By Laura Swanson
Reviewing the “top stories” from 2024 on the Pioneer, the last few months have seen regular releases from Tillamook School District about a variety of issues – a book ban, stalling on the classified employees contract, and an OSAA investigation. And now an investigation of the girls varsity basketball coach. Nine of the eleven varsity girls basketball players aren’t playing, who had asked the coach to resign, after a formal complaint (documenting over 30 incidents) was filed about the treatment and atmosphere created by the current Tillamook High School girls varsity basketball coach. The players and parents followed school policy when problems arose last year and this year, addressing these issues with the coach, talking to the athletic director and principal, but the behavior continued, and actually got worse.
After an investigation, the District reported (see statement below) that there was, “No significant findings that presented a risk to athletes …” and the coach was re-instated. It is important to note that while the coach was off the court, the interim coach and the varsity team went 5-0 and ranked #2 in the 4A League.
Nine of eleven players … over 30 incidents of abusive behavior – yelling, cursing, belittling, over-conditioning/practicing, favoritism and more. This is a hostile environment and we are talking about kids here. When Tillamook Athletics released Principal Ingram’s statement about the situation on social media the keyboard warriors attacked. And, the team and their parents have already been threatened with lawsuits. There have been efforts to divide the girls; parents have been accused of orchestrating the girls’ actions.
The Pioneer offered to publish statements from the girls – anonymously – as we were contacted by a PR firm on behalf of the coach. Yes, let that sink in. The Pioneer was contacted by a PR representative asking us if we wanted exclusive comments from the coach. “… would love the opportunity to provide you with exclusive comments on the ordeal he has been facing. We wanted to see if you would like to schedule an interview with him … Or, … could provide you with exclusive quotes in writing.”
Let’s be very clear – these are teenage girls – they have come together as a team and made this decision on their own, without parental coercion. If you think that you can get a teenage girl to do what you want, you have never had a teenage daughter.
Let’s also clear up a few more rumors and social media hyperbole about this:
#1. It’s not about playing time or whining about running – “They’re just wimps”– as some of have suggested. It’s about the girls mental and physical health.
#2. The parents are really the ones behind this … see above… Parents are standing behind their daughters and advocating for their daughters’ concerns to be taken seriously.
#3. There’s another coach that wanted the job – nope, has nothing to do with that.
#4. There have been threats (in public) of lawsuits and some of the parents are concerned about their families’ safety.
That’s right … that’s just how bizarre and disturbing this all has become.
This is ALL about the children and believing them – especially our girls. (These are all “our” girls.) The school district has been threatened with lawsuits and seems to be more concerned about litigation than with doing what’s best for student athletes.
This has been a heckuva team building/bonding experience. The parents have requested a copy of the investigation report – crickets from the school district.
We are talking about emotional abuse of athletes – this is what’s happening…
Before the social media attacks, the team drafted a “Coach’s Contract” with some very basic requests, such as: No excessive yelling & screaming; Minimal cussing; Listen to the other coaches; Oversight by other coaches; No lying to us – Basic dignity & respect.
That’s what we all want, basic dignity and respect.
Will the team come back? No. They are done. Why should they or would they go back out there and represent a school and community that have vilified them? Again, the victims are being portrayed as the “bad guys.” This is not how a school district or community supports an athletic team. It’s especially not how we support and take care of our kids.
The parents have been instructed to not contact the coach(es); the school’s communications have been vague, confusing and inconsistent, or nonexistent. The reinstatement of the coach without any constraints, supports, additional trainings or plan is unacceptable to the girls (and the parents, but again – teenage girls making their own decisions.) The interim coach has been delegated to “scorekeeper” which does not allow interaction with the players. With the varsity team sitting out, the coach has taken over the JV team; the JV coach has quit and there now are only 8 girls basketball players. The varsity players asked the athletic director to consider their “Coach’s Contract” to provide some protection to the JV players.
The school district, superintendent and principal are more concerned about “how this looks” than doing the right thing for the girls. “Just give him another chance,” they were told. The nine girls gave him plenty of chances and he continued the behavior – over 30 incidents. Something really does stink in Tillamook … and it’s time for the community to insist that TSD#9 do better – clean things up and truly protect the safety of students.
Here’s the statement from THS Administration – Update on THS Girls Basketball:
The Pioneer received this statement from the coach’s attorney:
It is unfortunate that this distraction is getting in the way of what should be a valuable and fun experience for our student-athletes.
This sport and game is for our student-athletes; it’s not about the coaches, the teachers, the parents, or anyone else – this is about providing these kids with the opportunity to compete and learn the rewarding lessons team sports teach.
I just want to get back to coaching and ensure the student-athletes who want to play and compete have the opportunity to do so in a distraction-free environment.
All statements are being published anonymously.
(Response from player to THS statement, posted on social media – permission to publish.)
Statement #1: This is pathetic. I must express my disappointment with the outcome and the handling of the situation. It is concerning that an issue raised just before the season began prompted legal counsel and an independent investigator, yet ultimately resulted in the reinstatement of the head coach with “no significant findings reported” … I was with the team at every practice, every game, and every meeting. I saw the fear in those girls eyes at every halftime talk, every practice, and every meeting. Yes, we won 7 games last year with him, but that was before he started yelling, cussing, and screaming at the girls when one little thing didn’t go his way. He belittled those girls and made sure every ounce of confidence they had in themselves got thrown away whether that was on the court or off. When I came back for summer ball I was excited to get back on the court finally till I experienced what the girls had been talking about for the first time. It affected me so much that I wasn’t even gonna play this year to begin with. No coach should make ANYONE, and I mean anyone feel like they are worth absolutely nothing. Also for everyone saying “this is just the parents talking for the girls” you’re dead wrong. The girls varsity came together, wrote an email explaining our concerns ON OUR OWN with no help from parents whatsoever. In fact our parents didn’t even know about our part of this until we had to tell them because we were quitting as no one wanted to play in such an environment anymore. I don’t care what anyone says but we worked our asses off for those 5 games we won this season because we had a coach that believed in us and made us feel like we were worth something. So while I acknowledge the commitment to address systemic issues within THS athletics, the steps taken seem inadequate to ensure the safety and well-being of the students. It is sick to see that everyone’s egos are so far up their asses that they cannot see a real problem even when almost an ENTIRE varsity team quits. To clarify 9/11 quit.
Statement #2: Hi this is a Tillamook basketball player! My statement is that he shouldn’t be a coach. My first year on varsity wasn’t great it was miserable, the practice on the weekends it was non stop. We would do nothing at those practices but shoot 3’s for hours. Whenever someone didn’t go to the Saturday or Sunday practices you would go to his classroom and he would interrogate you. Some ladies on the team can assure you that did happen. When it was the first game … I didn’t want to play anymore. I was so drained out and miserable to the point I didn’t care what happened in the game. I would just be in my head not playing my best because I always got told I wasn’t good enough. It only takes one coach to ruin the sport you truly love, every time I step in that gym I wanted to cry or run away once practice was over I was relieved, sometimes he would keep us for longer for practice even though it was time to go home. I had so many conversations with him that you’re mentally draining me, and I need a break but, he would push it off or laugh. I told him many times and he lied on a meeting saying “I thought you were meaning volleyball” even though I had told him it was basketball. After basketball season there was a peaceful break until summer ball. We never ran any plays so I thought we could run old plays. I got yelled at once again by him that summer. Summer ball was over and once November hit it was basketball season. We had a meeting when open gyms and tryouts were going to begin, everyone was talking saying they had to go get lunch and everyone was stressed out. He burst out in anger and yelled “sit the fuck down right now, you’re all being bitches” with freshmen sitting in the room. All of us were silent, some people left the room. He was very passive aggressive once he started talking. That was what the girls were talking about all day. After the Tillamook girls had enough we had to do something about it. There was a letter sent what had happened during those months. Once he was gone for a month basketball season started. I was thinking of not playing this year but, I had two amazing coaches who believed that this team is something, they both pushed us to be better and give it our all; “give it a 110%” they said. I felt seen and I got my confidence back, those 5 games changed the way I looked at basketball and showed me I had teammates who actually wanted to play, I have gotten closer to these girls and finally felt like I had a second family. There’s a video of our 5th game against Banks in the locker room and we were all cheering. I had cried happy tears because I finally got my team back; I have played with these girls since I was in 4th grade. These girls have talent I know what they can do they can beat any team if they put their minds to it. When he came back I decided to quit there was no way I was going to play for him. People were saying “give him another chance, he’s changed.” I don’t believe you can change in a month that’s just my opinion. He wasn’t there to listen or change the first time for his actions. I’d rather move to a different school than to play for him.
Statement #3: When I first met Coach, I was excited for the season, my first high school season. I ended up getting varsity which was a crazy deal to me and the beginning of the season went great, but as we started losing some games, I feel like I started seeing Coach’s real character. He started being more aggressive not just in practice but games as well, it felt as if basketball started consuming my entire life and we had no free time, especially with practicing 6-7 times a week. My mental health went down so much, and it was becoming hard for me to even get my school work done. Coach never listened to what we had to say, and everything had to be his way or the highway, we would give ideas for plays or defenses to do for our games, but he refused the entire season. So in games we would do what he said and then when we would make a mistake he would stomp and yell at us. He would always apologize as if it was not gonna happen again, but it did, over and over. And for myself he would yell out my name when I did something wrong, and it affected my game so bad. I immediately had no confidence anymore, and in result throughout the season he would call me “the (my name) face” as a joke of how my reaction/face would appear in games, which was actually because of him. Overall he brought my love for the game way down, and coming into this season I did not want to play, and I did tell him that. But since we had the opportunity to play for Claudia and Trent this season it went so great, and we as a team felt like family again, and my love for game was coming back and I was excited to have games or go to practice, which was not the case for either last season.
Statement #4: When last year’s basketball season started with the new head coach, I was so excited to play for him. We all were. We thought that we were in for a great building season with a Coach that had years of Varsity experience, but practices were pretty much just running lines and shooting threes without practicing skills. We hardly ever practiced skills and it felt like all we did was run. Nobody questioned it when we started practicing seven days a week, with swingers practicing nearly (or over) four hours nightly. A lot of the girls threw up mid practice because the conditioning was so intense. I assumed that was just how varsity basketball is, and when my coach told me to do something, I did it. Nobody questioned it when Coach would yell, stomp, scream, and cuss at us (“shut the fuck up and listen,” “I didn’t put you in to fucking airball,”) for half an hour after games. After having other tough coaches during my years playing basketball, I thought that this must be how higher level basketball was.
Most of the girls on the team, including myself, spent lots of time in Coach’s classroom-watching film or just hanging out. During this time, I built a relationship with him that felt like a friendship. This made it even more confusing when the way he acted during practices and games was disrespectful and scary.
As the season went on, Coach’s methods got harsher, the pressure on us was ramped up. More and more often he would throw his clipboard and pens in the locker room and stomp and scream at us, always criticizing us instead of telling us what to fix and how to fix it. I know I wasn’t the best player on the team, but I didn’t want to try to be, because they were the ones who were yelled at the most. The constant intense pressure began to take physical and mental tolls on myself and my teammates, slowly killing our confidence and willingness to give our all. Personally, I would hardly shoot the ball because I was scared to miss an “easy shot” and get yelled at the way my teammates were. How could someone who told us that he would take a bullet for us or give his kidney for us then turn around and treat us like we were worthless, like we didn’t deserve any sort of respect? Last year was a team of mostly freshmen and sophomores who were out there because we love basketball, but the constant pressure, humiliation, and wild emotions of our coach made us lose our love for the sport, and more importantly, our self esteem.
On the other hand, the start of this season helped me regain my confidence. I trusted myself and my team again, I started shooting, and I played the best basketball I ever have.
Looking back, it’s clear that what we endured was not normal or acceptable.
No coach should make their players feel scared or worthless. As young athletes, we deserve to be treated with respect and to have a positive, supportive environment. I didn’t want to quit basketball or leave the team, but I couldn’t handle another season like the last one. Since Coach wasn’t willing to make any real changes to encourage me to stay, my teammates and I had to choose between the sport we love and our health and safety. My experience with Coach has taught me how important it is to stand up for myself and my team, and recognizing that no matter how much we love a sport, playing should not come at the cost of our well-being.
Statement from a former player, THS graduate: As a player on the 2023-2024 varsity girls basketball team, I am extremely disheartened by the accusations made towards Coach, and the actions that followed… It simply does not fit the agenda, and that’s where the trouble stems from. As a player under coach, I felt respected, seen, valued, and a part of something so much bigger than myself. Coach came and wanted to create a different culture than what we had experienced in previous years. I believe he did just that. He wanted us all to be family, and treated each player in a way that would help foster that environment. He wanted to encourage hard work, and the reality that high school basketball is supposed to teach you so much more than what your game record is. Winning isn’t everything, wanting to win should be everything: and that’s what he wanted. Being in the real world for even just a short time, nobody has asked me how I did in high school basketball, but I have used the lessons and personal skills I gained while being a player under coach. I am incredibly thankful for coach and know that he will continue to change lives in a positive way.
