Many times over many years I have seen players let their team mates and Coaches down. A little less frequently I have seen some Coaches let their players and owners down.
We are all human. I get it. We all have faults, and limitations personally and professionally. Its just life.
Players have the greatest excuse and reason for letting their Coaches and team mates down. Youth. Combined with inexperience, hormones, frustration and all the other emotions a young player can experience and it simply happens sometimes.
Those same players often get a second chance and they should.
Coaches on the other hand do not have all those excuses and reasons built into “youth”. They are self proclaimed and seasoned professional coaches. They are “Adults”.
Now I have seen some real big mistakes from Coaches. Chasing women and getting caught by their wives or girlfriends. Drinking too much. Being crazy on the bench and freaking out on players in practice. Physically confronting players, throwing things at referee’s and a whole bunch of other inappropriate things.
Until now though, I have never seen a Coach lie, cheat and steal all in one season. But it happened.
Lies concerning his ability and his actions to promote players to other leagues.
Cheating in the form of getting caught on Tinder by his wife and blaming it on his assistant coach.
Stealing from players by taking money that was intended to buy apparel in one instance, and stealing another players payment that was supposed to go to his team to cover expenses.
On top of those instances, he was a compulsive liar in his coaching ability when in fact his assistant did all the coaching.
I am withholding the name of this coach publicly for now because the Police reports were only filed on Friday and arrest warrants will likely be issued in the coming weeks.
That said, I am also making sure every league knows who this coach is so he is not hired again.
So why did i write about this? Simple. People need to beware of coaches who make promises on behalf of organizations. People should before signing, verify promises with higher ups.
Players should never give money to coaches. If you are buying something from the team pay the team, if you owe the team pay the team.
The same caution that we use every day when in public needs to be used in team settings.
Finally, if you are a player or a parent and you suspect something isn’t right, do not stay quiet. If someone in a position of authority is not telling the truth or you see something that is simply really wrong, you have a duty to report it to ownership and management. If not, you are complicit in enabling this behavior.
Most coaches who make simple mistakes also deserve second chances. We are all only human. There are some however that should be so far removed from coaching that they should be publicly or at least privately in a professional manner outed.
What’s funny, is I know this “Coach” will read this today, thinking he got away with things. Until that day when a knock at the door comes and every unpaid bill becomes due.
Joseph Kolodziej – Adviser
