I think girls should have women coaches. I've had disasterous encounters with male coaches- in terms of sexual harassment as a young athlete (when I was 19). I remember one of my coaches (club coach- not a high school coach) continuously harassed and had sex with his female athletes (he was 30- some of his athletes were as young as 15). He often made sexual comments at young, young girls in front of other athletes. He made sexual comments in front of coaches. I remember he made an incredibly derogatory comment at me- that involved him grabbing himself- in front of another male athlete.

When I said something to the high school track coach who worked closely with this man I was even further appalled by the fact he knew of previous complaints by other obververs, coaches, and victims. He knew of a complaint from a 15 year old member. He then went on to make some comment like "you know men molesting, and having sex with underage girls is a common thing, but when it happens to boys- now that's sick." ???????

I remember warning people on the team to leave- that he had deliberately created an environment to set people up for manipulation and abuse. Two months later he got a 16 year old teammate intoxicated so he could have sex with her.

Yep this happened in Canada- and sorry to sound bitter and harsh- but there are some scarey scarey coaches out there.

The man's coaching career ended when he stole the club van and sold it to church for a one way ticket to Austrailia.

Really parents be aware of what some of these idiots can do. Don't be afraid to trust your gut.

MiniMe

http://This message has been edited by MiniMe (edited Feb-18-2007).

http://This message has been edited by MiniMe (edited Feb-18-2007).