For What It's Worth

They say this has become a crisis in high school coaching and I’ll have to say I’m not happy to see it.

More men and women who have taken on the challenge to leading athletic programs at high schools across the country have decided to leave their careers in favor of doing something else.

There’s a growing trend of coaches and athletic directors resigning due to escalating hostility and pressure from parents. High-profile departures are frequently linked to verbal harassment, physical threats, and administrative interference regarding playing time and discipline.

A survey by the U.S. Center for SafeSport highlights that over half of coaches report being intimidated by athletes’ families, leading to widespread burnout and early retirement.

While some resignations stem from serious allegations of verbal abuse and toxic environments, others are blamed on entitled parental behavior and a lack of support from school leaders. Administrators are increasingly viewed as treating parents like customers to be satisfied, which undermines a coach’s authority and job security.

Ultimately, these reports suggest that the volatile relationship between parents and staff is fundamentally changing the landscape of amateur athletics.

This was most recently brought to mind when I read that a coach of a high school basketball team in Minnesota had left after eight years, citing “external pressures from people in the community” among the reasons.

Nick Pocius said he did not want those pressures to “negatively impact my family any further or my own well-being.”

The Kasson-Mantorville school superintendent failed to defend the coach, saying there were no plans to offer a contract for the upcoming season to Pocius.

Granted, Pocius had some losing seasons recently, but he was named a Coach of the Year four years ago. The team broke a school scoring record and had a number of players advancing to college basketball and a number of other honors, as well.

More importantly, the coach said coaching is “bigger than wins and losses,” and his goal is always to build students of character.

A more controversial move from a private school in the same state came where a coach was let go after leading his team on an unprecedented run into the state tournament for just the second time in school history.

“This morning, I was informed that I won’t be allowed to continue leading Blake Boys Hoops, citing parent, player and alumni feedback to support that decision,” Blake School coach Tyler Biwan said on social media. “For the last 10 years, Blake Boys Hoops has been my life, identity and I am heartbroken.”

The school did not respond with a reason for Biwan’s dismissal. After his hiring 10 years ago, Biwan turned the program around to seven straight winning seasons.

Elsewhere, a Connecticut high school athletic director decided to step down after 20 years, citing a need for a new perspective on high school athletics.

One of the top small-school football programs in Pennsylvania played part of last season without its head coach, who had fashioned the program to a 28-6 record over three seasons. Stephen Sedesse’s team was 6-1 when clashes with parents, conduct issues with players, and disagreements with school administration, all developed.

In the resignation letter, Sedesse said parents took issue with his decision to discipline players for a game. Sedesse’s father, a defensive coordinator, also resigned. In resigning, the coach said parents had threatened him after a loss, he was unable to hold players accountable for their actions, and had obscenities thrown at him from the stands during a game. He was also sworn at by a player during practice.

The resignation came after the administration suspended both Sedesses for two games for sitting two players longer than they were initially told.

His particular situation appears to have been pretty toxic. Parents were threatening him outside the locker room after a loss, shouting obscenities at him and those parents were not being held accountable by the school administration. Each time that happened came after each one of only six losses over a two-and-a-half year career, not in any of the 28 wins the team had, by the way.

I think a lot of pressure today comes from a society that doesn’t hold individuals accountable. Parents want the best for their child. That is natural, but that also means helping teach the child learn that telling a coach to go f**** themselves because they’re not playing is not acceptable behavior.

Playing team sports is just that, a team sport. No one player is more privileged than the other, success comes when everyone plays for and with each other when they play, and supports those playing when they don’t.

Coaches have hard decisions to make wearing the whistle. They prepare their athletes for each contest, make decisions on who plays and when, and they have to develop a culture that leads to success. Non-support from parents who are crying about how much playing time their youngster is getting or not getting undermines that culture.

What especially gets me are the incidents where the administration sides with the troublesome parents and not their staff. Yes, those administrators are charged with ensuring an extracurricular activity or sport is successful and accomplishing what it is supposed to. However, the decision for a coach to continue or not continue should have a legitimate basis for it and not be influenced by interfering parents or community members.

This subject hit me a bit again because I know how coaches work to build a program of character for young people, using their talents to the best of their abilities, and learning the need for teamwork. Those are skills that they will need when they leave school and move into adulthood.

After all, as a former Kansas High School Activities Association executive director once told me, “Activities are the other half of education.” The basketball court, football field, baseball diamond, and running track are all classrooms and the coach is the teacher. I never questioned a teacher’s instruction on history, languages or mathematics in high school. That’s what they invested their time and money in learning to instruct me.

At the same time, don’t question whether an off-tackle play, hit-and-run squeeze play, or “top-of-the-key pick-and-roll” should be used at a particular time, or at least in your own mind. The coach is charged with that decision. He or she is the teacher. As parents, our job is to positively support the team and players, aware that you’re seeing a positive educational experience happen in front of your eyes.

Let the administration determine whether the coach continues coaching at the proper time, but let the decision come on a legitimate basis, not after parental interference.

That’s what I have for now...for what it’s worth.

Bob Bakken is Editor of The South Reporter.