As basketball season ends, and Big Park Community School faces closure, I want to say that, regardless of the personal feelings rival parents, coaches and even game officials hold, the achievements of kids at schools such as Big Park, Camp Verde Middle and Clarkdale-Jerome schools have always been my sole focus as sports reporter.
Nowhere else offers such coverage. But after the Coyotes’ regular-season boys basketball finale in Clarkdale was canceled Jan. 26, the personal feelings have threatened to overwhelm the achievements.
Clarkdale-Jerome was unable to find officials “willing to ref in a potentially hostile environment,” athletic director Lynda Chavez said. “Some Clarkdale parents and staff are quite upset after the disorderly conduct charge against [Big Park’s] B team coach.”
I haven’t covered it because, beyond the above quote and a confirmation from Big Park athletic director Diana Morison, nobody has been willing to go on record about it. Nevertheless, the police report of the charge has been published as well as broadcast on local radio.
The Coyotes would return to play all their postseason games at Clarkdale-Jerome minus the coach, a parent volunteer assistant currently banned from that campus as a result of the charge, which stems from his alleged behavior toward a game official at a Clarkdale holiday tournament Dec. 12.
Instead of apologies, forgiveness or even public acknowledgment of the issue — and I have spoken with all directly involved parties — there has been nothing but off-the-record blame game. Not just of the coach or the official but of Chavez, other parents and even the police.
All that did was detract from the boys team’s final loss, 34-33, in overtime Jan. 30 to Mountain View Prep. This time, the clock operator was blamed for not starting it on time with three seconds to play in regulation.
I would much rather be giving unbeaten teams such as the Big Park girls and boys B team, or the second-place, 14-3 CVMS girls, the recognition they deserve.
Instead, with the notable exception of Coyotes head girls basketball coach Kirk Westervelt, my phone calls, texts and other requests for scores and highlights from these teams have repeatedly gone unanswered.
“There’s a lot of negative stuff that’s going on, but our community, and our school system, should be proud of these girls — and this Big Park program,” Westervelt said. “Great basketball players, but even better kids.”
Girls so special, they had Morison in tears after their win over CVMS for their fifth straight postseason championship.
Still, through no fault of their own, more than 30 fifth- through eighth-graders couldn’t play what may turn out to be, for many of them, their last basketball game.
Whatever ends up happening to Big Park games after this spring, they should never again be sacrificed to petty personal issues between adults — grown-ups who should know better.
