Earlier this month, the University of Hawaii's women's basketball coach Jim Bolla got fired!
Usually, college coaches get fired for loosing too much!
This is WORSE THAN THAT!
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090409/NEWS01/904090356/-1/RSS02?source=rss_localnews
University of Hawai'i women's basketball coach Jim Bolla was fired after former players complained about a "pattern of verbal abuse."
UH dismissed the 57-year-old Bolla on Monday "for cause," meaning the university had a reason to fire him and is not bound to honor the remaining two years on his contract, which pays an estimated $120,000 a year.
Bolla, the Rainbow Wahine's coach since 2004, was placed on leave Feb. 13 after school officials investigated allegations he kicked one of his players.
Bolla also received a warning last year after school officials investigated allegations of verbal abuse from team members.
"There was a pattern of verbal abuse," said former UH player Pamela Tambini. "He played mental games. He basically tried to break us down and intimidate us.
"Girls hated going to practice. They dreaded going on the road. It was bad."
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it gets worse
Former player Tanya Smith said Bolla mocked "almost every person on the team" for being gay. He also improperly obtained her medical records, which are protected under federal law.
"I understand coaches yelling and getting upset at players for things that pertain to basketball skills, but when it becomes personal and relates in no way to basketball, then it is a problem," Smith said in an e-mail from Australia, where she lives.
Tambini, who was reached by phone in Florida, said players complained for years about their treatment by Bolla to Herman Frazier, the former UH athletic director, but he apparently didn't take any action.
She said Bolla degraded players about their weight, made derisive comments about their sexuality and blamed losses on players such as herself who were recruited by former coach Vince Goo.
"Everybody knew about it and did nothing about it," Tambini said.
"We were going through hell. No student should have had to go through that. It's not fair."
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however, it just wasn't at UH! Jim Bolla was alleged to have done similar things at his previous coaching job at UNLV!
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported in December 1992 that Bolla struck a player during a practice.
The former UNLV player, Tracy Titus, told The Advertiser in February that Bolla struck her after he ordered her to run at him during a drill.
Titus said Bolla later apologized for the incident but maintained in a statement to the UNLV athletic director that Titus had "run into his hand."
Titus also said she saw Bolla grab another player "around the neck" during a game at UH during the 1992-93 season.
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My commentary
Though I never been a coach, I do work as a substitute teacher!
So of course, there will be times where the kids give me a bad attitude and I had to be the disciplinarian!
There have times where I yelled at students, especially the ones @ middle school! That's when the attitudes are at their worst!
My supervisors advised me it's better not to yell! One said you gotta be Calm and Stern!
I only yell as a last resort, and I try other ways to settle students down without yelling!
I usually don't need to yell, however, once you do it, that's all everyone remembers!
So I gotta be Calm and Stern! That's what I want to be remembered for!
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However, Jim Bolla goes WAY BEYOND discipline!
Most importantly, avoid hitting unless it's self-defense!
Sometimes you gotta physically restrain students (and in the case of preschoolers, carry them away from a dangerous situation), but you need to do in a safe way to prevent harm!
Another thin, I AVOID using name-calling and insults on my students!
I address their behavior! Calling the students names only aggravates things!
Students hear their teachers insulting their classmates names, and guess what? It encourages the students to do the same to their classmates!
Mocking your student's sexual orientation and weight has NOTHING to do with being a disciplinarian! It is being a bullying punk-ass, it's abusive and it's emotionally damaging!
And even if your student doesn't immediately respond to your humiliating tactics, it doesn't mean they'll forget about it!
They might publicly insult you if they become famous! They could sue you!
Or in the case of Columbine and Virginia Tech, it could turn deadly!
Any teacher/parent/coach/etc. who thinks "no student would want to violently retaliate against me" is delusional!
One way is to reduce the chance of that is to avoid the Jim Bolla tactics of insulting your students!
Show your students respect! If anything happens, address their behavior but don't use name-calling!
After all, part of your job is to help them become better human beings!
