Dear dimwit on the phone

I checked with the AD, and he didn't have it.

And FWIW, he had no issues with us emailing his athletes through Facebook. He called us when he heard about it and we cleared the air with him.

 

Yes, every once in awhile you'll get a coach like this that is a joy to work with ... and yes, you just find ways to get around it to get your job done and learn to expect complaints from the coach. It doesn't take long for all involved to see where the problem lies...usually those coaches don't last long.

 

This is the second year for this coach. She even got pissed off that I interviewed one of her runners without her standing right beside the kid after the region cross country meet in November. Tried to tell me I didn't have permission to speak to her -- or any other runner -- unless she was right there with them.

 

If you haven't already, this might be a case worthy of pulling the coach aside sometime before the year starts to clear the air. Approach it professionally, and simply state that you are trying to do your job to the best of your ability and that means talking with the athletes themselves, etc.

Most cross country coaches are begging for some kind of coverage. But perhaps she had a bad experience in the past or doesn't quite understand how the process works. Of course, she could (and probably is) just a difficult person to deal with, but at least this way you've dealt with that head-on.

After meeting with her, proceed with your coverage as you normally would unless something in your conversation convinces you to approach it differently in this case.

 

Thing is, I had no issue with her when she was helping the track team last spring (before her first season as XC coach). She knew who I was from that, so I'm not really sure what her deal was.

 

Maybe it's your creepiness.

Maybe it's that your a dude in your mid-twenties with 2,500 Facebook friends and you're direct messaging teenage girls asking them to come in for a photo shoot.

Maybe it's that you use your job, your "volunteer work" with your Church group, and Facebook to hang around and befriend teenage girls.

Yes, it's that obvious.

 

That's a hell of an accusation to make about someone you don't know.

 

Did I miss something on this thread?

 

Personal attack, much?

No, it's NOT that simple.

We've dealt with the kids in question before. The parents got the same FB message. We've dealt with the same dingbat coach. The AD, who should have some control of the situation, doesn't care if we facebook message the kids and said AD couldn't get us the cell phone number of the coach.

Good thing is it is a minor sport and when the team competes, we don't need the coach to get results (most Kentucky high school track and cross country results are posted on an email listserve or on two different web sites within an hour of completion).

And if said coach admits she doesn't have facebook, how would she know everything you just stated? If the coach is asking her kids/parents to examine a writer's facebook page like you did, there's a bigger underlying issue, methinks.

How come girls from the other XC teams at the shoot didn't have a problem? Or the 10 soccer kids (five boys, five girls) I contacted the same way?

How come the AD or our sports editor didn't have a problem?

And since the coach attended the photo shoot and insisted on driving the athletes herself (wouldn't let their own parents drive them, to the shoot at least), you'd think she'd be able to tell this was on the up and up.

Of course, if said coach would have given us her cell or home phone or check her email, this wouldn't have been an issue.

Getting a hold of these same kids during XC season last year or track (when she was an assistant) wasn't an issue last year.

It shouldn't be this year.

 

CKYK, go to the AD. Tell the AD that if it's going to be this much of a problem to get in contact with the coach, you'll start giving that coverage to a school with a coach who is more communicative.

 

Always found it amazing that coaches who won't lift a phone or click a mouse to get you results are the first ones to send in announcement when they hold a camp (that benefits their team), or complain about the all-county picks ...

 

So did you get the coach's number? Because there's no excuse not to have it after an episode like this. If she declines to give it to you then you simply tell her in future you'll approach things the same way.

As for Yankeefan, why the two direct shots at him? You badly missed on the first one (thinking parents had the complaints) yet come back with suggesting you know that he uses his FB inappropriately. Keep in mind Facebook is a public site, just as public as getting a number out of the phone book.