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The father of a student athlete says the behavior of coaches has gotten "out of hand.''
By BARBARA BEHRENDT, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published June 4, 2002
INVERNESS -- Concerned that some Citrus coaches have developed a "Bobby Knight or Woody Hayes" mentality, a local man has asked the School Board to establish a code of conduct for coaches and other participants in athletic events.
Rodney Wilburn, whose son Michael played varsity baseball at Citrus High School this year, has requested a hearing before the School Board on June 11 to air his concerns and discuss his proposal.
In a letter sent to the board last month, Wilburn cited an instance at Citrus High when baseball coach Brady Bogart, who was unhappy with the conduct of some players, asked four of them to quit the team. To punish them and push them into quitting, the coach forced the entire team to run sprints for nearly two hours, Wilburn alleged.
Two students passed out and four vomited, according to Wilburn, whose son warned the coach he was in distress and felt light-headed but the running continued. Wilburn said his son eventually blacked out.
Bogart would not comment on the incident involving Wilburn's son or the proposed code of conduct. "Under legal circumstances, I'm not going to say anything," he said.
At another school, Wilburn alleged in his letter to the board, a coach ordered a 7 a.m. practice on Christmas Day. Team members ran sprints until most of the students had vomited, he said.
"They were then instructed they could go home. He just wanted to see what they had for breakfast," Wilburn wrote.
That coach was Brent Hall, who just led his Crystal River High baseball team to a 30-4 record and Class 3A state semifinal appearance, a performance considered the best season in school history.
Hall denies that the incident occurred. He said there was no Christmas practice. In fact, he said he was in Palatka on Christmas morning last year.
He also said he would never run his students to the point that they became ill. "This is absolutely not true," Hall said. "We don't do bad things to children."
"For years we have all looked the other way when their conduct got out of hand. We've excused it by saying they are old-school. This year, we came very close to losing a couple of young athletes because a coach was angry and that anger clouded his judgment," Wilburn wrote.
Since the district has no written code of behavior for coaches, Wilburn wrote one himself and will present it to the School Board.
Titled "Best Practices Policy for Participants in Student Athletic Programs," the five-page proposal outlines what Wilburn thinks should be expected of coaches.
Specifically, it says coaches should avoid any conduct designed to demean, harass or threaten any person. It also discusses proper handling of athletic activities on especially hot days.
Wilburn cites various statistics about the number of injuries and deaths related to sporting activities, noting that since 1960, there have been more than 100 fatal heat stroke cases in football alone.
"Every effort should be made to continuously educate our coaches, student athletes, administrators and parents concerning proper procedures and precautions necessary to prevent injury or catastrophe and to promote an environment in athletics that is as safe and rewarding as we can make it," he wrote.
Keeping students healthy is just part of what the proposed rules demand. They also would require all participants in athletic events to maintain "a high standard of behavior" and "avoid conduct that is likely to appear improper."
"I don't want a coach calling my child an (expletive.) That's not acceptable," Wilburn said. He said he expects coaches to be good role models, just as his were when he was a student athlete at Citrus High years ago.
"We expect a lot out of our children but when a coach starts screaming cuss words at students, then within a few seconds people in the stands start doing it and pretty soon the students are too," Wilburn said. "It's contagious, but, as a community, can't we raise the bar for behavior?"
-- Staff writer Keith Niebuhr contributed to this story.