The last few seasons has been a great time to be a fan of the Lafayette Commodores.
The football team won its first state championship under Anthony Hart, the cross country teams finished high at the state meet under Mississippi Association Coach of the Year Ben Mikell, the girls basketball program has reached the state tournament under coach Amy Sutton, the girls track team finished second this year at the MHSAA state meet under the guidance of Sutton and Mikell, the tennis team earned its first individual state title winners, while other sports have performed at a high level.The program’s success was rewarded with the coveted All-Sports award, the school’s first, given annually by the MHSAA for 2009-2010 school year. In short, the vast majority of the athletic programs have performed at a high level.
But after sitting through Wednesday’s public hearing regarding the fate of former LHS girls fastpitch softball coach Cay Papagolos, it was hard to think about the good times and the accolades the teams have garnered most recently.
Instead of taking some much needed time off to gear up for another successful year, coaches from various sports were called as witnesses to testify in the hearing about Papagolos and whether she should be reinstated as the team’s coach.
Several things were made public about the situation and the decision made by LHS Athletics Director Jeff Nelson to reassign her from her duties. Questions about coaching supplements and equal treatment were broached, including how coaches communicate and work with one another on a daily basis. The information was vast and deep, and sadly, so unnecessary to have to listen to and learn about.
For a school district that has done so well on the field and the courts, issues such as sharing athletes and equal pay and the inability for the administration to get things resolved in an efficient manner is troubling and embarrassing.
All of the issues regarding athletes that play multiple sports and how coaches train and practice them seem minor and easily fixable, yet they have resulted in a coach fighting for her career and reputation and in the process, involved other coaches and the district in litigation that is likely only getting started.
For someone who makes his living covering the Commodores, and other programs in the area, the inability to deal with all of the issues currently on the table doesn’t make sense. It’s hard to believe that this situation couldn’t have been avoided for everyone involved, especially considering how successful the athletes have performed under these coaches direction.
What Wednesday’s testimony shows everyone in the community is change has to occur moving forward. There needs to be more checks and balances implemented from the administration and policies that are not currently in place, have to be made. In short, a crystal clear way of accommodating the coaches, players and those that help support the two has to be drawn up and then properly administered.
An athletic handbook, similar to the ones that are in place at other school districts, would be a great start to getting these type of issues resolved before potential litigation occurs. Constant work with the coaches who need help has to be encouraged rather than marginal dialogue and the assumption things will work themselves out.
Corporations that are successful, really successful, have structure and rules and procedures in place to make sure their businesses stay viable. The best sports franchises have strong structure at the top, as do the best college programs that always compete for conference and national titles.
Coaches need help
Coaches, at any school district, in any state, need help and guidance and more than anything else, they need support. The athletes they coach need the same set of standards and both have to work well together if success is going to be sustained long term rather than just on a short-term basis. Any team can win for a couple of years, but a successful team becomes a program when it does it year after year after year after year.
Lafayette has had success, that’s clear, but will it last like those currently in charge think it will or hope it will? Wednesday’s hearing has shown that it likely won’t if more steps aren’t taken to make sure everyone is on the same page and that all sports are being taken care of properly. A lack of support, whether intentional or not, spreads and causes poor motivation down the road. I know, I’ve seen it happen before at other places.
The most important thing we have to remember is that coaches have to be put in a successful situation so they can make the athletes successful. Wins and losses were talked about in high regard by Nelson on Wednesday, but there is more to sports than just that. Making the athlete a better person and better prepared for life outside of high school is just as important. So is the promotion of athletic scholarships for future schooling. Neither of those topics were touted during the testimony and that was disappointing.
Our coaches here at Lafayette and at Oxford and at Water Valley are doing their best to make sure all of those things, and more, are accomplished. But they need constant help. They need the proper budget and facilities and direction and policies in place to get things done. There job is already too demanding, too tough to meet higher standards with the proper structure in place let alone when other obstacles are put in their way as well.
No high school coach will ever have to worry about how well I think they are doing in regards to wins and losses if I know they are getting the most out of their players and making them productive people once they graduate.
Sports is a reflection of the way we live as a society and the dedication one has to put in to be great is what they have to get used to once they leave and find themselves in the real world. This time is valuable to their long-term success and the template that the coaches provide often make a difference. But only if they can get some help along the way from those that employ them and those that help pay their bills. That means all of us, that means everyone who follows them, now and in the future.
­–johndavis@oxfordeagle.com (June 3, 2011, Page 7A)

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