What is going on at Burns High

Good coaches are getting harder and harder to come by because of what I like to call the "Parent Factor". They think if their child isn't playing, you have something against them or their child. They refuse to admitt that someone is better than their child. These folks get a little circle going and the next thing you know you've lost a good coach. Kids will learn so much more from athletics that is useful to them in life than they will in any classroom. Your principals don't look for good teacher/coaches anymore. They look for warm bodies to go out there. Something needs to be done because more and more good coaches are going to go in other directions. There is only so much hastle that a person can take from these folks that don't even belong around sports.

 

This is really upsetting to a lot of people. These girls do not deserve to
be treated this way. Even if the school makes the decision to let them play
how are they going to feel. A lot of people will say " oh look what there parents did they got them back on the team". Can these girls handle this?
The damage has already been done. The sad part about all of this is this coach is also a teacher. We as parents need to do something about this. We are letting these coaches and teachers take something away from our kids.
I do not know the whole story about why these girls are not playing but from what I have heard, this coach has a problem with them. Now, not only 2 seniors are not playing another has quit because she does not beleive these girls hae been treated fairly. She has taken a stand maybe others should follow??

 

You hit the nail on the head! There are softball people who would be willing to coach this team, and have made this known, but they were ignored! Your comparison to football is valid. There are a lot of different sports that athletes (including girls) deserve a fair shot. The old days are gone. Girls aren't just cheerleaders anymore. Some schools just refuse to acknowledge it, so this happens. There is talent in this area, unfortunately, it never gets maximized. These players have not been allowed to reach their potential. Some people do care, just not the right people!

 

As an uninterested bystander ( who is aware of some of the facts of this situation), let me pose the following hypothetical situatuion for all to review. Let's say, for arguements sake, that a player or players on the team have a conflict one day per week. The conflict is in the form of an elective class at a local community college. The players are experienced players who knew or should have known that this class could be a conflict during softball season. This conflict, in turn, causes the players to miss part or all of any practices or games on those days that they have class. The coach has a standing team rule that anytime a player misses practice or a game, they will be ineligible for the next game. Therefore, missing one game in fact means missing two. Upon review of the schedule, the coach then determines that the player or players would in effect miss nearly half of the contests. This is partly due to players inability to be in two places at once and partly due to the enforcement of the standing team rule. Is the coach better off to have "part time" athletes on her team or is she better to have full time committed players? Is the coach better off to bend the team rules for two of her "star players" or enforce the rules evenly (even if it means making a difficult preemptive decision)? Is the coach better off to to have the strongest athetes or those who may have inferior abilities but superior hearts? I don't know all the facts here. I'm not sure anyone but God does. I do know that it's hard for a coach to stand her morals and show fortitude in the mist of a pressure packed situation. I also know it's hard to do what she has been taught to do and believes is right. Maybe that's what this coach is doing. Isn't that what we want our coaches to do? Isn't that what a good coach would ask of her players?

 

Coach

If this is the facts, U are right on, it is exactly what a coach should do. Fair to all regardless of the star factor. However as we all know parent clout and "star Factor" enter in the equation way to often.

 

Amen to that LBlues. There is at least one school in the area who will not allow booster clubs for most team sports due to the conflicts that arise and undue pressure on the coach exerted by the parental clout situation. e.g. "I'm president of the booster club my child must start" etc.. Maybe this is one case where a coach is trying to turn that around and making decisions based on the team and the game. If that turns out to be the case, good for her and for her team.

:applause:

 

Why didn't the coach review the schedules of all the players prior to the semester beginning? The coaches I know review their player's schedules at the beginning of the school year and then prior to the start of the spring semester. If there are any conflicts, there is time for changes to be made.

With that said, team rules are team rules and you can't make exceptions. If exceptions are made, then the coach has lost all credibility and respect of the players and none of the team rules mean a thing.

Making exceptions to the team rules is why many travel ball coaches get into conflicts with players and parents. In travel ball, there are other teams to play for and the coaches, players and parents know that. Unfortunately some, (but not all) coaches will make exceptions for the "star" player so not to make her or her parents upset by enforcing the penalty of violating a team rule. They are afraid the "star" will quit and go play for another team, leaving the old team in a mess.

In my opinion, if a player or parent does not like the rule and penalty, then let them go! The team may suffer some in the short term, but in the long term the team and the players will benefit.

 

3 or 4 different coaches in the last 5 years, doesnt help matters either BUT

Burns will come through all this fine, as there's alot of good young talent in Upper Cleveland area!!

 

Even if the the players did not know the game schedule, they undoubtledly knew there would be afternoon practices. I would think missing practice would be a violation of team rules, in and of itself. Seniors, who had played ball before, should have taken this into consideration before enrolling in the class. Great programs almost always have one commonality.. discipline.. It would be interesting to look back in several years and determine if this was the year the "program" began to get estabilshed as opposed to just having a team. Time will tell.

CFBall, you are dead accurate. Consistancy in coaching is a huge key to long term success in any sport. It appears that this coach is clearly not interested in just the short term, based on her decisions. A "short timer" would have bent the rules with little or no regard to future implications. Thanks for the awesome well thought out responses. It's great to talk with some knowledgable folks.

 

These 2 young ladies played for me on my travel team last summer. They are both tremendous young ladies off the field as well as on. Both work extremely hard. We were very short on pitching one tournament and the pitcher pitched 3 straight games for us without a break in between games. We tried several times to take her out but she kept runing out to the mound. It would be hard to find any player or young lady any better than these 2, and I am speaking off the field as well as on the field. They both have very supportive parents who would help our team in any way they could. They both put team first before themselves. They care about their teammates. Never a harsh word to any of them. Their parents have done a great job in raising these 2. It is my understanding that it all came down to the class. It was a night class. The pitcher quit the class the first day tryouts begin when she found out that there might be conflicts. The 2nd player said that softball would come before the class and no practice or game time would be missed. I don't know if anything else figured into the decision of the coach. I hate this has happened to everyone envolved. I know that these 2 as well as their parents are really torn about this! I wish them all the best.