Wednesday, February 18, 2004

Coach change sends bad message

I am a former Fayette County student (from Brooks to Whitewater to Fayette High) who graduated in 1998. I was reading The Citizen this morning (2/11/04) via the web and came across an article about Coach Jill Collins being fired from her coaching position. I played basketball and softball at Fayette High and basketball at WMS. I have also known Coach Collins since the second grade (she was the P.E. teacher at Brooks for many years).

Jill Collins is a wonderful person and one of the best coaches Fayette County has ever had. I played under many coaches in Fayette County and there was not one who had the heart and desire to make kids better on and off the court. I owe most of my athletic ability and knowledge to Coach Collins. She believed in me since day one, given my commitments to her standards.

We need that type of leadership in today’s society. Children are being raised to believe their parents can solve all their problems. Not only is that naive but it’s absolutely untrue.

I am so sorry the little girl didn’t make the team. But, she must realize that life has no guarantees and she needs to work harder to succeed. Working harder to get ahead “will not kill you.” In fact, it’ll make you a better person in the future. If you don’t have to work for anything, how can you appreciate anything or anybody?! You’ll expect it to be handed over without a fuss.

There was one main problem with girl sports in Fayette when I was playing ball. The coaches played their favorites instead of more talented players due to outside pressure. This, in turn, hurt the other players who really wanted to contribute.

It’s a tragedy that kids are being sent off into the world with false hopes instead of pure reality (granted this is middle school). Still, ponder the thought.

Will parents threaten college professors to give A’s if children sleep through all their lectures? Will parents threaten employers if their child doesn’t get the sought-after job? If so, will it work? What will happen if the threats fail and the “sheltered child” has no idea how to survive?

Parents do not live forever and they don’t control everything (especially outside of Fayette). Please, think about it. It starts young when you are building character and self-respect. If you go out in the world without, you’re two strikes down already.

I know nothing about this little girl or her family. But, I do know in my heart that if she was good enough to play middle school basketball under Coach Collins she would have been on the team.

It hurts me to ponder coming back to raise my kids in Fayette, whereas I would have to worry about whether they would make the team or not based on their ability. It appears, regardless of any athletic ability or know-how, that the school board members’ or faculty kids get first pick. This is not a positive message to be sending our kids.

I’m real good friends with many other teachers within the county and I have heard that there’s no respect in the classrooms anymore. This goes back to the parents. They should be held accountable.

If people want their kids to play in every sport, be in every club, or just be treated differently than others, maybe they should home-school and start their own teams. This is America and you work for what you want and what you deserve. If you don’t, you get nothing (not considering the resources of mommy and daddy).

Nothing is this world is free and it shouldn’t be. Competition is the name of the game. If we’re going to fix the games, then we all might as well go home. We know the outcome already.

This is very disturbing and my family tax dollars should be put to better use. Why should we pay people who use the system for their own needs without any consideration of the needs that they were put in office for in the first place, the kids’)?

Nicole Muniz

Urbana, Ill.