Daughter came home this week and said coach had been suspended from duties because he was having the girls take ibprofin, multi-vitamins and cough drops that he was supplying.
My family is close, I ask lots of questions and still I had no idea. She felt she had seen the packaging and no one questioned it, so she didn't think it was a big deal. It is a terrible feeling to know an adult that I trusted was giving her stuff to take and I had no idea. They can't even bring so much as cough drops to school without a note, why he thought it would be ok, I don't know.
Even though these things don't seem harmful, he crossed the line. The cough drops were supposed to help with running outside in the cold. I guess open passageways. I don't know.
Anyway, she is worried about her season now, it is her senior year. The fear of the unknown and who is coaching is driving her crazy! (In turn, me too!)
Going on an official visit tomorrow and Monday that he helped setup - that is going to be strange to tell the college coach that we don't know if he even has a job at the school any longer. I guess college coach will just have to contact her counselor if he has any questions about her stats.
Anyway, I'm glad he has been found out, and she knows that he crossed the line. Thank goodness no one had their health jeopardized because of this. And thank goodness someone reported it!!!
Posts: 83 | Location: Illinois | Registered: July 06, 2006
Wow! I'm sorry your daughter is having to deal with this drama during her senior year. I'm amazed that a coach would think it was ok to dispense these medications on a regular basis. Where was the athletic trainer for Ibuprofen needs? As far as cough drops and vitamins!!!!!! Again, wow!! Not a very smart man in any way. Good luck to the team... may they find a quality replacement soon!
Posts: 5352 | Location: Kentucky | Registered: December 30, 2004
But imo, a great question to pose on the official visit ...
"what action would the university take if coach "made available" to his players - advil, some fred flintstone vitamins & hall's mentho-lyptus candy"
your HS coach is fortunate that they didn't find the coffee pot in his office, or the red bull in the teacher's lounge
seriously tho, if the incident really bothers you don't let your daughter play college athletics
most programs work under sponsorship or discount agreement with a "performance/suppliment" companies & ANYTHING legal is available to athletes who have been mandated to get BIGGER/STRONGER ... then there are a few on every team who want to push it even further
Posts: 3616 | Location: NE Ohio | Registered: December 27, 2002
This wasn't a case of "made available". They were instructed to take them even if they didn't want to. I also don't think you can compare this to college because of the age difference.
Posts: 83 | Location: Illinois | Registered: July 06, 2006
I'm not really worried that he is gone - daughter is kind of freaked out about it though. I should say that I liked this coach - have always thought he had the girls best interest at heart.
I'm not really sure how he accomplished getting them to take whatever - my daughter didn't think twice about it - maybe afraid they wouldn't get to run if they didn't?? I don't really know. I'm sure there are some things about this that I don't know. It just happened this week and he hasn't been at school - so we don't know if he has lost his teaching job or not.
IF we are headed to official visit??? I have no reason to lie about that. School is 3 hours away, leaving this afternoon, meeting coach for dinner, duaghter will go with student host tonight and will spend day touring facilities and campus, etc. tomorrow.
As far as stats go - yes current stats have been given - I guess when we find something out about what has happened, we will let college coaches know who to contact about this years stats - they may not even care what stats are by that time.
There are all levels of h.s. running x-country - so it isn't just 18 year olds.
Thank you for wishing us luck, she is very excited about this visit. It would be wonderful to have her only 3 hours away!
Posts: 83 | Location: Illinois | Registered: July 06, 2006
Oh Bee! Coaches can't get involved in dispensing and prescribing medications! Your wife and I are nurses and we can't prescribe medication (of course I'm speaking of prescription and understand that these weren't prescription meds). A HS coach giving any kind of medications though on a regular basis or otherwise when he doesn't have a clue as to the underlying medical conditions and the interactions with these "vitamins" he was giving. Wrong, Wrong, and Wrong!! You go ask Cathy! She'll agree with me!!
Posts: 5352 | Location: Kentucky | Registered: December 30, 2004
at the risk of sounding insenitive (who me?) FTers situation just gave me some relief from last nite's ALCS ...
AND just made me wonder why some candy & advil would warrant much fuss when there is an epidemic of hs and college athletes/teams contracting MRSA (staph) some unknown way inc some deaths .. and some guy in the school office is dispensing birth control pills etc to 5th graders like it was "trick or treat" day, and w/out parents knowledge ...
kids deathly ill, CDC says "don't know how their getting it, wash hands w/soap & water"
it's good to know schools have things under control, I feel better already
an advil/flintstone fuss seems a bit lame
Posts: 3616 | Location: NE Ohio | Registered: December 27, 2002
Tho I understand what you are saying, I do not agree insofar as the ibuprophen (Advil etc) and vitamins are concerned. Ibuprophen is indeed just an OTC medication now but it can have pretty hazardous effects on a person ... I take it daily for my fibromyalgia and you can be I take some other medication to protect my stomach. As far as the vitamins are concerned ... if they were just Flintstone friends, that would be one thing. But who knows what is in them, what the dosage is, and what contra-indications there may be for medications the runners might already be taking as prescribed by a physician.
Besides, if nothing else ... I am pretty sure there aren't too many schools that allow students to take medication to school without going through the proper channels and involving the school 'nurse' etc. This coach did indeed (IMHO) violate his position of authority and trust.
As far as schools distributing birth control pills to young teenagers and all that horrific stuff ... yes, I do believe some school districts have gone too far and that some governmental organizations have usurped parental authority, but that is for a different forum and not HSBBW (IMHO)
Mary Ann * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." Deuteronomy 31:8 [8/21/08]
Posts: 3937 | Location: Somewhere out there beneath the pale moonlight ... | Registered: January 02, 2003
Update - Good news first - Daughter gave a verbal to Western Illinois - track can no longer sign early so she has to wait until February.
From what I have been told about her h.s. coach, there are several reasons he has been asked to resign or fired (not sure which) besides the ibprofen and vitamins, but that will be the clear cut reason why he isn't coming back. As for now, her pre-season practices should have started and the school has not announced a replacement yet. I'm sure they will get someone soon.
Well it looks like this year I'll be buying some Christmas presents off of the Western sight. How in the world am I going to decorate with Westerns purple and gold, and Arkansas' black and red? YIKES!
Posts: 83 | Location: Illinois | Registered: July 06, 2006
FirstTimer, congrats to your daughter! That is awesome news!
Regarding her coach leaving, it sounds like the school was looking for some type of excuse to force him out. I know that at times there's a lot more to a story than people are aware of. Even though your daughter may have been happy with him, there may have been a lot of things bubbling beneath the surface that were quite problematic.
Best wishes with your decorating dilemma. I must say, that's a dilemma a great many parents would love to face!
Posts: 2143 | Location: San Antonio, TX | Registered: April 11, 2006
Now that is great news!!! We hear mostly about our boys on this site,...but I love just as much hearing about the gals!
Congrats to your daughter and to your entire family!! Great news!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ " Play both sports until the competition convinces you otherwise!! " " ...because baseball is just GOOD PRACTICE FOR LIFE ".
Posts: 2968 | Location: Kansas | Registered: March 18, 2006
You go ask Cathy! She'll agree with me!! 
