Travesty of youth Sports

[lhacbigfan]

If these players were on the roster from the get go then I don't see what complaint Tussey had. You can't play in an elementary league with 5 players, just like you can't have a little league team with only 9. There are going to be times when things come up and kids can't be there for whatever reason. Sounds like some people are just bitter because their son's team lost the 6th grade championship game...The bad thing is the kids from Tussey probably handled it better than their coach did.

[mothermary]

if anyone knows Tussey's coach at all ,they will know all this nonsense about him swearing,acting up infront of his players, cheating,and being banned from the Y.M.C.A for life is just that, NONSENSE. Roaring Spring and Martinsburg people know what kind of family values,temper,sense of humor Tussey's coach has. he has brought many honors to the spring cove school district,especially in basketball.so I think he knows his stuff in that sport.I'm from the cove and was at that game .Tussey' coach sat very quitly w/ his arms folded & said very little.Don't think the remarks from spring cove coach went un noticed.I've had kid grow up in this school district and all graduate from central,I've respected the coaches through the years but this 6th grade coach(?) really takes the cake.yes he did bring in kids from out of the area,BUT those are the kids who should have sat while the S.C. kids got to play. I saw several boys on his team who have played at the "Y" for three years and only played a few minutes so the out of area kids could play.I've heard parents apologize after the game for their coach..(S.C.).I know for a fact that next year the rules for participation on a team will be changing and this TRAVESTY will not happen again.O.K S.C. coach what are you going to do for a team next year?Oh I know you'll find some local boys to play that deserve to.To the sping cove boys, from this area I congradulate you ! job well done! To Tussey"s Team and Coach..what can I say. You have nothing to regret.you did a wonderful job!!!!OH! one last thing.If Tussey's coach is such a bad influence why do some of the S.C. high school coaches keep trying to get Tussey's coach to move back over here so they can get him to help on their teams?

[BR549]

I have to say congratulations to the Tussey and Spring Cove boys. Those guys played a good game. I also want to say the NB boys did an excellent job as well. First I have to respond to what life hunts said about Tusseys coach. Don't try to cast the attention away from the topic. That's all your doing. I happen to know their coach and I will say he has more patience with the kids and respect for the game than you know. Anyone that knows him could say the same. I don't know what you were watching but he sat on a chair with his arms crossed saying little except to his players. I do know SC coach was saying things to Tussey coach during the game but I guess that doesn't matter. We won't get into the he said he said yet. I will however get into the games. Monday NB played a game and I happened to see Mcnight there. Why? After asking around I have a pretty good idea. Dude these are 11-12 year old kids. 5-6 grade, do we really need to scout. The first game against NB Tuesday night 4 of the 5 players starting for SC was not SC players and that went most of the first period. NB had 7 kids SC had 11 and still decided to sit out actual SC kids in favor of ones from another area. Even being up 24 to 4 SC was still pressing until the REFS said back off. The NB team had to deal with kids being sick and what not through the season but they chose to pull from the other NB team if they needed 1-2 kids. If coach Mcnight needed a few other players it should have stayed "in house". It's true that teams come from surrounding schools to play at the Y and I'll bet you 99.9% of them don't do what was done. They show confidence and do what coaches should do.... Coach. They don't pull from other leagues to stack the team. That shows me you have no faith in your coaching abilities for one and worst of all no faith in the kids you have from your area that wanted to play. Could they have won the league without doing it the way they did? Maybe, maybe not we'll never know but it would have been nice to see. Coach can't say the focus wasn't on winning when he brought those kids in. That wasn't in his mind at all?? He said it himself they were a more experienced group and it upped their level of play in all areas. He said it read it. The issue is they should have played their kids first win or loose. I myself could not bring kids in from outside and play them over area kids. How are those kids that sat out ever going to learn? I am glad that there will be rules changed to keep this from happening again and that alone should tell you it was a bad idea to begin with. I only ask why it had to come to a change of rules instead of someone just thinking. I disagree with life hunts that this game wasn't significant. It shows that a win all mentality can cloud commonsense judgement and that's the reason we have to have rules.

[hoopscoach]

First off I am not from the Spring Cove district but i do referee and volunteer at the YMCA.A couple points to make after reading ALL posts. 1. Elementary hoops should be about developing young players; learning how to win and lose; and getting 6th graders ready for the junior high level. 2. So true about high school coaches should be involved with the elementary programs to keep a consistent program. I have never seen the Spring Cove high school coach at any of the three Spring Cove elementary teams games, at least not in the past few years when he didn't have a child participating;however, I have personally seen a junior high coach at games and saw him address Spring Cove teams after games and I am assuming he was talking to them in a positive way. If not for the volunteers coaching these young future high school players, your basketball program will not grow, so all coaches at higher levels should be more involved. I have also seen the Chestnut Ridge coach at these games and have even witnessed him coaching at times when needed. And.....there program has got stronger in the past few years as the Spring Cove program has struggled to get to the .500 mark the past few years after 25 years of continueous winning programs. 3. I saw this elementary game that is being discussed: the four players from outside the team district were arguably the top four players on the team, at a minimum four of the top five players so I do think winning was the motive. Hopefully the kids that were so called "left off" or "alienated" from this team will continue to play basketball when they get to the junior high next year. 4. Win or lose the coaches responsibility is to teach good sportsmanship. Lastly, the game is over so move on and learn from the experience.

[WilsonJet]

It is all ridiculous, parents are ridiculous as well as youth coaches. It does not matter!!!! I was at an 8th grade game the other day and had to go sit as far away from people as I could. My kid did this, and my kid did that.....he is stinking 13 years old. 15 years from now he will be working somewhere and never even sniff college hoops. Let the kids have fun, let the kids have dreams but please parents do not say things that embarrass your kids. This is a big world and your kid is going to be fine but not a Division I player. Let the the kid enjoy his youth, Oh by the way Dad you were not as good as you think either!!!