[DianaB]

On Friday I sent an e-mail to the coach and the athletic director. I just pointed out some observations on what I saw.

Hello, I'm Jaci's mom. My husband and I were at the volleyball games last night in Garnett. I just wanted to point out some things that I noticed..........

I noticed that the last team that you played (Burlington, I believe) had so much team spirit for each other. They had a large team and, if you recall, all of the team players were rotated in to play. This made them an active part of the team. They were excited about each other and the game.

On the other hand, the players that you had on the bench were not interested in the game, nor were they excited about being a part of the team because they weren't sure they were going to get to play.

I guess that my point is that having what you consider your "best" players out on the court all the time isn't the best answer to winning, but making a "team" that includes all of your members is. You will have bonding and encouragement for each other with the whole team.

I do appreciate that Jaci was "allowed" to play last night. It was sad that it was only because a player was hurt. Jaci is an excellent player, has a love for the game, and has a lot of "team" spirit. I hope that in the future you decide to include the "whole" team in playing and improve the moral of the team.

Sincerely,

Diana Baker

Needless to say, the e-mail didn't go over well. Jaci said that she overheard the coaches and athletic director talking about it and the coaches were instructed to not respond to it. (The athletic director was at Jaci's game and saw for himself how much she played. He's also a friend, not a close friend, but a friend.) It ended up that the coach called all three of the seniors that were on the bench and informed them that there is so such thing as fairness or equal play. They were told that they would probably not play anymore at games than what they'd been playing (which for Jaci was hardly anything). Jaci left pretty upset.

I don't understand why the girls on the bench can't be rotated in. They are all good players, two of them are especiallly good, and being seniors you'd think that they'd be starting for the team.

Jaci had all weekend to think about what the coach had to say and she decided to quit. It didn't sound like she was going to get any playing time (she's not even practicing with varsity). There were a lot of senior girls that didn't even bother to go out this year because they saw the senior girls sit on the bench game after game and they didn't want to do that.

Jaci went yesterday and turned in her jersey and knee pads. The coaches weren't happy about it. They pointed out that she was next in line to be a setter. Of course, that's only is one of the other setters is injured. You'd think that if she is that good, as a senior, she would be starting. The coaches told her that she could support her team from the bench and Jaci pointed out that she could also support her team from the bleachers. Jaci came home in tears and my heart is broken for her. She absolutely loved volleyball and has worked hard to improve.

Glen has a call into the athletic director and I think that he's going to set up an appointment to talk to him. Something needs to change in this. I've dealt with the school before and we probably won't get anywhere, but we're going to try!!