• 15
  • October
    2011

One of the largest parts of a coach's job is working closely with his or her athletes to help them improve their skills. However, coaches must also be able to work effectively with assistant coaches, as well as with athletes and coaches on other teams.

In San Francisco, athletes often spend more time with their coaches and teammates than they do with anyone else, and coaches must be able to work well together to give their athletes the best training possible. One coach failed to do that, and he was removed from his volleyball team after his assistant coach and players made allegations that he sexually harassed them.

If you watch football or wrestling, you might see a male coach slap the bottom of his male athletes as they get ready to play. While some players might not mind that sort of behavior, it should never be considered status quo, and it should certainly never be acceptable for a male coach to do that to his female athletes and or to another coach.

Although the details of the allegations against the coach have not been made public, the university took preliminary steps to separate the coach from the individuals he was accused of harassing. The coach will no longer be working directly with the assistant coach or the athletes, but he will be in a scouting position.

When parents raised concern about his interactions with athletes from other colleges, they were told the coach could do his work without talking with the athletes. The authorities did not specify whether his work would be done without interacting with coaches from other colleges, which has also proved problematic for him.

The steps taken to remove the coach from the situation in which the sexual harassment allegations stemmed is a start. However, given the extent of the complaints, it seems as though the university could do more to protect their other coaches and athletes.

Source: wnewsj.com, "Sexual harassment charged," Jeff Gilliland, Oct. 14, 2011