Over the last quarter-century, I’ve seen coaches come and go at every level of field hockey.
But occasionally, I’ve run across discouraging accounts of coaches being let go from their positions without much in the way of due process.
The thing is, many sports coaches are hired on an at-will basis, meaning that a school board or an administration isn’t required to provide a reason to get rid of a coach.
I’ve seen a number of successful coaches, from Marq Mellor to Mollie Reichard to Amanda Jacona, being separated from their teams even when they have won championships.
Which leads to a recent story on South Jersey Glory Days that Dana Ott, a three-time state championship-winning coach at Woolwich Kingsway (N.J.), has not been rehired to coach the team in pursuit of a fourth. According to the story, that decision was made in December.
“I am heartbroken,” Ott told Glory Days in a text message. “The girls, the team, and district mean the world to me. I would like nothing more than to continue coaching at Kingsway.”
The story goes on to mention that Ott’s assistant coach, Jennie Hara abruptly resigned from her position on Oct. 21, prior to the start of the NJSAA Tournament. Hara also tendered her resignation from teaching as well as coaching.
Thing is, even though the teachers’ labor union, the New Jersey Education Association, is one of the most powerful lobbying agents in the state of New Jersey (so much so, its office is the closest to the front door of the state capital in Trenton), coaches tend to have little recourse once a decision is made to terminate.
I’m amazed that, even in the growth of women’s sports in the last 50 years, coaches at the scholastic level still teeter on the ledge of a rickety roof.