right

lpmarlowe, you make some good points... 1.) "there is only 3 people who know the truth on what happened in the meeting between the coach and melissa" 2.) "none of us know the full extent of the conversation that took place between the three of them and i am sure we probably wont" That's true, but tell me... whose fault is that? Did Melissa's parents just fail to show up for a meeting with the "coach"? NO! He refused to talk with them in the room. Was it Melissa's idea to sit in there by herself and listen to that nonsense, only to have people say later that what she was subjected to "may have been said"? Of course not! She wanted to resolve a problem and he wouldn't even TALK about it until she was alone with no witnesses. Melissa's parents are good and honest people. Why were they excluded from that meeting? So you're right... we don't "know" what was said and we probably never will. That's the way that meeting was designed and that's all I need to tell me who has something to hide... and it's certainly NOT Melissa or her parents. If anyone can give me even ONE good reason why these two men would only talk to Melissa when she was alone, I'd sure like to hear it.

Excuse me fastballbaker, but when you say that it "sounds like coach made some bad comments" you're overlooking way too much of what Melissa said. Does it make a difference that he was talking about her behind her back? Or that he was accusing her of not being truthful? Or that he was talking to her teammates like that? What kind of person does that to an 18-year-old girl? What kind of "coach" refuses to talk to a girl until her parents leave the room? Why would that have been necessary? If someone is telling the truth, why should it matter who is listening? And don't forget, there was another person in that "private" meeting... Mt. Juliet's Athletic Director. That makes TWO adults who didn't think it was anything out of the ordinary to isolate Melissa from her parents and then blame her personally for the miserable season Mt. Juliet's having. Give me a break! Go back and read Melissa's post again and think about what she went through. In her own words... "I asked him why he said what he did about me supposedly going to Florida he said he never said it and I knew he was lying because he blamed it on my best friend." Does it make a difference that he was lying? What kind of person won't accept responsibility for their own actions and then tries to lay the blame on a kid? Melissa also says, "I took a lot from him. I took all the remarks and being blamed and disrespect and being cussed at and being called cancer". What she didn't mention is that he told her she was "a cancer on this team" last fall, in front of her teammates, before he had "coached" a single game. (He was an "assistant coach" last year under a strong coach who understood the game, who had coached Melissa for three years, and who would never have said that to ANY high school girl.) What kind of person treats kids like that? Where is it written that these kids should have to put up with stuff like this just to play softball for Mt. Juliet? And don't forget... the way Melissa was treated is bad enough. Rational people find it repulsive. But it's only ONE example of this kind of behavior. There are dozens more. I'll end with a simple question. It's become obvious that Mt. Juliet's softball team has not lived up to the expectations for this season. Not even close. It's obvious that there is a serious problem with the way this individual treats the girls and their parents. There are talented players leaving out of disgust for the way he behaves. My question... Will the girls who want to play softball for their high school team next year be subjected to this person AGAIN?

It seems like everyone has an opinion about whether it's "right" to leave a team. And that's an important point to remember... they're all just opinions. There are no hard and fast rules about when it's "right" to leave a team. You might hold the opinion that it's NEVER right to leave a team. But what if there was sexual misconduct involved? Did you change your mind? Would you draw the line there? I would hope so. So when people say that someone shouldn't have left a team, what they are really saying is that in their OPINION that person didn't have a good enough reason to leave. What they're saying is, "Your reason didn't meet my standards, so what you did was wrong." What people need to understand is that the ONLY opinions that matter are the opinions of those personally involved. You can stand off in the distance and criticize, but just take a moment and try to think of one good reason why YOUR opinion matters. It doesn't. If you decided tomorrow that you could no longer tolerate the conditions at your place of employment and made the decision to leave, would it matter that your reasons might not meet my standards? Of course not, and I wouldn't be so arrogant as to call you a quitter. And I wouldn't look for ways to blame you for creating the conditions that drove you away. That's simply ridiculous. Life is full of choices. Some are simple and others are more difficult. Some are so difficult that people simply avoid them, and the "no decision" becomes their decision. Those are the people who sit on life's sidelines and take whatever comes along. Those are the people who are afraid to take a stand when they need to. Was it the right thing for those three girls to leave the team for reasons they feel strongly about? That's a matter of opinion and don't forget... their opinions are the only ones that matter. Was it right for them to stand up for what they believe in and MAKE a tough decision? ABSOLUTELY! There have been many times that I've been proud of my daughter for things she has done both on the diamond and off, but there have been few times when I have been more proud of her than when she made the hard decision to stand by a friend and teammate. We were talking and I mentioned that although I knew they got along well, I never realized they were that close as friends. She said simply, "Dad, I would have done that for anybody on the team. What he did to Melissa was wrong and I couldn't stand to just act like nothing happened." Susan, Im proud of you! Dad

Don't forget to hit your "Back" button and scroll down to the messages from April 21st. That's when this happenned and that's where you'll find some information. ggsos- You're exactly right. If the girls don't do something, nothing will ever change. I don't know about other programs, but in this case most of the parents are willing to do ANYTHING (use your imagination) to get playing time for their kid. And you're right about something else... it takes courage to stand up for what you believe in. There's no courage required to sit in your lawn chair and complain about what's wrong... when you know you can't be heard. There's no courage required to see something that makes you sick inside and then just act like nothing happened. And it requires no courage to hide behind this message board and slander a 16-year-old girl. (smb2007, don't you feel kind of... I don't know... dirty?) To work hard at your sport since you were 5 years old and then sacrifice what you've earned out of loyalty to a friend takes courage. But I certainly wouldn't expect any of the parents involved in the Mt. Juliet softball program to understand much about courage. They deserve what they've got.

The exact reason given is that these girls were tired of the verbal abuse from the individual in charge, but the final straw was when one of the girls on the team was penalized for attending her grandfather's funeral. Yes, you read that right. No, I'm really not making that up. I couldn't. You can call the individual in charge of Mt. Juliet's softball team a "coach" if you like, but I can't. I know what a coach is. The person who commented that this would be a good team if the girls "came together" is very observant. Unfortunately that's impossible when every effort is made to divide the girls instead of unite them into a team. Can you imagine the seniors being punished for not being strict enough with the juniors, sophomores, and freshmen on the team? One of the seniors called my daughter after running miles as punishment and told her not to take it personally, but she was going to have to treat my daughter worse because she didn't think she could stand to run that far again. Now THERE'S how we build a winning team in Mt. Juliet! Just check our stats! My friend, you can't argue with results! But that's just the tip of the iceberg! You wouldn't believe how ugly the rest of it is! Who were the girls who quit the team in total disgust? In alphabetical order... Susan Gray, a junior pitcher Melissa King, a senior first baseman Megan Williams, a sophomore pitcher But hey, look at the bright side... it can't possibly get any worse! ...Can it?