by ndfbfan » Tue Apr 24, 2007 3:22 pm
Here's another article. This seems to be a very hot topic right now.
Are parents too pushy with coaches?
class=bylineBy ERIC PETERSON
The Associated Press
class=bodytextFARGO - When John Del Val was fired as head boys basketball coach at Wahpeton this month, Fargo North boys coach Dan Shultis took notice.
"It's not safe," Shultis said. "In the end, you need support. It doesn't give you a good feeling inside."
A group of parents wasn't satisfied with Del Val, even though he had a career winning record in 13 seasons. That unrest led the Wahpeton School Board to strip coaching from Del Val's contract.
That week, Waylan Starr resigned as girls basketball coach at Kindred after two successful seasons.
class=bodytext"The parents and I weren't on the same page," he said.
Are pushy parents becoming more prevalent than in years past, causing a higher rate of coaching attrition in prep basketball? Or is it mere coincidence those two situations were bunched in the same week?
"Anybody who is going to be a coach is going to run into some issues," Shultis said. "It just depends on how you handle it."
Do parents play too big of a role in influencing high school coaching decisions?
Opinions vary, but most area coaches and athletic directors agree that increased participation in traveling teams and offseason workout programs have raised the stakes.
"Parents are putting all their eggs in one basket and, when they do that and they don't get what they want to see, they feel like it's their right to speak out," said May-Port-CG athletic director and boys basketball coach Dave Nelson.
Parental unrest with coaches has existed for generations.
Tom Erdmann was a standout basketball player at Minot Ryan before he graduated from the school in 1969.
"I would ride home with a mother of another player and she was upset her son wasn't playing," said Erdmann, who had two sons play at North.
Erdmann doesn't think the current atmosphere is coach-friendly. When he played in high school, fewer parents attended games, thus less scrutiny.
Today, he thinks parents follow their kids more closely and invest more time into following their athletic careers.
"I can't imagine anyone wanting to be a head coach with the things that some parents do," he said.
Tom's sons Eric, a 2006 graduate, and Jon (2002), See Parents, Page 5D
played on North Dakota Class A state championship teams at North. Playing time wasn't an issue in either case. Eric and Jon played significant roles for the Spartans. Eric was a 2006 Mr. Basketball finalist and now plays at the University of Maryk.
Tom said he and his wife, Renae, kept criticisms they had about the program between themselves.
"If we are going to complain, we are going to complain to each other, but not in public," Tom said.
Longtime Minot High boys coach Gene Manson thinks the methods parents use have changed. He feels parents are more likely to approach the school board before they go to the head coach.
In the past, parents would normally talk with the coach first, Manson said.
However, Manson isn't sure the situations at Wahpeton and Kindred signal a growing trend.
"You go in cycles and that is never going to change," said Manson, who has coached for 36 seasons. "And it really affects a team because it's funny how the kids know right away."
In most cases, winning seems to create harmony within a program. But success is not always the perfect elixir.
Starr won 85 percent of his games (47-8) in two seasons at Kindred and led the Vikings to the Class B state tournament both years.
Del Val had a 161-132 record in his 13 years with the Huskies, including four trips to the Class A state tournament.
"It was disturbing because, when you look at those two coaches, they had a lot of success," Fargo South head girls basketball coach Craig Flaagan said.
But Wahpeton went 9-12 last season, and Del Val thinks he would still have his job if the Huskies had made the state tournament.
Del Val said he has received 40 supportive e-mails from coaches, ex-players and people in the community since his dismissal.
"He is an excellent coach and his teams are always well-prepared," Manson said of Del Val. "You wonder what people are looking at. There is no question what happened to John was undeserving.
"To me it's a sad state of affairs because we are losing people in coaching who care about kids."
Messages left with several Wahpeton boys basketball parents were not returned.
"It is unfortunate the issues weren't discussed with the coaching staff, parents and activities director," Wahpeton parent Jim Albrecht recently told the Wahpeton Daily News. "It came to the school board without that discussion."
While the prep basketball season lasts less than four months, the sport has become a year-round vocation for some.
"In the past, they didn't specialize to the point where the program has become their whole life," said Fargo Public Schools activities director Ed Lockwood, who was a high school coach for 18 years. "If you look at a basketball player who is really specialized, they spend 12 to 14 weeks with the school team and the rest of the year with a parent or a specialized coach."
Lockwood said he sees more kids playing on traveling teams. And when parents see their kids do well with those out-of-season teams, they expect that success and playing time to continue during the high school season.
Some athletes also do sports-specific training out of season - programs that increase strength and quickness with parents typically footing the bill.
"These parents are putting a ton of money into it," said South boys head coach Mike Hendrickson.
"I think with more and more traveling teams, parents feel they have more ownership," Flaagan said.
"The No. 1 priority for a high school coach is not to develop kids to play college basketball," Nelson said. "Too many people are looking at getting their kid a scholarship or individual recognition instead of having the team goal in mind."
The Fargo Public Schools has an activities handbook that outlines parameters for parent-coach communication.
Parents are not supposed to discuss with coaches playing time, team strategy, play calling and other student-athletes, according to the handbook.
Parents and athletes are required to attend co-curricular meetings, which are set up before fall, winter and spring seasons. They sign a co-curricular card that says they will follow guidelines in the handbook.
Lisbon athletic director Joe Howell said his school has similar rules. If a parent has an issue, they're first supposed to talk with that coach before going to the athletic director, principal and school board in that order.
"In most cases, Steps 1 and 2 are bypassed," Howell said. "That is where the problem lies. Every coach should have to be a parent first and every parent should have to be a coach first."
Howell believes Lisbon is a good community for coaches because most parents are supportive. But he said coaches and administrators still get the occasional anonymous letter or late-night call.
"It needs to be an enjoyable experience for the players, it needs to be an enjoyable experience for the parents and it needs to be an enjoyable experience for the coaches," Nelson said. "When it works like that, it's a win-win situation for everybody."