The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Immoral behavior reinforces trust’s importance
Trust is non-negotiable in any aspect of life.
Particularly in the context of high school coaches who influence our youth, though, it is a mortal lock and can never be bartered.
When the line is crossed and that trust is violated, it should bring universal condemnation.
But it should also yield a broader discussion to reinforce why trust matters.
This has been a sad month for Northeast Ohio high school swimming, as two of its more prominent coaches — one from Canton McKinley and the other from North Canton Hoover — face charges for inappropriate conduct with teenage athletes.
The former pleaded guilty Aug. 14. The latter was arrested a week prior.
Given the severity and seriousness of the charges, their alleged actions shouldn’t be repeated — nor should their names in this space, for that matter.
As a father, every time I hear these stories — year after year — all I want to do is punch every inanimate object in sight.
At least that way, outrage is channeled in a more useful way while the proper authorities do their due diligence and the guilty are punished to the fullest extent of the law. Forget wins and losses. Forget state titles.
Forget — for a moment — the rewards of success, aspiring for the next level and the invaluable life lessons taught through high school sports.
There should be no more fundamental and vital element with coaches — for parents, athletes, schools and communities — than trust.
Trust is an accumulation of respect, goodwill and good deeds strived for and earned throughout your life.
It’s not about intimidation. It’s not about manipulation. It’s not about the fake and flawed.
It’s about people who have an inherent responsibility to show the right way to those under their guidance and never let them forget they have value.
Every day, there are tens of thousands of coaches across all sports — a vast majority — who are upstanding people, who understand and embrace their roles and refuse to allow a day to go by without putting it on display.
They may not be compensated well or told it enough, but their eye for the big picture and the next generation’s benefit is masterful and appreciated.
In contrast, there may be just a few who don’t have that ability and capitalize on their responsibility in unspeakable terms.
But when it comes to light, regardless of how forcefully those people and behavior are disavowed, it is inevitably and unfortunately a plight on all of us.
Because trust is an expectation — and a right.
It should go without saying, when a parent drops off their child to a practice or sporting event, they can rest assured they are putting their children in the care of someone who won’t let them down or disappoint them.
It should go without saying a teenager, while they are trying to figure out the order of the world themselves, will have someone regularly looking out for their best interest.
Now, to be clear, sometimes that concept of trust is misused to include issues and disagreements centered around athletic competition and philosophy to a point at which coaches are not allowed to do their job. Sometimes, it’s justified. Most times, it’s not. I know any time I hear a soccer parent during a match calling out tactics to their child that are clearly not in line with the tactics the coach wants employed, it’s tempting to walk over and place a washcloth in their mouth to stop that tendency.
On the most basic issue, however, of whether or not you can trust a coach as a decent human being, there is no wavering.
Administrators who look across and see a prospective coaching candidate and have the slightest doubt over whether they can be trusted should — and do — act on that instinct to not have them fill a vacancy.
Sadly, some slip through the cracks no matter the safeguard — as we have been reminded this month — and it takes time for abhorrent action to emerge.
But every time it does, we must do better.
We must ensure the people who don’t deserve that trust never have influence over our youth again.
We must listen more intently to athletes when they express concern, as they show character and acknowledge difference between right and wrong.
And we must ensure the countless coaches who are trustworthy and are in it for the right reasons are celebrated more often for their tireless and far too often thankless work.
If that seems like a negotiable point to someone, you should get up and walk away from the table.