports, most of which are at the college and professional levels. The video series is endorsed by the Dallas Cowboys, Houston Rockets and Houston Texans.

From The San Antonio Express-News:

Former Judson football coach D.W. Rutledge, the executive director of the coaches association, said “Starting the Conversation” is expected to be unveiled in November and will be available to schools and their coaches beginning in the spring semester.

“We feel like high school coaches have the opportunity to stand in the gap and help (youths) as far as teaching these types of things,” Rutledge said. “We can teach them how to be better people and then better athletes.”

“Starting the Conversation” is the brainchild of Austin lobbyist Bill Miller, a former college football player at Oklahoma who has daughters attending Baylor and Southern Cal. Miller said he came up with the idea on Christmas Eve 2014 while reading Juliet Macur’s New York Times column about sexual-assault allegations against then-Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston, a Heisman Trophy winner and national champion who now plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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