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granny (Anonymous) says…

your so called foot ball camp is a big joke. parents had to pay all that money so you coach's could get them out of craig and work them to death. Half of those boys came home hurt and broken, you could have saved all that money for the parents and done the same thing here with the boys? Why would any of them boys want to go through that again

irishbrat (Anonymous) says…

In regards to the Wyoming football camp, I know of many boys that did come back injured, some pretty seriously. Yes, the parents paid $250 per kid for these kids to attend this camp and we had to provide their transportation. Football is rough and not for the wimpy kids I agree but this camp was so hard on some of these kids that I know several that have either quit football because of it or they want to quit but their parents won't let them. These kids went there, some totally out of shape and were worked pretty hard. It was our coaching staff working with these kids mostly the whole time, so yes-why couldn't they do that at home and saved parents the entry fee and gas money. It breaks my heart because I see one boy that loved the game of football; was good at it and now he does not want to play. Not so much because of what happened at Wyoming but because when he wanted to consult in his coach-or any of the coaches for that matter, he was pretty much ignored. At this point he has no trust in or respect for the coaches. These are kids-not pro's or college age, just high school kids. Way to break one kids spirit coaches.

granny (Anonymous) says…

i have hear many similiar things regarding this from several parents-thanks for making this much clearer. It's pretty sad that the coaches could not have been more supportive or encouraging of the kid that you know rather than ignoring him. How many other kids are they not listening to? Aren't coaches supposed to be role models and somebody a kid looks up to?? In my day coaches had more influence with kids than some of the teachers even did.

lgmillernl (Anonymous) says…

I can sympathize with the cost of sending your kids to athletic camps and such….I have done it for several sports and provided alot of transportation, and I dont regret one penny of it. Having said that I dont judge anyone as a parent because I dont like it done to me, but I can tell you in my experience it comes down to how much do they want it. You are always going to meet coaches who someone is not going to like…kinda like life, there are always going to be people you dont like, ….I always told my kid you dont have to go out, but you cannot quit…….period. That is just me….and I dont judge anyone else parenting is tough but I just think that it is sad for any kid to not do something they love…..if they quit over a coach..it is even more sad…I am very thankful to say my kid stuck it out and although they didnt always agree and neither did we….we adapted so they could do the things that the kid loved….after all most dont go past high school and I ten times over would rather have them busy in something than busy looking for something to do. If only life were always fair……..unfortunately sports is just the tip of iceberg for life lesson….life is not always fair….or so I have learned.

GNARLY77 (Anonymous) says…

Then somneone step up n setup a parents meeting i mean only 4 seniors going out senior year when as freshman they had 45!! out tells something right there… they dont wanna play fer haffey including my son but he loves the game so what is he spose to do ? quit ? n ruing chance getting scholarship? i dont think soo.

AltitudeAdjustment (Anonymous) says…

Uhh it's called f o o t b a l l. It's hard, painful, challenging, rough, and at times dangerous. If some kids quite that is life. We can't make the game easy just so a few more boys will play. Those that stick it out have a greater sense of accomplishment and brotherhood with the men that stuck it out with them. The challenge of any coach and any boy that goes out for football is to give it 100% so they can be the best they can be. No it isn't the pros, but if I am on the line, regardless of whether it is in a game of football or in the game of life, I want to know that the guy next to me or the one covering my hind end isn't a quiter and is willing to go the extra mile. Those boys who don't give a 100% during practice and the game are likely to get either themselves or someone else hurt. I am sorry that the camp wasn't a bed of roses. Football is a rough game, which is why most girls don't play it.

silentman (Anonymous) says…

GNARLY77 has hit it right on the head! Why is it that at the Jr. High level we have LOTS of kids out for sports, beat the dickens out of everyone and then at the High School level we can't hardly field a team. I recall watching the last football game last year and we had 21 young men suited up. That is just unacceptable. I have watched the interaction between coaches and players and am dismayed at how poor of a relationship there is. Watching coaches berating players on the sidelines is pure crap! I personally know of three players who quit last year because of the coaches. Not because they weren't tough and not because they didn't love the game but because of the coaches. Face it, Moffat County football will never flourish under Hafey and his staff. It's well past time for a change. But, you have to wonder, with the influence the Hafey family has over Moffat County athletics, will it ever happen. I'll take the under.

buck523 (Anonymous) says…

The reason the middle schools beat all the teams is because they are playing hayden, meeker, rangely, soroco and they usually split with steamboat. When the teams get to high school they play much tougher competition.

lgmillernl (Anonymous) says…

I agree altitude….you got to stick it out!! It is tough, its a tough game and sometimes you just have to dig in and do it!

Craig_gal (Anonymous) says…

what??? Give me a break!! Its a tough game, it builds character, you don't want a quitter backing you up, and lets not forget your quote “greater sense of accomplishment and brotherhood” so I guess those kids that don't play or those “children” that take a stance against a coach have no character? what about the other message you put in there for all those that choose not to play. silentman said there were only 21 children out there last year, so that makes quite a number of boys that can not measure up to a “challenge” or go the “extra mile”. Stop with the excuses and realize football is not about the coach or about the school it is about each and every child out there making a team-Every child.

irishbrat (Anonymous) says…

Well let me first off say that the kid in which i'm reffering to in my earlier post was 6'0 and 200 lbs as an 8th grader. He is by no means a wimp. He is the toughest 14 year old boy I've ever seen. He's had to assume the roles of his dad around the house-everything from cutting all the firewood to the little stuff. Last summer he was running a bobcat moving granite around..not tough but very skillful for his age. He rides moto-cross every chance he can get and I believe that takes more skill & strength than football has ever taken on him. The problem is not how tough he is mentally or physically as he was one of the biggest kids on the team- he plows them kids down like a freight train and as far as mentally-we just won't go there. The problem is the coaching staff and that is and was the only problem. This kid in which I'm speaking about is my kid and I'm not going to make him do something he has no heart in. If my parents had made me do a sport that I didn't want to do, I would have despised them the whole time. He acts far older than most his peers and has always made wise choices. Making a child play a sport is nothing more than some jerk parent trying to re-live the life they couldn't.

irishbrat (Anonymous) says…

Taking a stance against a coach in this town—that's a joke. If you are not the child of a teacher or some big name in this town, the coaches treat you like crap and they sideline you. I've seen it so much, I've been in those bleachers at every game. It's a friggin popularity contest with the coaches here. Small town BS…it never leaves.

GNARLY77 (Anonymous) says…

IF we played hayden last year they woulda beat our bulldogs football team easily Hafey has been outcoached since he came here as a coach. and far as his assistants,,, i know fer a fact they radio down plays they think will work n what does hafey do? Ignore his coaches up in the box and runs the same play 4 times in a row!! fer total of 6 yrds

we need a coach that knows the game , not get his stragegy off ps2 & ps3 video game you think im lying? ask any player junior & senior level they will tell you but in hafeys words.. it worked in the ps2 game hafeys dreaming hes coaching pros & trying to run his practices ect like if there pros instead teaching fundamentals n making it funnn for the kids outta the 41 kids that arnt playing as seniors 60% of there reason is its not fun anymore others is better assistant coaches then the head coach hands down!!! but yeah as to the one that said hafeys foothold in moffat county sports ….. lotta politics in our high school athletics and has been for yrs guess there scared to change it & make it better but bright side is least we got a new Athletic Director … Someone set up a meeting with new athletic director n ill be there ( the football kids were thinking of having a sit in to try n get rid of hafey) but were told hes under contract nothing can be done … :-(

AltitudeAdjustment (Anonymous) says…

I am going to have to sorta disagree…. A kid who truly loves the game is going to play inspite of a bad coach. All of us have had bad coaches in our life. It is amazing how the coach gets worse the better we think we are though. We all think our kid is the next Jordon, the next Sweetness, the next Tiger Woods. Saddly few of our children are ever going to be good enough even to play in college, let alone the pros. The best we can ever really hope for is that our kids learn to rise above adversity and learn what it take to become a champion, regardless of whether or not they have a trophy to prove it. That much being said, Yes, I believe Craig could probably use some new blodd, if for nothing else, to mix things up a bit. But it's easy to blame the coach when a kid doesn't have a lot of stick to it. It's great to see a kid stay with it even when the coach is poor. I know a kid who had to endure politics the likes of which few have ever seen. Going from almost being cut to leading his team and the leauge in scoring he had to do it in spite of his coach. This is just a small example of what this kid had to endure daily in basketball for three years. The coach's son and him got into a fight during practice the night before their last regular season game. The coach sidelined this kid for the first half of the last game as his punishment. HIs sone got to start however, because the coach was “disciplining his own son “at home.” Just so happens that this kid and the coach's son were with in a couple points of each other as the two leading scorers on the team. So who was going to lead the team in scoring this year? By sidling this kid for the first half of the last game the coach figured his son would be the teams leading scorer for the season. When this kid came in at half-time he uncorked for 34 points in single half of boys highschool varsity basketball. This kid played for his team, his school, and himself. The coach was an idiot. HIs son was an idiot. This team and school had more politics and drama than you could begin to imagine, but this kid played anyways. He had little talent, few skills, and was by no means fit the typical mold of an athlete, but no one worked harder at the game of basketball. He went on to play three years of basketball in college and lead his league in scoring at that level. NOT because he was particular great at the game, but because he gave it 100% everytime he stepped on that court regardless of whether he had a coach tha matched his level of passion and understanding of the game.

Lets face it, it's easy to blame the coach. It's easy to blame your boss. It's always easy to blame the other guy. Teach your kids to excell in the face of poor leadership not blame it for their failures.

irishbrat (Anonymous) says…

My kids are learning to excel in the face of poor leadership everyday. I won't say anything further than that but-they have to do it every single day.

lgmillernl (Anonymous) says…

I would never make my kid play a sport or do any extra curricular activity they didnt really want to do…..my kid however loved the sport more than enough to let anything make him quit…..I am very proud of him because if you start in high school quitting things you dont like, it could be a long life for you. Not going out I think is different, your not quitting or not to me. I think every sport has some kid dis satisfied with a coach…no one can please everyone and I do think the coaches have made some bad decisions but ultimately my son chose to play and play at his best ability to spite everything else….I chose to back him and support him. What else can you do….my heart goes out to all the kids struggling but all I can say is suck it up and do it in spite of them.

granny (Anonymous) says…

thankyou irish brat, it took more strengh to say enough , you are above the worst coaches in this country. These are kids, go live out your dream through your own son if he even talk's to you. Yes life is hard enough, then through in a jerk coach that these boys can't even go to with problems, The what is a coach? sure has changed in the last few years. Gnarley you are so right about that coach. Hey, mabe parents should ask the boys how they feel! all high school boys, why some play and some don't. I feel sorry for the boys that the parents make them play, that's so sad for them boys, I hope when they grow up they won't do that to their kids, And i'm sure they will have more respect for their child, because they went through it as a kid! Listen to your kid they really to have a brain and can think for them self's. Please show a just a little respect for them. You will get so much respect back. In a few years are you going to tell them what job they have to take, let them be a person, not your shadow what you should have done as a kid! good job boys who used your own voice and said no, I have more respect for you.

50cal (Anonymous) says…

I wouldn't let my kid play for a jackass coach who tore him down instead of build him up. Kip was supposed to be the star when he was playing here and that went no where. It is a name game in craig always has been. what about showing leadership instead of playing to someones ego?

granny (Anonymous) says…

thank you 50 cal, I bet you are a great parent. I know everyone respects your comments on this forum, as I do.

50cal (Anonymous) says…

got em raised granny now I am their friend. went to elkhead this last weekend and fished for all we were worth. Huge amount of pike in there. Thats living!

granny (Anonymous) says…

You bring tears to this granny. Thats the only way to live.

50cal (Anonymous) says…

no tears granny, I learned alot from something called boot camp. There you get tore down and then built back up. everyone gets built back up. They don't care about your name. Thats where this little community gets it wrong. They bring in a jock from here who is part of the name establishment and continue the tradition of tearing the boys down. unfortunately they forget to bring the boys along that love the game but don't have the name. seen it myself. Parents all I can say is that you have to be the builder of your childs ego when a coach fails. If the child doesn't want to continue with that sport select another. keep them active and remember to tell them there is life after high school.

granny (Anonymous) says…

I don't know you, but you are very wise. Your grandkids i'm sure are very proud of you as so many are for your comments. They should run your comments on the frount page of the paper for the coaches to read if they can read, they could learn a lot.

50cal (Anonymous) says…

I'm not part of the click around town here granny, so that won't happen maybe with pat on the representitive board I can influance him a little or maybe next time I will throw my name in there. Ive got alot on my plate right now but who knows someday maybe I will take you and yours fishing.as for grandkids well only one so far (parents are talking but I told them that wasn't how it was done) and he is the apple of my eye.

lonelyone (Anonymous) says…

Doesn't anyone remember Yester?? He coached the same way. I personally thought Kip would do better, but from the sounds of it, he hasn't. As parents we've got to keep telling our kids they are somebody. That way if the coach tears them down, they will know in their hearts that he or she is wrong. If a child is really unhappy playing in a sport where the coach never has anytihng good to say, it's ok for them to quit. Life is full of enough garbage to have to deal with that kind of thing too. But if you start to see a pattern of them always quiting then something needs to be done. That's where the parenting comes in. They have to be taught that life is not always fair and you can't always be the star of the game, so to speak. As parents we always try to make the road of life easier for our kids, but we have to teach then that there are plenty of speed bumps along the way too and they need to deal with them as best they can.
I understand many of the things each of you have talked about. Sometimes it's just as tough to be the parent as it is to be the kid. And I think Granny and 50call are right when they say it's so much easier to be the grandparent!!! lol

focus152 (Anonymous) says…

Wow are some people misinformed and misinforming others. My son attended the Wyoming Camp and thought is was great.. Let me mention that he is not a starter, nor a Hafey. I could care less what the coaches names are, yet I do care about how my son is treated - and he was treated with respect and positively because he is already looking forward to the next years camp as well as the football season. My son did say that camp was hard for all the teams and only one player left the camp - and it wasn't because of an injury, it was because he was sick. I would also like to say that Coach Hafey is nothing like Coach Yester, I know this because my cousin played for Coach Yester. I have talked to several people and they have nothing but positive remarks about Coach Hafey and his staff. They say that MCHS football staff is dedicated, respectful, and motivating on and off the field. In case you do not know Coach Hafey and his staff put such an emphasis on academics that the MCHS football team has won the Academic State Championship twice - as mentioned in the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News. I also know for a fact that these coaches put in countless hours - unpaid - as demonstrated this summer. The weight room is open three days a week, and not one week has been missed. And now, the coaches are going to have two weeks of camp, unpaid, free for our kids. Yet none of these coaches are paid a dime for this, they do it for the kids. This is the unselfish type of people we need. We should be giving these coaches a pat on the back or an encouraging word, not tearing them down. I commend all the football coaches and other coaches at the High School and Junior High.

lonelyone (Anonymous) says…

just goes to show there are two sides to every story.
When my kids were in school some parents thought Yester was a great coach. Some didn't.
I'm not saying Kip is a bad coach. My kids went to school with him and his wife and they've always been nice people to me. I thought he'd be a better coach, but you just never know.
It's the same thing with the teachers too. Some teachers are liked by everyone but that one or two students and no matter what you say, the parents of the unhappy student will never believe the teacher may really be a good one.

granny (Anonymous) says…

focus, I don't know who you talked to but the kid who left camp was not sick, his legs were so chapped they were bleeding from the pants he wore, When he went to the coach, all he could say was You just have to toughen up. Did you talk to the boy with the lips blown up from the sun with nothing to drink. Did you talk to the kid who cryed when the one boy went home cause he couldn't. Maybe your boy liked it but if you talked to all of them Most did'nt. And want to quit!

irishbrat (Anonymous) says…

Okay, let me smooth the playing field. Some kids had a great time at the camp and others didn't. Some kids like the coaches and others don't. That's great for the kids that do; I hope we have a great winning team for Moffat County this year. I know that the kid did go home sick but yes he was toughing it out with the leg problem- he had pneumonia. I know from the parent's mouth that when he was on the other end of the phone and the kid was trying to talk to the coach-he would not, and I mean would not listen to him. It was not coach Hafey, it was a different coach. The coach ignored him-period. When this kid wanted to talk to the coach they were off playing tennis and not supervising these kids very well. They were late to several practices. The kid lost faith in football and doesn't want to play-not a big deal. I think this is getting blown out of proportion. I thought the teachers/staff/coaches all get paid yearly with contracts. So are they really doing it for free?? The coaches were driving a Moffat County School District vehicle at the camp.