I know this story is NOT about Boys-Mens baseball but still ....
Stanford’s softball team recently completed the program’s worst season in 30 years. Though the Cardinal returned all nine starters from a team that narrowly missed the postseason a year earlier, they were sorely hampered by injuries to key pitchers and went 17-37. They finished last in the Pac-12 with a 2-22 record, and 15 of those losses were cut short by the eight-run “mercy” rule. On and off the field, the Cardinal vividly demonstrated the wisdom of Lincoln’s dictum: A house divided against itself cannot stand. Their plight underscores the intensity of high-level college softball and how things can go horribly wrong even for a team in one of the nation’s most successful athletic departments.
How divided were the Cardinal? First-year head coach Rachel Hanson found herself in “a poisonous environment — kids who hated each other,” according to Dr. Bill Ashby, father of infielder Erin Ashby. “There was a lot of animosity.” Essentially, he said, the team broke into two camps: players who had supported former head coach John Rittman and those who had pushed — successfully — for his dismissal. “The girls who liked John felt they were betrayed by the other girls,” he said. Under Rittman, Stanford reached postseason play 16 straight times. Had things gone according to plan, the Cardinal would have been shooting for a 17th such trip in 2014 with the help of heralded freshman pitcher Carley Hoover. Instead, Hoover — the nation’s top recruit in 2013 — was limited to five appearances by a stress fracture in a rib before being shelved for the season. Stanford finished eighth in the Pac-12 and failed to reach the postseason. Since then, things have gotten much worse. Rittman did return to the postseason this year, but as the associate head coach at Kansas. Hoover did pitch in the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City, but for LSU. Rittman was ousted by Stanford after the 2014 season, as were two assistant coaches and a trainer. Partly as a result, Hoover transferred. How it all unfolded is subject to dispute, but some things are clear.
Meeting with AD - Two days after the 2014 season ended, 15 people — five active players (two of them starters), five former players and five parents — met with athletic director Bernard Muir. In a four-hour meeting that became emotional at times, they aired an array of grievances against Rittman and his staff that centered mainly on their perceived favoritism toward some players. Ex-player Tegan Schmidt called the softball program “a breeding ground for negativity.” In a transcript of the meeting obtained by The Chronicle, former shortstop Jenna Rich, the school’s career leader in RBIs, said she went through “misery and agony”” as a result of criticism by the coaching staff. “It makes me sick to my stomach to think anyone could go through the same thing,” she said. Rittman did not return messages requesting comment and Muir declined to comment, according to a university spokeswoman. Hanson was not made available for comment to discuss the season, according to an athletic-department spokesman. Judging from the transcript, the meeting was long on opinions critical of Rittman, his staff and the medical treatment some players received, but short on examples of the coach’s shortcomings. There was vague talk of coaches bad-mouthing players, urging players to change class schedules for practice needs and overworking pitchers. Players described feelings of depression and disputes with coaches over financial aid. At times, the discussion bordered on the trivial: Rich and others said the coaches made a point of greeting some parents at games and ignoring others. One unidentified player was said to have come to a game “drunk or hung over” but didn’t receive punishment or help. Third baseman Hanna Winter, however, told The Chronicle that the player was neither drunk nor hung over, but the coaches spent a lot of time talking to her about drinking, and she apologized to the team for arriving with alcohol on her breath. Most of the players and parents interviewed for this story said most of the grievances were untrue, exaggerated or taken out of context.
Three weeks after the meeting, the school announced Rittman’s resignation in a three-sentence release. His departure was widely considered a firing, and a subsequent statement by a school official made it all but official. The release mentioned his 18 years and his work as an assistant coach with the U.S. national team, including Olympic gold and silver medals it won. It didn’t mention that he was one of the most successful college coaches in the country — he led Stanford to two World Series, compiled a 750-351-3 record and produced 15 All-Americans.
Mixed feelings
Many of the players not at the meeting were shocked by his ouster. Their parents were appalled, but they held their tongues because, as Dr. Ashby and others said, they didn’t want their daughters to face retribution if the parents publicly criticized the university. Sixteen of them finally signed an April 9 letter to Stanford President John Hennessy and Provost John Etchemendy blasting Muir for a superficial investigation that resulted in Rittman’s “forced resignation.”
The letter charged that Muir “allowed a small group of well-organized disgruntled parents, angry about the lack of playing time for their daughters, to take control of the leadership of the team.”
Bettina Winter, Hanna’s mother, told The Chronicle that Muir “handled this very poorly. In my opinion, somebody who reaches that level in an administration should be a lot more diligent in investigations of accusations people make against other people.”
Skip Sorenson, the father of designated player/pitcher Kylie Sorenson, said Muir should be fired. “It was completely inappropriate what he did,” he said. “From all the information I’ve heard, it seemed like a witch hunt. ... There was only one side of the story that was listened to.”
Muir “needs to be held accountable for the way it was handled,” Dr. Ashby said. “John deserved better for his years of service. They threw him out like yesterday’s news.”
During the meeting with the disgruntled group, Muir asked how many active players were not in attendance. According to the transcript, Schmidt said, “There are only five that did not support this (group) here.” However, the parents who wrote the angry letter in April represented nine of the 2014 players. Some of the pro-Rittman parents and players said they didn’t know about the meeting; others said they weren’t invited.
Support for Rittman
Some of those who signed the letter said that when they found out about the meeting, they tried to reach Muir in order to defend Rittman, but didn’t get a call back.
One of them was Bettina Winter. She said it was a shame that Rittman was ousted from his dream job. “He used to say he had to pinch himself because he had such terrific kids to work with,” Winter said. When he left, “he was very upset. They gave him and his family 30 days to get out of university housing. It was nasty.”
week, several players and parents said. As a result, the team reportedly was limited to 17.5 hours a week for most of this season, although neither the NCAA nor Stanford would confirm the sanction.
Read more at:
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Coach-s-ouster-created-schism-in-Stanford-6325754.php#photo-8144908
Stanford’s softball team recently completed the program’s worst season in 30 years. Though the Cardinal returned all nine starters from a team that narrowly missed the postseason a year earlier, they were sorely hampered by injuries to key pitchers and went 17-37. They finished last in the Pac-12 with a 2-22 record, and 15 of those losses were cut short by the eight-run “mercy” rule. On and off the field, the Cardinal vividly demonstrated the wisdom of Lincoln’s dictum: A house divided against itself cannot stand. Their plight underscores the intensity of high-level college softball and how things can go horribly wrong even for a team in one of the nation’s most successful athletic departments.
How divided were the Cardinal? First-year head coach Rachel Hanson found herself in “a poisonous environment — kids who hated each other,” according to Dr. Bill Ashby, father of infielder Erin Ashby. “There was a lot of animosity.” Essentially, he said, the team broke into two camps: players who had supported former head coach John Rittman and those who had pushed — successfully — for his dismissal. “The girls who liked John felt they were betrayed by the other girls,” he said. Under Rittman, Stanford reached postseason play 16 straight times. Had things gone according to plan, the Cardinal would have been shooting for a 17th such trip in 2014 with the help of heralded freshman pitcher Carley Hoover. Instead, Hoover — the nation’s top recruit in 2013 — was limited to five appearances by a stress fracture in a rib before being shelved for the season. Stanford finished eighth in the Pac-12 and failed to reach the postseason. Since then, things have gotten much worse. Rittman did return to the postseason this year, but as the associate head coach at Kansas. Hoover did pitch in the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City, but for LSU. Rittman was ousted by Stanford after the 2014 season, as were two assistant coaches and a trainer. Partly as a result, Hoover transferred. How it all unfolded is subject to dispute, but some things are clear.
Meeting with AD - Two days after the 2014 season ended, 15 people — five active players (two of them starters), five former players and five parents — met with athletic director Bernard Muir. In a four-hour meeting that became emotional at times, they aired an array of grievances against Rittman and his staff that centered mainly on their perceived favoritism toward some players. Ex-player Tegan Schmidt called the softball program “a breeding ground for negativity.” In a transcript of the meeting obtained by The Chronicle, former shortstop Jenna Rich, the school’s career leader in RBIs, said she went through “misery and agony”” as a result of criticism by the coaching staff. “It makes me sick to my stomach to think anyone could go through the same thing,” she said. Rittman did not return messages requesting comment and Muir declined to comment, according to a university spokeswoman. Hanson was not made available for comment to discuss the season, according to an athletic-department spokesman. Judging from the transcript, the meeting was long on opinions critical of Rittman, his staff and the medical treatment some players received, but short on examples of the coach’s shortcomings. There was vague talk of coaches bad-mouthing players, urging players to change class schedules for practice needs and overworking pitchers. Players described feelings of depression and disputes with coaches over financial aid. At times, the discussion bordered on the trivial: Rich and others said the coaches made a point of greeting some parents at games and ignoring others. One unidentified player was said to have come to a game “drunk or hung over” but didn’t receive punishment or help. Third baseman Hanna Winter, however, told The Chronicle that the player was neither drunk nor hung over, but the coaches spent a lot of time talking to her about drinking, and she apologized to the team for arriving with alcohol on her breath. Most of the players and parents interviewed for this story said most of the grievances were untrue, exaggerated or taken out of context.
Three weeks after the meeting, the school announced Rittman’s resignation in a three-sentence release. His departure was widely considered a firing, and a subsequent statement by a school official made it all but official. The release mentioned his 18 years and his work as an assistant coach with the U.S. national team, including Olympic gold and silver medals it won. It didn’t mention that he was one of the most successful college coaches in the country — he led Stanford to two World Series, compiled a 750-351-3 record and produced 15 All-Americans.
Mixed feelings
Many of the players not at the meeting were shocked by his ouster. Their parents were appalled, but they held their tongues because, as Dr. Ashby and others said, they didn’t want their daughters to face retribution if the parents publicly criticized the university. Sixteen of them finally signed an April 9 letter to Stanford President John Hennessy and Provost John Etchemendy blasting Muir for a superficial investigation that resulted in Rittman’s “forced resignation.”
The letter charged that Muir “allowed a small group of well-organized disgruntled parents, angry about the lack of playing time for their daughters, to take control of the leadership of the team.”
Bettina Winter, Hanna’s mother, told The Chronicle that Muir “handled this very poorly. In my opinion, somebody who reaches that level in an administration should be a lot more diligent in investigations of accusations people make against other people.”
Skip Sorenson, the father of designated player/pitcher Kylie Sorenson, said Muir should be fired. “It was completely inappropriate what he did,” he said. “From all the information I’ve heard, it seemed like a witch hunt. ... There was only one side of the story that was listened to.”
Muir “needs to be held accountable for the way it was handled,” Dr. Ashby said. “John deserved better for his years of service. They threw him out like yesterday’s news.”
During the meeting with the disgruntled group, Muir asked how many active players were not in attendance. According to the transcript, Schmidt said, “There are only five that did not support this (group) here.” However, the parents who wrote the angry letter in April represented nine of the 2014 players. Some of the pro-Rittman parents and players said they didn’t know about the meeting; others said they weren’t invited.
Support for Rittman
Some of those who signed the letter said that when they found out about the meeting, they tried to reach Muir in order to defend Rittman, but didn’t get a call back.
One of them was Bettina Winter. She said it was a shame that Rittman was ousted from his dream job. “He used to say he had to pinch himself because he had such terrific kids to work with,” Winter said. When he left, “he was very upset. They gave him and his family 30 days to get out of university housing. It was nasty.”
week, several players and parents said. As a result, the team reportedly was limited to 17.5 hours a week for most of this season, although neither the NCAA nor Stanford would confirm the sanction.
Read more at:
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Coach-s-ouster-created-schism-in-Stanford-6325754.php#photo-8144908
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