WINFIELD, W.Va. -- Cancellation of the Poca High School girls basketball season due to a lack of players proved to be a contentious issue at the Putnam County Board of Education meeting Tuesday night.
Half the speakers asked the board to consider replacing veteran head coach Rudy Raynes, while the other half praised him.
Detractors said Raynes was the reason players quit the team and blamed him for the season's cancellation. Many said players would return if a new coach were hired.
Tammy Chapman said her daughter "felt like she didn't belong [on the team]," and that Raynes favored the more experienced players.
Adrian Cunningham, a senior player for the Dots, said many players felt "scared" of Raynes' tough coaching methods.
"A lot of people thought we were practicing too hard," she said.
Other speakers defended the coach, who has more than 35 years of experience. Kenisha Sprouse, one of Raynes' former players, said the coach was the best she ever had.
"He never picked favorites," she said. "He pushed us because he knew how good we could be."
The team was down to five players at practice last week, assistant coach Rudi Raynes-Kidder, the coach's daughter, said Monday. Despite the low number, Raynes-Kidder said the team was ready to battle on.
"There's a lot of bitterness and hurt -- we're hurt, too," she said after the meeting.
Raynes-Kidder said some girls left the team to concentrate on other sports and because of injuries.
After the meeting, Superintendent Chuck Hatfield said canceling Poca's season was the school's decision.
"The board hasn't taken any action and won't. It's a school decision," he said.
WINFIELD, W.Va. -- Cancellation of the Poca High School girls basketball season due to a lack of players proved to be a contentious issue at the Putnam County Board of Education meeting Tuesday night.
Half the speakers asked the board to consider replacing veteran head coach Rudy Raynes, while the other half praised him.
Detractors said Raynes was the reason players quit the team and blamed him for the season's cancellation. Many said players would return if a new coach were hired.
Tammy Chapman said her daughter "felt like she didn't belong [on the team]," and that Raynes favored the more experienced players.
Adrian Cunningham, a senior player for the Dots, said many players felt "scared" of Raynes' tough coaching methods.
"A lot of people thought we were practicing too hard," she said.
Other speakers defended the coach, who has more than 35 years of experience. Kenisha Sprouse, one of Raynes' former players, said the coach was the best she ever had.
"He never picked favorites," she said. "He pushed us because he knew how good we could be."
The team was down to five players at practice last week, assistant coach Rudi Raynes-Kidder, the coach's daughter, said Monday. Despite the low number, Raynes-Kidder said the team was ready to battle on.
"There's a lot of bitterness and hurt -- we're hurt, too," she said after the meeting.
Raynes-Kidder said some girls left the team to concentrate on other sports and because of injuries.
After the meeting, Superintendent Chuck Hatfield said canceling Poca's season was the school's decision.
"The board hasn't taken any action and won't. It's a school decision," he said.
The Dots were 0-3 thus far, with losses to Scott, Buffalo and Nitro.
Also at the meeting, board members learned their plan to make Buffalo High School high-tech will be recommended for approval by the state's innovation zone committee.
Schools that the state Department of Education approve as innovation zones receive waivers to state policy, which lets them try out new, research-based strategies in an effort to improve student learning.
Putnam school board members have asked the state for $100,000 a year to allow the new Buffalo High School, which is slated to open in the fall of 2012, to be made into an innovation zone.
Reach Kate White at kate.wh...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1723.
