Crybaby Award article

[N_Stripes]

What a shame. Was this coach trying to get this kid to grow up and be a man, to dig deep and get better, or was he just trying miserably to be funny? I can't imagine how his intentions could have been good.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...rybaby_award_1

[Mark Padgett]

I think they ought to invite this coach to a banquet and give him the a**hole of the year award.

[canuckrefguy]

Despicable. Absolutely Despicable.

This guy should never see a gymnasium again.

[icallfouls]

Reprehensible on every level.

I sincerely hope that the school district takes the opportunity to make a similar example of the coach(es) for the entire community to see.

Even if it was meant to motivate (I can't see how), this player and his parents have paid for the opportunity to participate, build character, hang out with friends, experience the meaning of team, not to have some ignorant coach humilate him.

I could really go off here, but I believe that most of us take this for what it is: Some idiot coach that doesn't have a clue.

[BktBallRef]

Had that been my kid, they would have had to pull me off that coach.

[Dan_ref]

Originally posted by BktBallRef
Had that been my kid, they would have had to pull me off that coach.

I first heard this story on the radio in my car this morning. I thought exactly the same thing.

Sometimes a strongly worded reprimand does not quite get to the point. Sometimes the law does not quite cover the type of cruelty we sometimes encounter, sadly a lot of that cruelty is seen in kids organized sports. This is one of those cases. In this case those jerks should have just gotten a good beating.

[Nevadaref]

Wow, BBallCoach really does have a coaching job!

[TravelinMan]

How can you "fly like an eagle" when you play for "turkeys" like that.

[Black&White]

Originally posted by Mark Padgett
I think they ought to invite this coach to a banquet and give him the a**hole of the year award.

I would have to agree 100% on that. Its people that that moron who bring the sport down and discourage people to play such a quality sport

[canuckrefguy]

Article from local newspaper....

Now Pleasantville coaches may be ones crying
Schools superintendent to suggest disciplinary action for coaches who gave boy 'crybaby award'
By MADELAINE VITALE Staff Writer

PLEASANTVILLE - Schools Superintendent Edwin Coyle said Monday that he will recommend disciplinary action at tonight's school board meeting for middle school basketball coaches who humiliated a student by giving him the team "crybaby award."

Coyle said the coaches thought they would have fun at someone else's expense while at a recent awards banquet and it backfired.

"I was very upset and dismayed that our coaches would take an opportunity to belittle or lessen the self-esteem of our athletes," Coyle said.

The student, Terrence Philo Jr., knew he would be getting an award at the banquet. His coach called to make sure he was attending to receive his "special award."

During the banquet all of his teammates received certificates and trophies. But when Philo got up to get his award, he heard laughter. When he neared his coach, a man he looked up to, he was stunned, his father, Terrence, said Monday.

The boy's trophy had a silver figure of a baby atop a pedestal engraved with his name, which was spelled incorrectly.

The 13-year-old would not let his father, his teammates and especially not his coach, see how hurt he was.

"He went to throw it in the trash and I said no," his father said. "He said, 'Come on. I feel like I'm doing this all for nothing.'"

The boy felt so embarrassed that he could not go to school on the Monday following the April 24 ceremony, his father said.

Philo said his son has always been involved in sports. Terrence Jr. is the shortest student in the eighth grade, but he never backed down from a challenge. Fellow basketball players tower over him, but he is not intimidated. He just loves the game, his father said. In fact, he loves all sports. He plays football and is on the track team.

But since receiving the award, Terrence Jr, who is an honor roll student, has lost some of his self-esteem.

"He doesn't even want to play outside," Philo said. "The same day that he got the award, he went around the corner and someone said, 'I heard about the crybaby award.' A lot of people are talking. The kids are in shock."

Philo said he might get a lawyer involved.

"At the very least, I think my child needs counseling for a few weeks. I am angry that the coaches made him feel that way."

Philo said another student also got the award, but The Press could not confirm that prior to press time.

Terrence Jr. may go along with his father to the school board meeting tonight.

"I just keep telling him to stay on track. I keep him active. I'm trying to keep him going. I just keep telling him, 'You're a good kid. Don't back down.'"

To e-mail Madelaine Vitale at The Press:

[email protected]

[Black&White]

If Philo get a lawyer involved, I hope the coach gets the book thrown at him... that jerk diserves whats coming to him

[N_Stripes]

Latest release from Board meeting. I am not sure I understand the coaches position in this article. He's the Special Ed teacher, you would think he had already been through sensitivity training. What an idiot.


PLEASANTVILLE, N.J. -- The head coach of a middle school basketball team who presented a "Crybaby Award" trophy to a 13-year-old player at a sports banquet may have lost his job over it.

The Pleasantville Board of Education voted Tuesday night to fire Pleasantville Middle School coach James Guillen, but the Board's own attorney questioned whether the vote was legal.

Guillen, 24, a special education teacher at the school who was in his first year as basketball coach, has told school officials the award was his idea and that two other coaches didn't know about it in advance.

Just prior to the April 24 banquet at the Pleasantville Recreation Center, Guillen called him to be sure to attend the event to pick up his special trophy, according to the boy's father, Terrence Philo Sr.

He wasn't told what the trophy signified.

At the event, the boy watched as all of his teammates received trophies or certificates. He was then called up to receive his award, and a coach told the crowd that the boy was being honored because "he begged to get in the game, and all he did was whine."

The trophy consisted of a silver figure of a baby atop a pedestal engraved with the boy's name, which was spelled incorrectly. Family members said the teen _ an honor roll student _ was so embarrassed that he stayed home from school on the following Monday.

"It's an awful thing to have done to a teenager, just totally uncalled for," said Michael Popkin, a family therapist and author based in Atlanta. "One of the harshest things you can do to a kid is to publicly humiliate them. It's bad enough putting him down one on one, away from the team. To set him up like that and then cut his knees out in public is a huge blow."

Schools Superintendent Edwin Coyle said Guillen's punishment could range from a severe reprimand to dismissal from his teaching job.

"It's totally unacceptable. It's not the way to treat young athletes or students," said Coyle.

Coyle recommended a five-day suspension without pay, sensitivity training and a yearlong ban from extracurricular activities for Guillen.

The nine-member board voted to fire him instead, even though Board attorney Damon Tyner said the vote wasn't binding because only the superintendent had the power to hire and fire.

Asked if Guillen had been fired, Board President Jerome Page said: "The motion passed."

The boy and his father were present for the vote, which came after a 2{-hour closed-door session. They did not speak to reporters afterward, although an attorney representing the father questioned whether the Board had the authority to fire Guillen.

"He has collective bargaining rights, he has due process rights," said the attorney, Jonathan Diego.

Pleasantville teachers union president Jean Hovey said the coach didn't deserve termination.

"Nobody should have a promising teaching career shot down by an obvious bad taste of judgment. To go as far as they're going? That's unconscionable," said Hovey, president of the Pleasantville Education Association.

Guillen's record in three years as a Pleasantville Middle School teacher is satisfactory, he said.

Coyle said the coach had received a Crybaby Award as a teenager while playing in a summer recreation league and that it was meant to recognize athletic ability, leadership skills and vocal participation.

He wanted to honor Philo, who was a starter for most of the season on a team that won its league championship, not ridicule him, according to Coyle.

"The award was given without malice, but it did backfire," Coyle said.

Guillen later called the boy to tell him he should not be upset about the award, noting that he had received similar treatment when he was young, the father said.

But Philo said the award had caused his son to lose some of his passion for sports.

"He doesn't even want to play outside (now)," Philo told The Press of Atlantic City newspaper, adding that while his son may be short, he never backs down from a challenge. "I just keep telling him to stay on track. I keep him active. I just keep telling him, 'You're a good kid. Don't back down."'

Whether the boy suffers permanent harm from the humiliation depends on how strong he is emotionally and how much his friends, family and teammates support him, Popkin said.

Guillen, who makes $1,846 a year as coach, could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Coyle, who spoke to him Tuesday, said Guillen was feeling "a lot of stress."

"He thought he was doing something in a positive way," Coyle said.

[Adam]

Let him teach, but not coach.

[Dan_ref]

Originally posted by Snaqwells
Let him teach, but not coach.

He's a special education teacher.

Do you know what type of kid a special ed teacher is in contact with on a daily basis?

Do you think it's right that this jerk should interact with the most at risk kids?

If anything I would say let him try to keep his coaching job but keep him the heck away from teaching.

[Snake~eyes]

That's rough