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Schools

High School Coaching Surveys Causes a Stir

Some districts use them, but most schools, like Marple Newtown, do not.

It’s been a point of contention and serious dialogue in Havertown since the unforeseen firing of ’s long-time two weeks ago. It seems to have caught on like wildfire throughout locker rooms and playing fields this spring from athletes, teachers, school administrators and parents throughout the area.

The point of alarm is anonymous coach surveys, which only Haverford and Penncrest distribute among the Central League schools to their student/athletes and allow parents to access online. Though both schools implement an anonymous survey policy, it hasn’t led to anything as drastic at Penncrest as it seemingly has in Haverford, which has stirred a great cause of debate throughout the area.

Some blame the Haverford survey for the firing of Jorge Severini, who was asked to resign on Dec. 21 and finally was dismissed after 22 years as the Fords’ head soccer coach. Then on Friday, April 1, McNichol was fired after refusing to resign.

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“You have a lot of people looking over their shoulders at Haverford these days,” said a source close to the situation. “The coaches there can’t speak up in fear of being fired, and with these coaches surveys being put out, you have high school coaches that for the most part are forced to coach scared. What happens when a kid does something wrong, gets benched and refuses accountability? You don’t think that won’t come out on the survey?”

Anyone can access the Haverford survey and submit it online, and that’s where the gaping difference is between what Haverford is doing and what other school districts are doing across the region. The survey came into existence at Haverford last year and is open to be filled out at the end of the season. It’s been at Penncrest for three years.

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Haverford athletic director Joann Patterson and the Haverford School District have stated that they do not discuss their policies nor personnel matters publicly and have repeatedly opted not to respond to interview requests.

Other school districts don’t seem to mind being open about their practices, especially when it comes to surveys.

Marple Newtown doesn’t have surveys, but athletic director Dennis Reardon said the school district is considering using them next season. For Reardon and Marple Newtown Principal Ray McFall, they want a keener sense of what they can do better. They feel surveys are an avenue to explore.

“We want to use it as an instructional tool,” said Reardon, who is in his fourth year as athletic director and also serves as Marple Newtown’s assistant principal. “I’m certain that it’s tough coaching today. Coaches, I truly believe, have the best interest of the kids at heart. So many things make it difficult for what is best for a program.

“And you’re dealing with a different type of parent today. All parents have the belief that their child has the ability to succeed. That places a coach in a tough spot, with two weeks to evaluate a kid and a kid maybe has a bad two weeks. A coach has a short window to see that. I’m blessed with our coaching staff that look at themselves and work on improving.”

Reardon, however, made an emphatic point: The surveys available in Marple Newtown will not be anonymous.

“We won’t accept anonymous surveys,” Reardon said. “We want people to give us constructive criticism and attach their names to the surveys. We won’t accept nor consider anonymous surveys. If their name is attached to it, it makes them think more about what they’re putting down. We’re constantly trying to improve what we do. We want the feedback, but we won’t tolerate personal attacks, and how our coaches can improve.”

Surveys can be a positive. One example, Reardon cited, came from an athletic director of a neighboring school. A survey was distributed and a parent suggested a better way a coach could communicate with his players about scheduling practices. When the athletic director broached the idea to the coach, the coach admitted the parent was correct and made a change.

At Harriton, athletic director Tom Ferguson opts not to use surveys.

“We don't use surveys in the Lower Merion School District,” he said. “If someone has something to say, my office is always open, and I believe in letting my coaches know where they stand. I don't believe in surveys. We have a great group of coaches that I have trust in, and if a parent has an issue, we can sit down and discuss it. An anonymous survey can open the door to trouble and accusations. I believe in handling things in person, face-to-face.”

At Penncrest, athletic director Chip Olinger puts the survey out in midseason and they’re only available online for a week, so if parents want to make any suggestions, those suggestions could be implemented while the respective sport is still being played.

Olinger doesn’t want the survey to be used as a venting tool for the usual backlash that comes after a season is complete. That’s why it’s done in the middle of the season.

The Penncrest and Haverford surveys basically contain multiple-choice questions about a coach’s organizational skills, knowledge of the sport they coach, professionalism and ability to communicate with the players and their parents. The responses are gauged by very satisfied, satisfied, neutral, dissatisfied and very dissatisfied. There is an open-ended area at the bottom that addresses the strengths of a program and what could be done to make the program better.

None of this will get Terry McNichol his position back at Haverford, but it may force other school districts to rethink the practice of anonymous coaching surveys.

“I still had to come in last August and respond to the first survey they did at Haverford,” McNichol said. “I thought it was kind of dumb. How do you evaluate a coach off a blind survey? Someone can say anything, and who do you believe? My son went to Haverford, and if they had the surveys available then, I wouldn’t have filled one out. I have a lot of respect for the other coaches at Haverford. They don’t have a bad one there.

“The only ones who fill them out have an ax to grind. I’m a face-to-face guy, always have been. It’s just a sad thing, though, about coaching today. The kids haven’t changed. They’re still the same. They want to learn, and they want to play. Parents are very different. The biggest difference is that even if a kid is wrong, say they’re late for practice, a parent will argue and get on the coach about it. Kids today still want discipline and still want to play hard. I had good kids at Haverford—I always did.”

McNichol acknowledged the good parents there, too. Bobbi Morgan, the mother of Fords’ starter Patrick Morgan, has a unique perspective on it all. A 1981 Haverford graduate, Morgan, then Bobbi Cabrey, was a three-sport star at Haverford who went on to play basketball at Richmond. She later came back to coach at her alma mater, producing amazing results, with nine 20-win seasons and seven state playoff appearances at Haverford.

Morgan knows what it’s like as a parent and as a coach.

“It’s really sad what’s happened here, because Terry McNichol wasn’t only a good basketball coach--he’s an even better person,” Morgan said. “I got the letter like so many other parents did about the survey. I didn’t fill it out. I thought it was just a bad idea. If I have something negative to say to another human being, I’m going to say it to them. Not fill out some blind survey.

“I’m from this area, I live in this area, I love it here. I know the intention behind the survey, and the people behind it are essentially good and meant it to be good, but look what’s it done. I could fill out this survey as a parent upset over my son’s playing time, while my son is enamored with the coach, and still throw the coach under the bus. These surveys have no validity. They should rethink this. Leave the evaluation to athletic directors and caring, thoughtful administrators, instead of having them evaluated by blind surveys. It’s taken someone like Terry McNichol, someone who’s passionate about coaching, and loved coaching in his hometown area, away. I find it funny that less people get angry and loud when they have to put their face or name on something.”

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