The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

I have lived here in Sisters for 15 years. My children started school here in kindergarten and graduated/will graduate from Sisters High School. All three kids were involved in multiple sports. In fact, sports are what really made them happiest and helped them to grow the most.

We have lived through good and bad coaches, but learned something from all of them. I’ve watched quite a few coaches lose their jobs because of parents. I have always tried to give each coach the benefit of the doubt and then, if the problems persisted, I would have my kids deal directly with the coach. It has been a learning experience for our kids to communicate and work with others as well as grow in each sport by trusting in the coaches whether they agree with them or not. I know they will have future bosses and even spouses that will benefit from these experiences.

It has come to my attention that our girls basketball coaches are under fire now.

I was called and interviewed about our experience with them this season.

It seems that if only one family complains the school district has to do something about it.

This will probably result in ruining a young woman’s career as well as a chance to coach a sport she loves.

I am absolutely disgusted and so sad for our town.

How many coaches do we need to fire? How is this serving our community and our kids to get any obstacle or person they have a problem with removed? Let’s face it… these coaches are not in it for the money! They do it because they love the kids or the game and most often, they love both.

What coach would willingly come to Sisters to coach with our reputation of firing any coach we don’t agree with?

Our girls basketball program has struggled for at least four years. We have girls that play other sports in the off season, and basketball is not their main focus throughout the year. That being said, many of these girls don’t have lots of ball time and still need to work on their fundamentals. When we finally found a coach that was willing to take them on, I knew that it was going to take a committed group of coaches willing to put lots of time and patience into re-building this program. Being a coach is a tough job when you are just dealing with the athletes. Add the parents into that mix and it is close to impossible!

Coaches have to train their athletes, analyze their performance and encourage their players. When players do not listen to their coaches or think too highly of their own abilities, the coaches have their hands tied. They have to pull those players out in order to protect the game and their team. The coach’s job is to determine who will do the best job for the team. So, those kids will not get the “playing time” that their parents hoped they would have. But the coaches get to determine this, not the parents. The coaches are there day in and day out, watching and analyzing.

They see the effort and the attitudes and do what is best for the team.

All of this being said, these coaches did exactly what they were hired to do! They trained, coached, corrected, taught new skills and encouraged these girls.

They are passionate about the game and share their love with the girls.

I saw more hope in that girls team than I have in four years.

Were they perfect coaches? No! There is no such thing because we are all imperfect people.

We have never had a perfect coach, nor will we ever.

But, they made such a difference in my daughter’s life that she has changed her future plans.

She now wants to be a teacher and make a difference in the lives of young kids as they have done.

She was inspired by Brittaney and her coaching staff.

I will be forever grateful for the influence they had on her and for the confidence they gave her even when she didn’t perform on the court as they hoped she would.

Thank you, thank you! I hope that this coaching staff is allowed to go on and continue to make a difference.

I believe you can learn a lot about life through sports. My kids have grown in ways I never anticipated, and they are better people for dealing with challenging coaches or games. They have learned to overcome adversity and that to be successful it takes time, effort and determination. They have to work hard to get the results they want and keep a positive attitude.

Parents, let the coaches do their job! Stay out of it! Stay out of the gym, stay off of the field. You just need to support and encourage your kids and not talk bad about the coaches — because it is like poison to the teams they are a part of.

These coaches are putting their time and their efforts into our kids. That is what they were hired to do. If you feel you could do a better job, apply for a job when there is an opening, but don’t belittle the existing coach and their efforts just because you think your kid is being overlooked. Let them prove themselves to the coach by working hard and putting the effort in at practice!