And everyone says.........

that coaching at Pound is not the problem, if its not the problem then why are so many kids transfering? Dakota is going to Pv and Chris Strouth was considering going to kelly but changed his mind. Pound has already lost a few to letcher county and also lost a 7th grader andrew sargent to norton and 8th grader tre mullins to pv. And all transferred because of the sports programs at pound. Thats not to mention how many kids no longer play any sports at pound when they reach high school. Now tell me again that coaching is not the problem!!!!!!!!!!

Its pretty simple in most cases, the players not gettin what they want. Kids being coached by parents or close friends of parents, those kids go into programs where the goal is not to play or satisfy a parent, rather than play the better players, adhere to their programs standards and guidelines. The Letcher transfers are pretty much a direct link to the reasoning listed above, I heard that the Strougth kid had contemplated leaving due to his loyalty to Jason Mullins, you know the whole parents wanting to "run him off". But that pretty much would answer your question.

They often think "Ill go elsewhere" well they will find the pettyness (sp) for the reasons most leave will be tolerated evenless. The ones going to larger school often do not realize when they leave, they become a number at another school, if you do not perform they will just replace you.

I don't know any folks from up that way, but maybe, it's not about the coaching but it is because of some changing priorities. I am an old timer and I remember when you "had" to play football for GC. It was the "rule". If you didn't play GC football you were a big nobody. But things and times change. Kids today have more opportunities to do many different things. Things that were not available to those of us who went to school in the 70's. The guys that did transfer obviously put a high value to sports. That's good. But that doesn't mean that everyone else who doesn't value sports the way others do are wrong either.
I don't know the specific situation with coaching at Pound. But I know what I see happening at other schools and my guess is that the same thing is happening at Pound.

Sounds like a bunch of quitters to me who don't have the heart, dedication, devotion, or discipline to work through the hard problems.

You may have a very good point, it could be the coaching.

Of course, it could also be the issue that quite a few addressed previously. A few have been painted with a superstar brush at an early level and if they don't end up that way, they think its someone keeping them down.

Truthfully I think the problem is more early than late.

You can run gimmick plays at lower levels when the rest are teaching basics and win. Some will play where it helps the team the most, some want to be the star and won't play where it helps the rest. I guess if the kids want to go somewhere else we will see if the parents that complain so much can do anything with the other programs. Look out Phil, you may be next. [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Cantrell MOVED to Big Stone

his family moved

well is he going to be playing there??

Yes

bingo..

I have been told that one of- if not the- main reasons the move took place was the coaching situation. There seems to be widespread discontent amongst both the players and parents with some of the coaches. Jason Mullins is personally popular- but there is no question difficulties exist with some other coaches.

I personally have talked with Dakota's parents and the coaching at Pound is not the reason for the move at all. Doors have opened for them to buy a home and his dad has work there as well. There are several reasons for the move, but I guarantee it is not over the coaching at Pound.
I was told that Dakota had no say in the move, it was what is best for the family as a whole.

Best of luck to Dakota with the Vikings, he is a great athlete and will do well with the team. Pound has small numbers as it is and to lose one of their best players is not good for us.

I have to correct you on the comment about Tre' Mullins transferring because of "bad coaching" or whatever. I think that's kinda funny considering his coach has been his Dad up until this point. Since baseball was his only sport last year it is most definetly not a factor in the decision to move him to another school. The new varsity basball coach is his cousin's husband who he thinks alot of. Tre' didn't play football or basketball so not any problem with coaching there either. I know because I'm his mother. The real reason we decided to sell our home and look for another school was Tre's sister was being harrassed by a so called volunteer at the school. Administration last year pretty much told us nothing could be done about it until they saw her being harmed physically. That was not the chance we wanted to take and got real tired of her coming home crying over a gutless person who had nothing better to do but pick on a child. At first his sister was going to go to another school and Tre' was going to stay at Pound. When the same volunteer started harrasing him the last weeks of school he changed his mind. I think it's real sad that the situation couldn't be resolved and we weren't helped any more than what we were. Restraining orders, court appearances, nothing would stop this person from tormenting our family. Some might think this is too much information, and to be honest we have been embarrassed by the whole thing but anyone who knows me knows I would step in front of a moving train for my children. Leaving our home has been one of the scariest things we have ever done, and it would have never happened if it weren't for this miserable situation. The coaching might be a problem for some but it was not a problem for us or the reason we left. We wish Tre's former playmates and everyone at Pound the best. The people at P.V. have been very welcoming and my kids are happy just because they can go to class and not have to worry about someone coming in and out of their classes and waiting for us in the parking lot trying to start something. Those who know Tre' know he loves baseball so much he has always been willing to play with whoever and wear what ever colors as long as he got to play. My prayer for Tre' is that he stays healthy and is able to play the sport he loves so well as long as he wants. if he excels than that is just a bonus. I also would like to address the comment that was made to my husband about our move. Someone asked him if we thought "Tre' was too good to play with the boys in Pound". There is some awesome talent left at Pound, alot of players who are as good or better than Tre' and I don't consider my children to be better than anyone else and I am proud of them no matter what, but I do feel every child deserves to be in an atmosphere where they can feel safe and happy. That is what we hoped to achieve with our move. Being a Powell Valley Viking has been nothing but a positive experience for him and his sister. But I think my kids were ready to go anywhere but where they were being harrassed. Again, I wish everyone in "the Pound" the best.

My son has never acted like he didn't get what he wants. He has played whereever he was told or where noone else wanted to play because his Dad was the coach. His Dad was alot harder on him than he was the other players. We always had to listen to comments being made right where we could hear them that the only reason Tre' was pitching or starting because his Dad was the coach. I'm so glad that we don't have to hear that anymore and that Tre' will have the opportunity to excel or fail based on his talent or lack thereof and drive and not because he's the "coaches son". What my kids wanted was to not be harrassed by one person who wouldn't leave them alone, that's what they wanted. As far as I know the person who caused them so much trouble is still there "camping out at the school". We also realize Tre' might sit on the bench and never get to play at a larger school, but that was the chance we were willing to take. We even considered staying in Pound and homeschooling, the situation was so bad with the volunteer at school, but we realized Tre' not having sports would be like asking him to cut off his right arm. Again, our move had nothing to do with the coaching at Pound. I would have loved for him to have had the opportunity to play the only sport he plays for Chris Wilson.

why choose pv for baseball???

If you're asking me, as I have already mentioned in my prior post, we moved because of a situation occurring in the school. We sold our house and found another in BSG, we didn't care where we went as long as it was away from the person harrassing our children. We considered Wise and the Christian school but they weren't far enough away from the problem and we found a house in BSG we liked, it was also closer to work. Tre' will actually be playing for the travel ball team, the Rockhounds. A program we didn't even know existed until moving. It was suggested he try out for that and he took a chance and made it. That's what he will be doing this year...

Thanks for the information and sorry about the situation that helped contribute to the move.

Welcome to Big Stone Gap.

Seems to me that something more harsh could be done with this person than just a restraining order. One question though, if a restraining order is in effect, then wouldn't this person be violating it by even being at the school and be arrested?

We got tired of going to court to keep them in affect. In my opinion, restraining orders are not much good. With a restraining order you have to stay within a certain distance or you yourself will violate it. It was more of a hassel to deal with the courts. Long story...We just got tired of fighting and dealing with it so we decided rather than have to keep seeing this person everywhere we went we would put some distance between us. It wasn't just at school that we had problems with them. I did think about getting a new restraining order but this person has the school convinced they have to stay there every day all day because their child needs them there. We are not the only people who had problems with them over the years and we fully expected to get some support because the person is a known trouble maker, but it just wasn't there. They just acted like there was nothing they could do. Everyone knew there was a problem but they didn't want to deal with it.

Thank you, our lives have been so much simpler. We really didn't know what to expect but it has been a wonderful experience so far. The teachers, students and parents have been a class act and not only accepted us into their community, have made us feel like family. I don't think we could have found a better place to make a new start. It has really surprised me how not just the students my children's age have ust acted thrilled to have them there but even the high school kids have taken them under their wing. We're very happy here...

Thank you, I just felt it necessary to clear things up a little. I understand some people have a problem and don't see eye to eye with the coaching or other issues, issues I'm not even sure about, but I wanted everyone to know since Tre's name was pulled into the mix that that was not the case. I can see it if he had played football, basketball, not just baseball. Like I said, my first cousin's husband is Chris Wilson, the new baseball coach. I babysit their 2 year old, we are a very close family. Coaching would have not been a problem for us. It honestly did not factor in. We have no hard feelings toward any aspect of the sports program at Pound, I wish only the best for the program that my husband excelled in and I was a cheerleader for when we were in school and we have many good memories of those years. We always thought our children would continue the tradition, we didn't think we'd ever want to leave.

Well, I am glad you decided to move here, I have been here since 1992 when I got out of the Army and we love the area. BTW, I went to school in Appy and you know how hard of a transition that was for me.

Thanks for the support...like I said, nothing but positive for us so far.