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Thank you all for your candid thoughts and support. I thought an update would interest some of you. After not sleeping for 3 nights, we've decided to remove our daughter from the team. We included her in the process and she has stated that in her heart the antics, belittling, and insulting behavior from the coach is just WRONG! One can not sit on the fence is this case...the coach is either right or wrong. Young athletes deserve the right to be treated with respect and dignity....that's FINAL! Being emotionally and psycologically (sp?) safe at practice is as important as being physically safe.
We notified at least half of the parents by phone to share the news, some also expressed their own concerns and many thanked us for our courage. We have discovered 2 parents who are very concerned and one who is thinking of pulling her daughter.
In the meantime, we've been told by the director that he will NOT continue a dialogue with us since I quote "Your daughter is no longer in the program"......geeez, can they keep digging the hole deeper for themselves, or what? Oh, did I mention my 12 yr. old son is in the boys travel league and my husband is one of 3 coaches of that team?
Hawkscoach hit the nail on the head....we've discovered that there is no mission statement of philisophy, no code of ethics or standards for coaches in this travel league. There is obviously no protocal for handling complaints lodged against coaches.....oh...yeah, the put my head in the sand and look the other way is alive and kicking here!! The director actually had the nerve to say..."tell your daughter that the angrier the coach gets, the harder she needs to try"
I bet battered wives hear that all the time from their battering partner.
So, we're off to fight the bigger battle.. a letter to the paper, to the board of directors of the league who knows what.
As someone famous once said (let me know who):
IF NOT ME, THEN WHO
IF NOT NOW, THEN WHEN
Thank you for you candor and professionalism!
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