|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The Monte Vista cross-country team is currently without a head coach, and some Mustang runners are urging the school district to fill that void as soon as possible.
Several dozen red-clad athletes and parents came out to Tuesday night’s San Ramon Valley school board meeting to protest the lack of a head coach, and what they see as an inadequate level of support staff for the 135-student fall sport.
“Cross-country attracts high-caliber kids,” parent Doug Bame told the board in Danville. “And I think it would be a crime if we’re not able to continue to fill this pipeline with the right number of kids. If there aren’t enough coaches, there can’t be 135 kids running around. And certainly, as we sit here today, having three coaches for 135 kids is completely inadequate, if nothing other than from a safety point of view.”
According to parent Courtney Corda, the situation has been in flux since longtime head coach Mike Davis notified school administration in December 2015 that he was retiring and would not be returning to coach the following season.
At that same time, Corda said, the assistant coach Mandee Starn also alerted the administration she would not be available as a head coach in 2016.
“Fast forward six months, the administration was not able to hire anyone to take over the head coach job for a very preeminent program,” Corda said.
In response to the school’s request, Starn did return for fall 2016, and Corda herself volunteered to be an assistant coach — luckily she had fulfilled the coaching requirements “because (she) was filling for track for the same reason, they didn’t have enough staff,” she said. Both Starn and Corda, though, told admin at the end of that season that they would not return the following year.
But right now, no one is filling the head coach role. And a canceled practice last Monday led to dozens of irate parents and students Tuesday night.
“Here we are on the first day of school, practice was canceled, and there is no head coach,” Corda said, later adding that they are excited about the two assistant coaches on tap to be hired, but that parents don’t want these “promising, apprentice” coaches to get burned out.
According to district officials, a head coach was hired last spring, but the appointee resigned unexpectedly on Aug. 2 — 12 days before the first practice.
“We are now very actively recruiting for a head coach for the Monte Vista High School cross-country team,” district spokeswoman Elizabeth Graswich said. “It’s important to note that our hiring process includes a series of steps, including background checks, but we are working quickly to resolve the vacancy as soon as possible.”
She added that until they could find a head coach, two administrators and two assistant coaches would be present at all practices for safety and supervision.
“Should we not identify a head coach in the coming days, an interim head coach will be appointed,” Graswich said. “Any interested candidates should email MVHS athletic director Andy Popper at apopper@srvusd.net.”
Among the speakers Tuesday, three Monte Vista runners took the podium to tell the school board about their love of running and the benefit of the sport.
They had learned many life lessons from cross-country, said senior Olivia Bame. “Since we’re a non-cut sport, we learn the value of mentoring, we learn the importance of goal-setting for individuals and the team,” she said. “We learn the benefits of a healthy lifestyle focused on exercise, diet and sleep. And also because we are a non-cut sport, we learn the value of improvement.”
“According to district officials, a head coach was hired last spring, but the appointee resigned unexpectedly on Aug. 2 — 12 days before the first practice.” This statement is a TOTAL lie and should be called out. I encourage the reporter to verify this with FACTS e.g. (name and contacting that person) because it would be exposed as a lie.
The statement from the district office is very disturbing to me. My child is on the MV cross country team and I was informed a year and half ago that there was not a head coach. There have been many people trying to help until the athletic director hired someone, but no one that wanted the head coach position.
Also the only day there were 2 administrators at practice was to cancel it the first day. The other 4 days were run by 1 teacher and a few alumni volunteer runners. This is unacceptable for a team of well over 100 students.
While I appreciate the coverage given to the Monte Vista Cross Country team, I strongly encourage the reporter to check her facts. There are NOT two administrators and two coaches at every practice. There were two administrators when practice was cancelled on the first day. Since that date, there has been a teacher and three alumni volunteers. Monte Vista has not had a head cross country coach since Mike Davis retired after the 2015 season. The amount of misinformation put forth by the SRVUSD in this article is stunning.
Isn’t one of the most important jobs of the Athletic Director to hire and fill head coach positions? When Bergmen was AD he always successfully filled head coach positions for every sport. Do you think the Principle would idly sit by and not terminate the AD if for two years he failed to hire a head football or basketball coach? Perhaps we need the Principle to remind the AD of his job duties and if he continues to fail to hire a head coach for Cross Country it is time to get a new AD?
I hope the team finds a coach soon. The difficulty in finding a coach may stem from the decline in teachers wanting to take on the extra duty of being a coach. I’ve seen first hand, over the past 20 years, the decline in educators wanting to coach. The number one reason I hear for not wanting to coach when I speak to former teacher/coaches is the attitude of the parents. Coaches are paid pennies, who would want all the parent problems that come with the job.
Clearly poor execution and decision making has occurred by ‘professionals/adults’ who have been trusted to get a job done and work in the best interest of the students. The incompetence is undisputed. We cannot waste time right now playing the blame game. We already know who this falls on.
The bottom line is this: ANY solution that results in the students paying the price (limited team size, cuts etc.) because of a paid adults poor performance of their job duties is unacceptable. We must solve this problem NOW! We owe it to the students who have lived ‘Mustang Pride’. If our administration cannot model this same spirit, we have bigger issues at Monte Vista and in this district.
We can deal with the accountability of individuals after we do our duty and take care of the kids.
Charles Hammond
The district won’t or can’t find the funds to fill a coaching position but they sure as hell can find the money to create an Assistant Supt position that pays $250,000 plus benefits a year. How many teachers and coaches can be brought on board for $250k?