San Francisco - High School XC gets the boot

my 2c wrote:It is just a guy who is an on campus PE teacher that was approached and encouraged to replace Andy.

it is a guy who will not cooperate and include andy in any way, shape, or form in a team that he has developed since 1990.

This article looks different from the original one at the top...has more information.

Coach may lose job to PE teacher (4/05)

Written by Tony Dear

Thursday, 28 April 2005

A long-time coach is currently facing the possible loss of one of his positions because of the district teachers’ contract.

Coach Andy Leong, Class of ’80, who has been coaching cross-country for 15 years and track for 18 years, may not coach cross-country next fall because physical education teacher Michael Prutz has asked to take over his position.

Leong and the students supporting him say that Prutz has been pursuing the job for several weeks. Leong said that he offered Prutz an assistant coaching position last fall before he knew Prutz was interesting in his position. Prutz refused the offer. Leong said that after he knew that Prutz wanted the job he offered compromises to Prutz: splitting the team by gender and allowing each to coach a section. He also offered to spend a year training Prutz before leaving, Prutz was not interested, according to Leong.

Prutz said that he believes the change would be best for the students because an on-campus teacher is more beneficial for the athletes.

According to the Teacher Contract, Section 5.15, “the District shall not utilize non-bargaining unit teachers provided there are qualified, available and willing bargaining unit teachers to perform said functions.”

Despite the contract, many students are petitioning for Leong to stay as cross-country coach and threatening to leave the team if Prutz gets the position next year.

Until eight or nine years ago, Leong said that he was treated with status equal to faculty members, adding that he was allowed to take his teams on trips without an on-campus faculty member. But when another team was involved in a hazing incident, rules were changed so that Leong and other “walk-on coaches” would not have the same privileges as “on-campus” coaches. Leong said that safety had never been a problem for his team. “Nothing has ever happened on one of my trips,” he said.

Now, he has “the responsibility of a teacher, but not the same rights of a teacher,” he said, referring to the contract rules.

Leong has been cross-country coach since 1990, and has led the varsity girls’ team to 15 championships and the varsity boys’ teams to 13 championships. In addition, he has been the head track and field coach for 18 years, with 18 varsity girls’ championships, and 10 varsity boys’ championships.

Leong said that he rigorously trains his teams, starting cross-country practices in mid-August and ending with the state championships in November. After the Lowell teams end their training each day, Leong coaches at other schools too. He said that he can easily put in 85 hours in two weeks. “I don’t think that many people like myself put in as many hours as I do,” he said.

Leong said that the cross-country and track teams hold a special place in high school by giving students a sense of belonging. “Many people would say, ‘If it wasn’t for cross-country or track, I wouldn’t have a home at Lowell,’” he said. “People get lost without an outlet to call a home base. It’s grossly unfair that I don’t get to finish what I started. I’ve been there for the kids when teachers weren’t there for them.”

Leong said that some students come from schools in which physical education programs do not exist, and he says he works patiently with them to teach them the mechanics of running and teamwork.

Students said that he is a dedicated coach and important to the team. Leong “definitely is more than an experienced coach,” cross-country runner senior Jenny AuYeung said. “It’s like he pulled the team from ashes when they were small.”

Cross-country team member sophomore Jeena Arnold agreed. “Andy’s raised this team for so long,” she said. “We need someone (like him) to help us train. We need him.”

Cross-country team member freshman Sarah Gilchrist added that Leong is “the kind of guy that motivates the team.”

Many of Leong’s former runners have expressed their support for Leong. Class of ’02 alumnus Andy Herzfeld personally met with principal Paul Cheng to discuss the situation. “Andy’s been the coach here for so long,” Herzfeld said. “He’s built a hugely successful and popular program — the best in the city by far. He always pushes everyone to do the best they can and a little more.”

Class of ’04 alumnus assistant track coach Michael Speech said that Leong is “a good coach. He turned people who couldn’t run into good runners. I’ve known him since I was seven because he coached my aunt.”

Prutz, however, is taking the controversy calmly. “People are entitled to their own opinions,” he said. “They can say whatever they say; I wouldn’t care. I think that (Andy) has done a great job. It’s just that on-campus coaches are better for the team.”

Although students disagree, Cheng said that little can be done because the district contract has priority. However, Cheng has also said that he realizes that it is hard for people to accept this change.

“Change is hard,” he said. “There are certain things in life we may not agree with. (Students) will go through life and run into situations like this. But you have to consider all sides before jumping to conclusions,” he added.

woww wrote:

In 97 I think Lowell's best runner was something like a 4:35/10:10 2 miler no 800 meter runners no one that could even run a 51 sec 400 I just do not see how they were 5 in the nation in the DMR.

The nationally ranked DMR team was the girl's team, not the boy's team. And in case you get you facts mixed up again, that team was composed of a sub 4:54 miler, a 5:04 miler, a 2:22 800-runner and a 55 400-runner.

I still can not see how that would give the 5th best HS female DMR in the nation. The 800 is about 5 to 10 seconds too slow ,must have been a bad year for DMR's.

Aaaargh, touche!

I stand corrected: it should be "YourNameHere"-Excelsior ;)

I liked it when it was just Hoys. But then I liked when there was a Hoys, eh trackhead?

Sorry to divert a good thread. I know AC, but not AL. They both sound like chips off the old block and Mr Putz would have done well to study their work ethics prior to pulling rank... And props to Fanelli for (as always) telling it like it is!

AD

I had a situation where we had an off campus coach who was fantastic -- one of the best coaches I've ever known, and a couple on-campus odd balls who were interested in taking over. It never came to pass, but I can assure you that if I had faith and success with any off campu coach as I did mine, I wouldn't be around for someone who just took the job.

I once knew a off campus coach that was banging 2 girls on the HS team.

Think about this in the first story it said he was an accountant and a coach. In the second story Andy works all day and then spends 85 hrs a week coaching not just on Lowell's team but other schools as well. This a real case of obsessive behavior that someone needs to moderate even if he will not do it himself. This is true even if he is a good coach and a good person.

whats the school district or schools email so we can tell these bastards whats up?

that's 85 hours in TWO weeks. cant you read?

John Donohue is the athletic director at Lowell.

Here's his email

address--jdonohue19@netzero.com

This is googlable information,

http://www.cifsf.org/school.htm

Here's a directory of all admin people behind the public high school sports programs in the city.

http://www.cifsf.org/admin/staff.htm

I missed the two weeks part however it does not matter it it still strange.

hey

ddt wrote:

I missed the two weeks part however it does not matter it it still strange.

i find watching tv for 30-40 hours a week, like so many americans do, strange. if they all threw out their tvs and followed andy's example, the communities in which they live would be better places to live.

woww wrote:

I once knew a off campus coach that was banging 2 girls on the HS team.

I went to an ncs school and we had an on-campus coach who hooked up with a person on the team. Not only off-campus coaches are sketch balls.

woww wrote:

I still can not see how that would give the 5th best HS female DMR in the nation. The 800 is about 5 to 10 seconds too slow ,must have been a bad year for DMR's.

I did some reaserch. The team that year ran the DMR in 12:00min. If you looked at rankings for the past 10 years, that time puts them in the top 10 almost every year. So what if you think the 800 is too slow. They were ranked in the nation, probably a lot more than you have ever done in your running career. I bet you didn't even make it to the state level.

more anal maybe but I don't know about a better place. I kinda like it the way it is. There are problems, yes, but the solutions people pose are, in my view, worse than the problem.

Well If you know the time you know the meet. Where was it? That is a pretty fair time, hard to hit 12:00. Yes, I made state it was easy to back then. I don't think I could now, close but no. Unless I was in the SF section and then I would.