bb

I don't think so. I have been summoned to the GEHS Vice Principal's office. see below
Be aware that many of the statements are flat out false.


Will,

You are receiving this email from me (Athletic Director and Associate Principal of Gardner Edgerton High School), because I am disappointed in how your have directed your comments, interjected your opinion, etc. in a manner and a scene that we were not going to respond to. I purposefully and directly informed our tournament management not to respond to your calls, texts, email and other "blog" postings. We will take the high road here and not comment in these public formats. Your doing so is a disappointment. For several reasons I made this directive to our personnel. First you are not a coach or administrator for St James Academy. Second we were in the middle of setting up a tournament and that is not the time for my staff to take the time to respond (and now that we are finished here is my response). Thirdly, this should go through the proper channels. I would have taken a call or email (and so would my staff) from Coach Medina, Mark Huppe, or any other administrative team member from St. James.

Why, you may ask? Because you as a parent (which is your role in this instance) are not included in all of the communication that is ongoing in regards to us setting this tournament up. In fact, many of the claims you make below are misleading and you are not fully enveloped within that communication format. All 16 coaches were fully aware and as a collective group supportive of the seeding committee. We had in place a format for coaches to make change requests prior to the tournament start. The criteria was specifically laid out. Your opinion on how we set up the criteria and manage the tournament is not relevant. Again, this is done with communication via our tournament management and with the teams we have involved.

I completely understand that you are friends or acquaintances of Matt Yeamans and Richard Fergola. Your texts, voicemail, blog postings, etc. were ill timed and were not suited for a response by my staff as we prepared to run a tournament. Lastly, your misguided delusion that this is personal, is more of an attack on myself and Gardner Edgerton High School. If you for one minute believe that we would host an event for KIDS and purposely inflict personal vendettas you are sorely mistaken.

We will as normal reflect upon OUR tournament and how we run it for the kids and teams involved. If you would like input I would suggest you do so via Coach Medina or Mark Huppe. I can tell you that if you were a parent in the Gardner Edgerton High School scene and I discovered that you were making comments to these affects and contacting another schools tournament management you would be in my office and we would be discussing this personally. In this instance you are not and I will leave my only communication with you as this email and copy the appropriate St James personnel that I have full respect for. I will also give St James administration a personal call so that they too know that the conduct of one St James' parent was viewed as unprofessional and irresponsible.

In regards to you communicating further with Matt Yeamans, Richard Fergola, or any other tournament staff member of the Gardner Edgerton Wresting Invitational Tournament please know that they will not respond to you in reference to our wrestling tournament.
In regards to your "Wrestling Forum" public posts below, it is certainly not within the frame work that I believe helps our sports and our kids. Unprofessional. Definitely not congruent with the standards of the KSHSAA (of which both St James and Gardner Edgerton are members) or the NFHS (of which this was a sanctioned event that I personally processed). In fact, page 49 of the KSHSAA manual states ALL ACTIONS are to be FOR, NOT AGAINST, POSITIVE, NOT NEGATIVE or DISRESPECTFUL! And it also states that one should "Exercise self-control and reflect positively upon yourself, team and school." I believe that your comments do not meet those standards.

Lastly, of the 16 teams we had involved in this tournament (representing 5 states) you are the only negative connotation that I have found. We received many great comments and will solicit our returning teams for THEIR suggestions. I am not interested in yours, primarily because of your unprofessional blog posts and personal opinions that do not reflect the collective voice of those associated with OUR tournament. If you feel you need a voice you could certainly discuss with your own schools coaching staff and/or administration. There are other ways of handling concerns and would expect that you do so appropriately in the future.