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Wednesday, May 29, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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Editorial…
Youth sports becoming a minefield
The Sisters school athletic community
was roiled last week when the Sisters School
District sent out notice that it has <received
a complaint and tort claim notice about the
coaching staff for our girls high school bas-
ketball team. The allegation is that the coach-
ing staff has verbally and emotionally abused
some members of the team this past season&=
As of last week, no legal action had been
filed.
The Nugget has spoken with a number of
people involved in or familiar with the girls
basketball program and it is safe to say that
perspectives are vastly different, highly pas-
sionate, and possibly irreconcilable. Parents
naturally seek to protect their children from
harm. And those who have seen their children
thrive in a program are ardent in their support
of coaches who make that happen.
Youth sports can bring a community
together 4 controversy in youth sports can
tear a community apart. Reputations can be
permanently damaged, relationships can be
ruptured, and schools can find programs that
are supposed to add value becoming a source
of conflict and disruption.
Perhaps the current issue can be worked
out among the parties involved. If it becomes
a legal issue, it will go to an entirely differ-
ent level. In the meantime, it is best to bear in
mind that support of one does not require an
attack on another, and that rushing to judgment
in any direction is always harmful.
Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief
Letters to the Editor…
The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer9s name, address and phone number. Let-
ters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor.
The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be
no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday.
To the Editor:
As a lifelong educator, I read your recent
letters to the editor with great concern. I am
referring specifically about the alleged abuse
and pending litigation regarding coaches9
behavior in Sisters SD.
I understand that we are living in a small
town, and rumors can become rampant
quickly, but it was surprising to see such a
one-sided story and no actual follow-up or
investigation. One of the <guest commentar-
ies= was even printed without a related news
story; something I have not seen professional
news sources do. As we are such a small com-
munity, there will always be opportunities for
people to share private information or share
uncorroborated information easily. Some of
the writers are affiliated with the SD offices,
or with law enforcement. Some have outside
relationships with coaches, or our children
have outside relationships with the coaches.
This breeds cronyism and favoritism that is
hard to avoid, but it seems no effort was made
to avoid this pitfall.
Furthermore, it is absolutely baffling that
these persons, some mandatory reporters,
were not clear on how and when outsiders
speak on pending child abuse or endanger-
ment claims. The protocol is clear and manda-
tory, and appears to have been violated. I actu-
ally understand that restriction, so will not be
speaking in specific terms, but will share my
concerns in a more general way.
Children are to be believed. They are to be
believed when they report abuse. They are to
be believed when they report being afraid. Not
only is this the right and moral thing to do, it
is also the legal thing to do. We are not in the
See LETTERS on page 18
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The Nugget Newspaper, LLC
Website: www.nuggetnews.com
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Editor in Chief: Jim Cornelius
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N
Athletics should be an
extension of the classroom
By Joey Hougham
Guest Columnist
This letter responds to
the letters written both in
support and against the
Sisters High School girls9
basketball coaches. Rather
than delve into case-specific
details of the complaints
against those coaches, I
would urge the community
to step back and consider
the purpose of high school
athletics. The real intent of
athletics is to teach our kids
about teamwork, leader-
ship, persistence, goal-set-
ting, and how to treat one-
another in a group setting.
These are the values that
help players win through-
out their personal and pro-
fessional lives.
Bullying is an impedi-
ment to these values and is
a big problem in schools.
Bullying is not something
unique to kids. They learn
it from adults. That9s why it
is so important that teachers
and coaches model appro-
priate behavior. The Sisters
High School Coaches9
Manual contains several
passages imploring coaches
to instruct in a positive and
energizing way to advance
the athletes9 physical, emo-
tional, and moral develop-
ment. In other words, coach
for character. The coaches
manual also states <Our
coaches believe that their
work is an extension of the
classroom.= Do we expect
our schools to practice what
they preach? If so, then we
should challenge any coach
that models bullying as a
coaching style.
A child should not have
to endure the threat of pub-
lic humiliation and intimi-
dation to participate in a
publicly-funded school pro-
gram. The purpose of school
sports is to teach kids skills
they can use in the class-
room, in their careers, and
in personal relationships
throughout their lives. If a
coach9s behavior would not
be tolerated in the class-
room, workplace, or family
environment, then it should
not be tolerated on the field,
on the court or in the locker
room. Otherwise we are
teaching our kids a double
standard.
For decades we have
given coaches license
to express behavior that
would not be accepted in
any classroom, workplace,
or home. That license has
been revoked at the col-
lege and professional lev-
els, where coaches are now
expected to treat their play-
ers with respect. So, why
hasn9t Sisters High School
changed its ways? Why
does it not only tolerate,
but encourage, behavior by
coaches that has been uni-
versally rejected as unfit
for college and professional
locker rooms since the turn
of the last century?
Certainly, not all of
the athletes have experi-
enced bullying. That is, of
course, the nature of bul-
lying. Bullies often isolate
individuals within a group
for a variety of reasons.
Those not being bullied are
often just glad that they9re
not being picked on. Just
because one child is not
bullied, doesn9t mean that
child is unaffected. In fact,
the kids who are spectators
to such bullying are prone
to model that behavior and
become bullies themselves.
There are times when
parents need to advocate
for children because kids
are not always equipped to
handle issues like bullying
and abuse, especially if the
source comes from another
adult. Parents can model
support and compassion by
standing up to inappropriate
behavior.
Whether or not a student
athlete has been bullied or
abused is not something
that should be decided by
which side generates the
most media attention or
by how many supporters
show up to defend a coach
at school board meet-
ings. Forcing kids, the
victims of any abuse, to
defend themselves in the
media only perpetuates the
problem.
Finally, let9s put this
topic into perspective and
put our kids first. In today9s
climate, we should be
demanding that our sports
programs be an extension
of the classroom. Coaches
should model appropriate
behavior so that our kids
can learn what it9s like to be
a good human being.
Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and
are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.