Letters To The Editor

Dear Editor:

It has come to my attention throughout this year’s basketball season that we may have made a grave error in electing this year’s varsity boys’ basketball coach.

I’m sure that there will be a lot of gums a flappin’ about this, but I feel this needs to be addressed. As everyone knows, there is no “I” in team. Yet there seems to be favored individuals which then turns into others left out.

I, along with many others, would like to view a coach in a word as a “leader” correct? Well, holding said status in good standing takes a lot of dedication, time and effort into not only the team as “whole” but working on individual person and skills as well. I have a nephew, who is a senior this year, we all know it’s their last year to play. who’s passion has always been about ball. He has played every year since middle school, gone to expensive basketball camps every summer and has been on a traveling team for I don’t know how long.

When I said it “was” his passion, it meant everything I just said on top of grabbing his bro’s every free moment he got to go shoot hoop. That kind of “passion.” Then he reached his final year of playing, only to be benched most of the season, watching kids that are freshmen and sophomores getting more playing time than he did.

Now we are down to the end of the season. This socalled “coach” has literally stripped him of not only his passion but of his self worth as well. And we wonder where depression comes from in teens! Behavior like this coming from what should be leadership but instead tearing away at a child’s self esteem, stripping them of their self worth, their passion should be strongly addressed and reprimanded.

If this coach felt that my nephew for whatever reason didn’t have what it took, then I guess that would be a reflection of his coaching abilities, would it not? Not allowing him to practice with the rest of the team while working on plays, wrong on so many levels.

How do you expect any athlete to improve or grow when they are continuously being held back? My nephew is a good student, and he is a good ball player and an all-around good person. It is shameful to think we support what should be a leader that our children look up rather than a self-centered individual that should in fact maybe a step back and do some self evaluating of his own.

And just for the record, he was addressed personally about this issue and all it did was make matters worse for my nephew! Sincerely, A Concerned Aunt, Heather Smith