Backing up a teammate or Walking out on your team?? - You decide.

3 Madison High students quit team during Patriots’ game

By Jonathan Austin, Editor
News-Record & Sentinel (Madison County, NC)
[email protected]


MARSHALL — Three members of the Madison High School varsity basketball team quit during the Patriots’ game against Mitchell on Friday night. A fourth player left the team after the game.

Dr. Tony Tipton, Madison’s principal, said the walkout was a shock, but that the remaining players practiced Monday and were ready to get on with the season.

“I’ve never had people just refuse to go in,” Tipton said, adding that he thought the boys’ actions were misguided.

Madison coach Patrick Austin said the loss of the players wouldn’t stop the Patriots, who are 5-10 this season. The walkout began after junior Ramsey Elsayed committed a foul.

Austin turned to senior Aaron Roberts to go in, but Roberts declined.

Roberts said Austin told him to go to the locker room, and at that point, senior Travis Westmoreland stood and followed him off the court.

The coach then told Patrick Worley to go in, and Worley stood and walked to the scorer’s table to check in, but then decided not to enter the game.

Technical fouls were called on each player. Mitchell went on to win the game 71-62.

After the game, Brandon Swann told the coach he didn’t want to play anymore.

“That was the first time we’d ever taken a stand against (the coach,)” said Roberts, the school’s student body president. “We did not leave by choice. I was told to leave. I didn’t know I would get a technical.”

Westmoreland, a two-year varsity player, said the seniors walked off because they were fed up with being benched early in the game and not called back until the closing moments.

“More than 90 percent of the time (when they were playing) we’d be closing in on the lead or taking the lead, but if we made one mistake, we’d be taken out,” he said. “Finally me and Aaron and Patrick and Brandon just got fed up with it.”

Austin said the team is down to eight players, including two seniors.

Madison will play Mountain Heritage Tuesday night.

Johnna Peters, Travis’ mother, said she feels parents “have (had) legitimate concerns” about the boys’ situation before Friday night’s game, and said backed her son completely.

“I’m proud of my son. He stood up for what he believed in. He backed his teammate. I do not think that he let down anybody. To me, he was standing up for what he thought was right.”

 

Wow!

My initial thoughts are if you have a problem, you express your concerns AFTER the game. Just looking for attention by doing that on the court.

I never made it on a basketball team. I was cut in the first round of tryouts in middle school. I knew then I was not cut out to be on the floor. So maybe my thoughts are a little judgemental here, but I've always believed that if you make the commitment to the team, you stick it out. But you NEVER, NEVER do something like this.

 

I would say there is about 90% or more of this story that we don't know about.

Just my own personal opinion, though, and based entirely on the story, is that those guys walked out on their team.

 

Unbelievable

As their parent, I would hug them, explain to them their mistake and march them to the coaches office and beg for forgiveness. The coach should take them back, subject to their completion of many sprints, push ups and sit ups and an apology to their teammates.

 

well i think they kids walked out on there team,have they talked to there coach,did the mom talk to the coach? the parents sound to me like they wanted this to happen.the kids,and parents are dead wrong on this one.and should never be trusted again as a coach i would not want kids like that on my team anyway.how do you think the other kids feel?if i was a player and hated my coach , my love and respect for my teammates i could never do anything like that

 

are you serious?

i agree that there are two sides to each story. if the kids declined to play in the final minutes as it was stated according to the article, the coach was the one that instructed the players to leave. i am not in any way condoning the actions, but they wouldnt have left and no one would be reading this article if he had let them sit there for the minute of the game then dismissed them afterwards. its a bad situation all around for the school, and those individual students. however by saying that they should not be allowed to play another sport or attend a certain university based on one mess up in high school- the place that we all made stupid mistakes that built us to be some part of the people that we are today- is the most hypocritical thing i have ever heard. who are you to judge and alter the life of a kid, not an adult, a kid that could somehow make or break the way his life goes. these boards are supposed to be used to help kids futures not end them. i am glad that you are not in the position to make those decisions and take away chances for those kids.

 

Serious

fmrtitan:

You are correct - I have deleted my previous post. Good luck to these kids, as well as to the 8 kids left behind!