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Sunday, December 16, 2018

A Viewer Writes: Local High School Coach

Joe,

Last night I went to the bennett / snow hill girls basketball game in snow hill. I watched the coach from bennett run the score up to 96 to maybe 8 or 10 points for snow hill (53 to 4 at halftime). This coach of bennett girls has to be the worst coach I have ever watched coach a group of young people. He has no idea of what the game of basketball is all about. He happens to have 2 or 3 girls who are fast and can cherry pick all day long. There is no team play no ball movement just run and gun! This is why they lost in the playoffs last year. More complete teams that know how to work together use all five players and move the ball around will beat him every time. The fool actually managed to be given coach of the year last year just because of the talent he currently has on roster he happened to make the playoffs. Never mind his record from past years was beyond dismal to say the least. No plays no conditioning no unselfish play just run and gun! I was told he was shooting for 100 pts but left himself an out in case of criticism, by not playing all his starters at the same time during the fourth quarter! As for what he’s teaching these kids I would have to hope that would be nothing! The other possibilities are worse! This is what passes for coaching in the state of Maryland. Due to the fact that only school board employees are allowed to be a head coach this is what we end up with, someone who never played the game at any level other than a playground pickup game! According to Maryland some of the greatest coaches to have ever had an impact on sports would not be qualified to even think about coaching a school sport in the people’s republic of Maryland! My question is in doing this what has he proved? Or taught the kids? As a coach I would have mandated my ball handlers i.e. starters, move the ball around and make several passes before letting one of the subs take the shot!

Or better yet slow the game down a bit. I would never ask a kid to not do their best but there are other ways of getting them involved and having them work on other skills while also winning! I’m certainly glad he has no influence on my children! Shame on him and shame on Bennett and shame on Wicomico county public school system and shame on Maryland for not allowing better alternatives as coaches!

A concerned parent!

42 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree that coach should have let those players who he plays the least play and you are right move the ball around and let those players take the shot.

Anonymous said...

That certainly is a serious beatdown. I bet there is more to this but it is totally asinine to run the score up like Bill Belichick would.

Anonymous said...

So many things to address in your post. You make some okay points but most of your concerns are based in your heavily biased opinion only. As a coach and referee of multiple teams, through multiple age groups, through multiple sports with paid training, playing exp, referee exp and enough certifications to choke a horse I could not disagree with you more. Your opinion is clearly biased and if I had to guess I would say your daughter goes to Snow Hill or she rides the pine for Bennett. But its clear you have an ax to grind. Maybe you just dont like the coach.

If you think you can do better than you have options. 1) Be an assistant coach. Donate your own time and effort and see just how thankless the position is. This coach might get a small paycheck for coaching but that's about it. Whatever the coach has going on in their lives is put on hold for 10-20hrs per week through the winter to make sure that these women have a program. Thats all coaches. We sacrifice time with our families so your kids can play. Take it or leave it. 2) If you dont like the level of knowledge this coach is bringing than educate yourself on the game. Work with your own child at home. Send them to seminars. Travel ball. Off season training. Watch video after games. This coach is not there to turn anyone into a superstar or make sure they play for Maryland. If your kid wants to excel than help them. Most sports programs are the same way. Again you can volunteer but, complaining on SBYNews.com does nothing. So you tattled on someone trying to help out. I doubt they go home and do the evil laugh at running the score up. Grown up. Do something about it. Stop pissing and moaning.

You have no clue what the coach was trying to accomplish. You are guessing at best. It seems that the coach was making subs. You said yourself that they put in the second string in the 4th and Snow Hill still failed to score more than 10pts for the game. Thats Snow Hills problem, not the coach for Bennett. Again grow up. If life is so traumatic maybe you need to stay in doors. Or maybe you cant handle watching competition.

I have been on the delivering end of triple digit point differentials. Do you feel bad as a player stomping someone so bad. Yes you do. But you dont stop playing and you dont stop winning. As a coach you feel the pressure to not run up the score. You take measures to slow the pace. In many cases however the people you put in dont get much playing time and they are eager to prove themselves so the pace in fact does not slow. You said the Coach subbed in the 4th qtr. So they did try to stop the drubbing. Again Snow Hill needs to address the score not Bennett.

Nobody is making their living on Highschool sports. You take what you get. Your kids are not bound for D1 fame. Sports are likely not how they will make their living. You remind me the parents at a U6 Soccer game. Just relax. If you kids win and you dont like the message your coach is laying down then teach your kid what you want them to know. Teach them to win with some class. If they lose teach them to how to lose with dignity. You are their parent so dont let the school overstep that boundry. You are their parent so dont let the school overstep that boundry.


Stop whinning. Do something about it. Be a parent. Teach your kids these lessons on your own. Stop expecting someone to teach them what you should be teaching them.


Signed,
Parent, Coach, Referee, Mentor, Professional Volunteer

Anonymous said...

There is another argument to be made. My son plays a sport where his team is dominant. On numerous occasions, they have beaten the other team by wide margins. The coach does not “pull back” or “take his foot off of the gas”. We have been approached by parents from other teams who have actually thanked our coach for continuing to play hard. They say it is more embarrassing when their kids are losing and the other team is standing around playing “keep away” from their kids. They feel it is demeaning and mocks their kids because they aren’t as good. There is no easy answer. You tell kids to compete until the final whistle. Score shouldn’t matter. When you let your guard down is when you get hurt. Tell your kids to get faster, stronger and in better shape. Don’t hate on the kids who dedicate themselves to improving year round. My child plays only ONE sport. He plays it year round. We travel all over the country, even through the summer, so he can compete at the highest level. When his team plays locally, they dominate due to their year round commitment. It’s just the way it is.

Anonymous said...

Classy - humiliate the other team as much as you can. Perfect opportunity to let other team members play instead of showing off. Poor choices by coach in so many aspects of life. What is he teaching his players and those watching??!!

Anonymous said...

Parkside head baseball coach is not an employee of the board.

Anonymous said...

10:16 comparing Pro Sports to High School is incorrect, teaching and coaching at various levels of life are important. It appears this coach misses that, so sorry for the girls.

Anonymous said...

"...only school board employees are allowed to be a head coach..."

Really?

Anonymous said...

It's their job to score. It's the other team's job to stop them. They'll learn - this is a competition.

Anonymous said...

People - are you kidding me! This is not peewee sports. If you cannot handle the heat do play or go to the game. This sort of thinking is ridiculous.

And, you are clueless if you think coaches have to be BOE employee. Get your facts right before you let the diarrhea run.

Anonymous said...

Yes you have to be employed with the board to coach in wicomico county

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a parent of a Snow Hill player lol

Anonymous said...

Sounds like sour grapes to me...

Anonymous said...

11:01 head coach yes. mandated by the state boe. if any school board employee wants the few dollars extra they pay for coaching. then all others outside the system have to stand down, no matter their level of coaching experience. So pick any great coach you know and unless they are boe employees they would not be given the opportunity.
There are cases where other public (government) employees have manged to become a head coach of various HS sports through side deals, special exemptions, that I the average citizen would be offered! No matter their coaching pedigree.
So you get what you get! Sad!

Anonymous said...

I guarantee it the athletic director over at Bennett wouldn't be glad to hear about it. There's more to the game than just winning.

Anonymous said...

@11:01 that's not true!! The whole Bennett sports garbage started back in 2011-13 with the baseball program. They let the local look at me idiots Jaime Evans and Bill cropper coach from the sidelines but never said a word. These two imbeciles did the same thing running up scores on opponents, playing only their travel ball players trying to get them college scholarships.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
"...only school board employees are allowed to be a head coach..."

Really?

December 14, 2018 at 11:01 AM

No!! Parkside Baseball's head baseball coach is not a school employee and he got the job from Coach Bryan Hollaman after he took a job to be the head coach at UMES for $32,000 a year. You know it's bad when school employees coaching varsity sports leaves a cushy job for less money.

Parkside's new baseball coach has no coaching skills and came from coaching a failed attempt as the head coach of the losing junior varsity team. These positions are given to anyone without doing a search. This may be illegal and if not it is unethical without having a proper search done for the team coaches.

Bennett's baseball, soccer and basketball coaches are no better. Time for a change.

Anonymous said...

Not true at all. Kyle Daubert at PHS isn't a BOE employee at all. Get your facts straight, please. -Former WCBOE Coach

Anonymous said...

I think they basically just appreciate getting anyone to coach, PERIOD!! No one wants the job of coaching athletics in this day and age of poor parental sportsmanship. They take what they can get

Anonymous said...

Who wants to coach at any level of youth sports in this thug infested ghetto?? Every parent telling you how to coach their kid. Every parent and child thinking their on the way to buying momma a bigger house or getting her outta 'da projects

Anonymous said...

like I said when it comes to coaching in maryland, special deals cut for some, not for everyone! this is high school sports and yes it's about winning it's also about teaching young impressionable people about life situations, and how to deal with various situations. We are not training marines, nor are we training choir girls! bottom line none of these kids are going anywhere ie, play in college or professionally. So how about teaching them how to deal with a sense of fairness and respect for others? Or is that to much to ask for thee days?
As for..... "I have been on the delivering end of triple digit point differentials" you have not, the kids you coach have and professing how many courses you have attended doesn't mean jack. right is right and you are wrong!

Anonymous said...

Some got to win....some got to lose....it is the hard cold facts of life! If the girls were upset over the beat down, practice harder be determined not to get beat like that again.

Anonymous said...

No u don’t. People that don’t have a clue should not make a comment.

Anonymous said...

The Snow Hill coach makes some valid points in this article.

Anonymous said...

This article says it all. There's a reason why a majority of kids are unprepared for life! one is lack of proper parenting, the other is allowing union idiots to teach them!


2018 Rankings

James M. Bennett High is unranked in the National Rankings. Schools are ranked based on their performance on state-required tests and how well they prepare students for college. Read more about how we rank the Best High Schools.

This school is unranked by U.S. News.

Anonymous said...

MARYLAND STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
Subtitle 06 SUPPORTING PROGRAMS
13A.06.03 Interscholastic Athletics in the State Authority:
Education
Article,
SS2 ‐ 205 and 2 ‐ 303(j),
Annotated Code of Maryland .04
Operational Guidelines
The regulations given below are established for all MPSSAA interscholastic sports.
B. MPSSAA Coaching Eligibility.
(1) Member MPSSAA schools shall employ as coaches
(a) Teachers or certificated professional educator
employees of the local Board of Education
for a specific coaching assignment.
(b) Persons certifiable as a professional educator
by the State Department of Education
according to 13A.12.01. (c)
Credentialed Coaches who meets the following requirements.
(i) Is eligible to hold a Maryland certificate under
COMAR 13A.12.01.04.
Interpretation:
Excluded Personnel An individual who has been convicted of,
pleads guilty or nolo contendere with respect to, or receives
probation before judgement with respect to,
a crime against children or a crime of violence.
(ii) Possess a MPSSAA/MSDE Coach Certification.
Interpretation:
Completion of the NFHS Level 1 Coaching Certification or
MSDE approved inservice coaching education program.
(iii) Has completed two years of successful coaching as
an emergency coach.
(iv) Has spent the previous one year as a successful emergency
coach at the school of hire in the position of hire.
(2) If no acceptable and qualified coaches are available from
the teachers or certifiable professional educators employed
by the local board of education, temporary emergency coaches may
be employed if the following procedures are followed.......


goes on and on bottom line is think of any good to great coach and they would not be able to coach in md unless they are a local boe employee! so we are stuck with the bottom of the barrel when it comes to who is selected. My question is this, who or what is considered a qualified successful candidate? can not find those definitions anywhere in comar! fairly broad sweep with that broom!
This is how we ended up here! one has to identify the root fo the problem before one can try to fix it. Although knowing this lib state that will never happen!

Anonymous said...

10:32, one question you signed off as professional volunteer.
i"m not familiar with that term. Is that like one of those liberal democrat oxymoron's? say like paid soro's protestor?
must be a boe employee!

Unknown said...

You can really be anyone on these blogs. Too bad this person chose to be a professional anonymous. If you have an issue with the coach on a personal level maybe you address it in person. Just by the reading you sure enough information about the coach. You even knew about his previous record buy failed to make known this coach has had many unsuccessful seasons prior to recent success. You also, failed to make known that yhe coach actually pulled the starting five out of the game. Just like you I was there. All coaches know that there are seasons you have talent and there are seasons its not so hot but you don't say I'm not gonna coach now do yah. I bet judging by the ego of this professional anonymous speaker if the ball was in your court youd probably would run the score up past 100. I've worked with Bennett coach for almost 10 years and never once has he been egotistical. Hes one of the most humble coaches in the county. I hope you get over your ax you have to grind pretty soon. Lastly, snow hill had a well experienced coach. I'm anxious to see the comments in the weeks to come if the same comments are,mentioned because the other team's in the same division as Bennett are pretty competitive. But I doubt it. Your Comments are personally for the head coach of Bennett.

Anonymous said...

stephen decatur is the only other 3a school on the shore and no they are not competitive in basketball! not question of how good/bad a coach this individual is, it's a question of why more qualified individuals are not allowed to coach in this state/county?
why must it be a boe employee? I'm sure there are many more qualified individuals around here who actually know a thing or two about coaching and preparing young people for life's challenges, then some 50K a year boe aide/nanny!

Anonymous said...

I always thought a coach at the high school level had to hold a teaching certificate. It was that way when I was in high school decades ago anyway.

Anonymous said...

DECEMBER 7, 2018
SNOW HILL BOYS 102, ST. MICHAELS BOYS 10.

So , has the Snow Hill boys coach been talked to about this?

Anonymous said...

Too bad there is not as much effort put into these kids education as it is in their sports. Just ridiculous.

Anonymous said...

what's the problem here? we are talking about the public school system, isn't accepting mediocrity the norm? heavens forbid we would expect better of our public school system! hence the unions!

Anonymous said...

His position is paid. A majority of coaches in the county are volunteer. The salary for paid positions is laughable when put against the time, headaches, and energy that goes in to coaching a varsity program. The tax man also takes nearly 50% of a coach's pay if he or she works as a teacher in the county. The reason so many coaches are NOT board employees is because so many teachers don't want to coach for a myriad of reasons, many mentioned in the posts above. Bennett baseball has 60-70 kids tryout every year and maintains 2 teams totaling 35-40 student athletes and has 2 paid coaches. No wonder parents coached from the sidelines.

Anonymous said...

So so true!! The final outcome with those big fish in this little Bayside conference then becoming little, irrelevant fish in the big pond was priceless

Anonymous said...

Give everyone a ribbon and call it the day. Maybe they need a slaughter rule in basketball to give comfort.

Anonymous said...

I just want to know with this Bennett baseball garbage why none of these kids that did get college scholarships from the way Evans and cropper abused the system aren't coming back to Salisbury to make a difference in the quickly deteriorating Salisbury community?? They've ALL proven that their in it for themselves and feed their egos and pride of a child's game

Anonymous said...

There's a lot of nonsense here...but I will just leave it at this: If you are a paid coach at a high school, you are an employee of the WCBOE. Does this mean you are a FULL-TIME employee? No. But paid coaches are contractual employees. That's usually how getting paid works. I can also assure you that there are some schools in the Bayside that are TERRIBLE. I have been on teams where we legitimately had to bat opposite hand, or intentionally make mistakes to speed up the game and try to get out injury free. This is AFTER substituting out all the starters. I know it's hard to believe, but yes, teams are THAT bad around here at some sports. Some schools don't have JV teams because they can't get enough players out, so what they do have is anything they can get, even if they don't have talent. I wasn't at the game, I didn't know about it until now, but I do know the Bennett Girls' coach, and I know that he did not do this intentionally or with malice.

Anonymous said...

Hope you weren’t talking about Bennett having thug infested players. My daughter plays for Bennett and her team has an average 3.7 grade point average. Plus it’s a girls sport. No one is looking for houses or out of “da projects” We don’t live there. Lol shame on you for your biases. I know most of those ladies and they are smart and are great teammates on and off the court. Can’t stand people that have nothing good to say but Trump like speeches.

Anonymous said...

There is a running clock. Which means the clock only stops for time outs and last 2 minutes of 4th quarter. They did pass the ball around. What coach tells his or her team to slow down on a fast break!!!

Anonymous said...

7:24 I call bs, the starters on that team no way have a gpa of 3.7! only way you get to 3.7 is by docking others and giving it to those (starters) who have less then 2.0, and there ain't enough honor students on that team to get them all to 2.0! what's the gpa requirement for playing sports? 1.9? not even passing! we'll see which ones get into college and who doesn't! teach those kids to say you want fries with that! cause this is their moment to shine! peaking at 17 in high school! at 50 yo the highlight of their life will be they scored 30 pts against nobody, 33 years ago! lmmfao! sad ain't it?

Anonymous said...

Parents coaching from the sidelines is out if desperation to fulfill their own greedy agendas. They've either not planned for the kids college or they're hallucinating that their kid is a professional prospect. Bringing up the idiot cropper he quickly found out his manipulating his sons high school play had no impact on his abilities in college. The guy was bragging in the daily rag he was a 3-5 round draft pick out of high school. In four chances to get drafted, NOTHING