What do you do?

[JAD]

If all of the team members are united in their concerns with the head coach they could go to the AD as a group and voice their concerns. Having a letter listing their grievances ready to send to the NCAA if the AD does not act should get his/her attention. ESPN or the local news should be the last resort.

How is this school recruiting new players? Current players should inform recruits about the current coaching situation.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

What really concerns me is that the young ladies are being led to believe that they can't do anything about this. I know they want to play and they need their education - but at what price? No one, not a man or a woman, should be allowed to bully. It really sends the wrong lesson, to these young women.

 

[YOCOACH]

The players need to list specific violations, dates, times and names. They will also have to list any communication they've had with the school administration and the results of their grievances by the administration. They will need to do it as a unit. If the school refuses to act then contact the NCAA and hand the complaints to them.

If the NCAA fails to do anything then as suggested.... ESPN as a last resort. Even then there's no guarantee they will want to run another abusive coach story. They can try to get the local media involved. But if the school spends a lot of money with the local media they may not want to run the story fearing upsetting the powers who run the school.

That's when you mail it to the school archrival's home town media. They'd love to get their hands on that.

 

[Momo'sDad]

These Vid Vision sunglasses from HSN are the real deal. I thought they'd be a joke until one of my basketball dads brought me the video of our last game. The HD video was incredible and the audio was reliable, too.

 

[SoCal_Dad]

JAD is 100% correct - this has to be done with at least the majority of players so it can't be passed off as a few malcontents and they need to document it is a recurring problem rather than an isolated incident. Doing it as a group also provides some protection, however it would be prudent to have a senior organize it. They also need to determine the outcome they want, rather than just make a complaint.

It would have to be extremely severe to bring it up now in the middle of the season. If possible, they should try to get through the rest of the season, document what occurs and bring it up afterward.

 

[concernedparent]

Much of what you all said makes sense. It will take a widespread team effort.

Amy, my concern is with you-- what are we teaching our children if we allow them to think that this is ok? It is not. This is what troubles me the most. That, and the fact that a young lady's passion for a game can be single-handedly squashed by a jackass coach.
It is beyond "tough coaching". Trust me.

 

[WaSpeed02]

Is this a case where a handful of ladies are taking the brunt of the bullying? Or is it every player without exception? IOW, do you have unanimity amongst the team as far as what they want to accomplish or is the team possibly divided into anti-coach/pro-coach groups?

 

[riseball]

My DD's coach was fired here recently because of the way he talked to the players. It isn't a D1 school, but college level nonetheless. It started with one parent taking exception to his behavior and letting him know about it after the game. Billy Martin style. After security was called there was a meeting with theAD, a meeting with the players, and then he was gone.

Unless this was an especially egregious offense I imagine this was not an isolated incident. He was probably already on a probation of sorts. In situations like these players and parents need to make their case, provide documentation, and keep up the pressure if needed. I would strongly suggest NOT approaching this with the goal of removing the coach. Rather make the goal to change the negative behavior. The AD will have a hard time supporting a coaches continued negative behavior. But if you demand summary removal the AD will most likely stand by the coach. Give the AD the opportunity to fix the problem and failing that they will be left no choice other than to remove the coach.

 

[Sparky Guy]

Unless this was an especially egregious offense I imagine this was not an isolated incident. He was probably already on a probation of sorts. In situations like these players and parents need to make their case, provide documentation, and keep up the pressure if needed. I would strongly suggest NOT approaching this with the goal of removing the coach. Rather make the goal to change the negative behavior. The AD will have a hard time supporting a coaches continued negative behavior. But if you demand summary removal the AD will most likely stand by the coach. Give the AD the opportunity to fix the problem and failing that they will be left no choice other than to remove the coach.

RB, I admire your belief in being able to change someone for the better. If what the OP says is true it sounds like this is the coaches personality. I really, really doubt anything will change permanently. The coach may change their behavior for the short term. However I think the desired effect will be short-term.

 

[riseball]

RB, I admire your belief in being able to change someone for the better. If what the OP says is true it sounds like this is the coaches personality. I really, really doubt anything will change permanently. The coach may change their behavior for the short term. However I think the desired effect will be short-term.

You give me more credit than I am probably due. Most people will not change if they have gone this far. Granted the change will most likely not occur or at best the change will be short-term. Realistically unless he commits some type of flagrant offense, and he may be close, the AD will most likely not summarily remove him mid-season. My point is to give the AD the information and keep it flowing. That way the issue does not go away and at some point must be resolved either by modification of the behavior (unlikely) or removal of the coach.