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Judge steps down at Leigh

Interesting time to step down as coach at renowned school. Wonder what the reason is behind the sudden leave.

Also interested to see who takes over the position.
 
Rumor is that it involved parents which is the main reason for coaches stepping down. I heard that the AD who supported Judge is also gone. Don't know if it's true but if the AD is also gone than it speaks for itself.
 
Boys basketball coach resigns, Girls basketball coach resigns, AD who is certificated staff out as well. Basketball coaches are off-campus. Admin. team can easily let them go. AD job not protected by teachers' union, can easily replace. Parents don't have to talk with the coach, let me get the ear of the Principal or better yet the Superintendent. Most of these administrators never coached, don't understand why are athletics important in a high school environment and will tell you they don't care about athletics and/or don't know anything about sports. Let's see, your school board hires a new principal and that person decides, what's the big deal with the band, the play, etc, those programs' budgets need to be cut in half. Can you imagine the outrage? Next scenario, the lead for the Spring Musical went to a girl who is terrific and just lost on last season's THE VOICE competition, but Susie, who happens to be the daughter of the biggest donor to the Ed Fund, who can't play the kazoo, is up in arms. Sorry, need a new drama director
The amazing part with all these situations is the Principal or Supe NEVER sits down and talks with the Coach in almost every case to get their side of the story. The parent never attends a practice, never see the interaction at team meals, never attends an open gym, weight-training session, etc. but because they stayed at a Holiday Inn Express and coached St. Peter's 5B2 team to the CYO championship with Johnny shooting 30 shots a game to score 12, they are self-appointed experts and you should listen to them tell you how to run a program.

Should I ever need heart surgery, I plan on asking my very attractive Dermatologist, if she is available, to perform that procedure. RIDICULOUS! If you suspend a player for poor behavior or conduct detrimental to your team you are the BULLY. If you raise your voice, you are not creating a positive culture. If you advise players be at off-season workouts, your too demanding. Of course, I have never heard of parent raising their voice to have their son or daughter clean up their room, that would be grounds for parental abuse or taking away the car keys for failure to text or phone and showing up at home 2 hours late. Might have to call the authorities to investigate.

DUE PROCESS, heck you will be lucky to have anyone listen to you. No one's job is safe, period. It can takes years to build a very good program, but literally a few days to wreck it.

In the end, the kids are the biggest losers! Judge is a very good coach that will land somewhere else and that school will be thrilled and lucky to have him. But, the kids at Leigh will be out of luck. And, btw, you can substitute names like Filios, Donnellan, Blackwood into this scenario

Best response from the school's is always "cannot discuss a personnel matter"or "parted ways due to irreconcilable differences as to who should start or play more."

As they say, "tell us how you really feel." Amen.
 
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Hoopology, you've laid out a ton of heresay. Why did he quit? Why was he asked to quit? What are the facts around the complaints from parents, as alluded to in the blog post posted by Streakone? There are at least two sides to every story. In high school basketball, sometimes three or four (coach, parents, admin, players).
 
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There are two sides to every story, unfortunately the storytellers for one side are all gone. Hard to believe that's a coincidence
 
Hoopology, you've laid out a ton of heresay. Why did he quit? Why was he asked to quit? What are the facts around the complaints from parents, as alluded to in the blog post posted by Streakone? There are at least two sides to every story. In high school basketball, sometimes three or four (coach, parents, admin, players).
Ton of HEARSAY, LOL. FACTS both coaches gone and AD who supported them gone, thanks for coming but we are going in a different direction. Why resign? Well usually the choice is framed, " you can resign or we will fire you."
My understanding was there was a disgruntled parent, not parents, no player revolt. This story will either get bigger or Judge will get another job and move on. Costs simply too much time, money and effort to fight, unless enough parents disagree or one of them is an attorney willing to represent you pro bono. And, unless Supe an/or Principal is out (possibility in this case as Principal under heavy fire and Supe is interim, usually not), why go through all that. You can go find another job with his resume.
 
Let me guess.hoops.Playing time? That's what it usually comes down to. That is the reality of many public schools. So far so good for me but one never knows:)
 
Let me guess.hoops.Playing time? That's what it usually comes down to. That is the reality of many public schools. So far so good for me but one never knows:)
Good thing those arent issues in the PAL ;)
 
Boys basketball coach resigns, Girls basketball coach resigns, AD who is certificated staff out as well. Basketball coaches are off-campus. Admin. team can easily let them go. AD job not protected by teachers' union, can easily replace. Parents don't have to talk with the coach, let me get the ear of the Principal or better yet the Superintendent. Most of these administrators never coached, don't understand why are athletics important in a high school environment and will tell you they don't care about athletics and/or don't know anything about sports. Let's see, your school board hires a new principal and that person decides, what's the big deal with the band, the play, etc, those programs' budgets need to be cut in half. Can you imagine the outrage? Next scenario, the lead for the Spring Musical went to a girl who is terrific and just lost on last season's THE VOICE competition, but Susie, who happens to be the daughter of the biggest donor to the Ed Fund, who can't play the kazoo, is up in arms. Sorry, need a new drama director
The amazing part with all these situations is the Principal or Supe NEVER sits down and talks with the Coach in almost every case to get their side of the story. The parent never attends a practice, never see the interaction at team meals, never attends an open gym, weight-training session, etc. but because they stayed at a Holiday Inn Express and coached St. Peter's 5B2 team to the CYO championship with Johnny shooting 30 shots a game to score 12, they are self-appointed experts and you should listen to them tell you how to run a program.

Should I ever need heart surgery, I plan on asking my very attractive Dermatologist, if she is available, to perform that procedure. RIDICULOUS! If you suspend a player for poor behavior or conduct detrimental to your team you are the BULLY. If you raise your voice, you are not creating a positive culture. If you advise players be at off-season workouts, your too demanding. Of course, I have never heard of parent raising their voice to have their son or daughter clean up their room, that would be grounds for parental abuse or taking away the car keys for failure to text or phone and showing up at home 2 hours late. Might have to call the authorities to investigate.

DUE PROCESS, heck you will be lucky to have anyone listen to you. No one's job is safe, period. It can takes years to build a very good program, but literally a few days to wreck it.

In the end, the kids are the biggest losers! Judge is a very good coach that will land somewhere else and that school will be thrilled and lucky to have him. But, the kids at Leigh will be out of luck. And, btw, you can substitute names like Filios, Donnellan, Blackwood into this scenario

Best response from the school's is always "cannot discuss a personnel matter"or "parted ways due to irreconcilable differences as to who should start or play more."

As they say, "tell us how you really feel." Amen.
Dr., what are you really trying to say? Lol
 
Of course not..No issue in Bear territory
Of course not, that was the longest M-A run since the Jeff Kleenow era, but ultimately was just a runner up. Lots of silver medalists in the area, except for that school off of 92 who just captured a state title ;)
 
My understanding is that there were complaints about gender inequalities in regard to gym time, which gave the administration an opportunity to request both coaches to step down so they can start over.
 
Not so much a playing time issue but a gym time issue? So if this house cleaning was meant to avoid litigation or an investigation they fire the party that was being discriminated against. The victim and the perp? Seems like there is more to this story than what is being laid out here.
 
There was a brother and sister that both were in the program as freshman, one transferred, one stayed. The one that stayed will be a senior next year. Apparently some(one) of the girls parents did not think their team received enough gym time or fair practice hours in respect to the boys.
 
My understanding of the situation is that girls program was quite happy with their gym time allocation. They preferred during the Fall to go work out on the track and in the weight room. They finished season with a 18-5 record according to maxpreps, may have been 18-6 or 19-5 as teams usually play at least 24 games. Any case, successful season. I personally would rather be in the gym as well, developing skills. So, boys scooped up time, hence the inequality. Not sure that violates Title IX.
We have a freshmen boys team that is entirely funded by the boys basketball program, except for Boosters help paying for officials' cost. Girls' program cannot find enough players to field both a JV and Frosh team. If there was a funding issue, then there could be an issue where the school might say, either both or neither. However, that isn't the case. Is that a Title IX violation?

How about one of those players may have been removed from starting lineup for team disciplinary violations and parents didn't like that approach. Never could that happen right?? Talk with AD, who supports both coaches, doesn't agree with parents conclusion that player was treated unfairly. So, what does a parent do, move up the chain of command to try and find the sympathetic ear. Bingo, Principal and Supe both listen. AD gets assigned by Supe to MONITOR coaches behavior for weeks. AD conclusion, "I don't see anything to complain about." Supe concludes cannot trust that info (why did you appoint AD to do the monitoring then in the first place if you have trust issues!)

Decision, we have to go in a different direction. Now, if you don't believe that 90% percent of the time that playing time is the issue, you have never coached at the HS level. Coaches play the players that give them the best chance to win. They could care less about religion, personality and whether they like the kid. Can the player play and help us win.

I will share a story that is all too typical of how parents behave. Young man (Junior is school) texts me at 730a in the morning, Coach cannot be at practice tonight. I text back why not? Have to attend a birthday party for a close friend and been looking forward to this for months. Why are you texting me the day of the event? Unexcused absence results in you not being able to play next game. Player texts back I know I will have to sit out our next game which is our annual Alumni game. I ask, have you talked to your parents about missing practice. Player, yes, they said as long as I informed you they are ok. Now, we have a philosophical difference.

Knew story was fishy. Find out through other players that there is a big rave party in the City that night that player really wants to attend. Over 200 kids will be there. I ask him if he has talked to any of his teammates, answer no. I suggest he does. He talks to all 5 Seniors who tell him in no uncertain terms since they all know what the truth of "this party is" not to go and blow off practice.
Player misses practice and Seniors are pissed. Its our team so, we have a meeting to discuss punishment. Seniors vote to dismiss player. I tell them I cannot support that decision too harsh and sets a precedent I have to live with going forward. They get it and we figure out a compromise. Parents email me at 1130p after hearing through the grapevine their son is being dismissed. I tell them know, punishment hasn't been decide yet and I am listening to players viewpoint. The parents inform me had my son known of the repercussions, having to sit out a game, etc. that he would not have gone to party. I send them all the text messages (the beauty of the written word, no longer he said, she said). We come up with the compromise miss Alumni game, miss a couple of practices and work your way back into good graces (and don't let it happen again, LOL). Parents write email back thanking me profusely for coming to compromise and listening.

2 weeks later, Vice-Principal emails me saying we (admin. team) have a problem with your disciplinary process of this situation. Parents, at a Boosters meeting (very involved Parents) complained to Principal that the other players should have NO SAY in the process. I say to VP would you like to hear my side of story. VP responds, we know your side of the story (without ever asking me one question about it). I say alright, let me send all the email exchanges and text message exchanges (2 very long pages). I ask VP, alright TELL ME how I should have handled this differently. To this day, this happened 4 seasons ago, I am still awaiting response. This same VP is now a Principal at another school.

So, if a parent can get an ear of the right administrator, I know for a fact, that these situations can play out very poorly.

I am not privy to every detail in this case, but I have seen this movie many times over my 35+ years of coaching and so I draw my conclusions with those glasses. You all can draw a different conclusion.

As I said in another post, we will see how this plays out. I hope the coaches fight for what is right, but most times it is simply much easier to walk away and start all over. Especially when the job pays about $3000 a year.
 
Someone asked if this was a title Xl issue, or a playing time issue? It's actually about a parent and her long running feud with the Boys Coach! How do I know? I was the Girls Coach! I was grilled for days when I applied for this job, I had previously coached here before, before moving on to a College job. So let's just state who I am, and how I came into this issue. My name is Ed Harris, I've coached at Fremont high Oakland, Las Lomas, was interim head coach at Piedmont when Draper stepped down. I've Coached at Ohlone College , and Whittier College. I normally don't get involved in these post, because we all have our thoughts about how things should go. To address one question, the gym time was planned out by myself, and the Men's Coach, and the AD. The times were set based on our staff availability. It was equal in the way way we wanted, with room to change if needed. In the summer I played with just about all the JV girls, and an occasional Varsity player, with the exception of 1. The rest were to busy, or played on multiple teams, so we need to get stronger and faster. I opted for less gym time, and more strength and conditioning, thinking my young ones would more than likely be the varsity, and we needed to get stronger. I was already briefed on an issue I would have to deal with, and instantly I was face to face with it. I thought I was pretty clear on the direction I was headed with the program, and that we would get equal footing with the boys. I guess that fell on deaf ears, because the parent consistently was at the superintendents office. At a boosters meeting, I was again face to face with this parent, and I asked her to speak to me concerning my program, that didn't go over well, and another parent told me, you probably are going to get fired for that! I Coach my players equal and fair, I told all parents, they wouldn't have to ask about playing time, because practice would be open, and they were free to watch. I played all the players, some more than others, but all played. They knew playing time was earned in practice, work hard and you would play, I didn't promise how long, but said I would reward hard work. I had 1 freshman, and 5 soph move up, I challenged them all, most got it, but one was taking longer. Parents felt I was killing her confidence, I spoke with them, explained that she was a sophomore, and it may take a season to catch up to the rest, but I believed she could do it. The season ended, we had a banquet, an 2 parents didn't speak to me, or make eye contact. A few days later I was told I had a meeting with AD, Principal and Superintendent. Meeting starred out great, then Superintendent says, the Team of us 3, have decided to go in another direction. I asked why, wasn't given an answer. I was blindsided! Was told by another parent, I was collateral damage, from the fued with the boys Coach! As a coach, I won't say I did everything right, but I was consistent and fair, I made myself available to all. We lost 90% of our JV KIDS to injury, Varsity stayed sick and injured, and I had to shuffle days we could rest, and get better. Keep in mind parent A never talked to me, but I was constantly being told of her dealings with the Superintendent. Parent B, voiced her concerns and I invited dad to practice, next I heard from them, was a long text about how I killed thier daughters confidence and how I didn't do a great job acknowledging the team at the banquet. So three that's my side, and I would be willing to dispute anyone else's version , face to face, as you can see I didn't hide my name, not like the 2 parents. I also was Coaching Football, on my own time, and parent A made it a XI issue, so I left the guys during the season, and was told I couldn't Coach both, even though I did it, when I Coached at Leigh before. It's sad that as a Coach this is my passion, and a parent who only has 4 years invested, can steal something that I love! Will never understand that. Let's be clear, it was a onsided fued, I was under the impression it ended.
 
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The Dr's thesis followed by the CoachD's rebuttal made me OD on my A-D-D meds. Clifnotes please!;)
Don't believe there was a rebuttal, I think there was confirmation. The difference was gym time in the Summer vs. my understanding of it being in the Fall. I wasn't aware of the long-standing feud with Coach Judge. But, I don't think the story is over by any means. And, sorry I forgot you didn't take any AP classes at Riordan, so I will try to keep the comments at the undergrad level vs. the Ph.D level. LOL!!!
 
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Well Dr., not only did I not take any AP classes at Riordan, 99% of my classmates didn't so either. We were not part of the elitist 1% then and definitely not in the 1% now, unlike yourself LOL Were just hoping to get a glimpse of those fantastic postcard-esque HMB Sunsets at the Ritz, but will have to settle for a cold windy sunset off of the Ocean Beach TraveLodge ;) LOL is Coach Judge on your payroll? LOL or just going to bat for the Publics? Before anyone goes crazy this is in tongue and cheek, I've been a patient of the Dr till he decided to take his practice to the Coast o_O
 
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