Parents not happy about playing time

[38_Jack]

Re: Parents not happy about playing time

Our kids went to Deubrook and we know Tim Trooien all to well.  He is an embarassment to himself and his family.  His own brothers refuse to talk or associate with him and there are not very many in the community who do.  Darwin Hofer is a good man and has the team playing well.  In fact the team is so upset they are on a mission to prove the few and the obstinent wrong.  They beat Colman-Egan 102 to 60 Saturday night.  The best thing that could happen is that he open enrolls his kids somewhere else but I don't know why anyone the would want him.  Deubrook is a good school system that is getting a bad image to the outside world.  Our kids got a good education there, did well in college and are doing well in their chosen careers.  If you have five seniors, four of which start and the fifth is the sixth man and they are all pretty good how could you expect your sophomore son to get a lot of playing time and he would have to be better which he is not.  This is a small group of less than 20 people who think they are the only one with any wisdom.  This thing is not over and the other side may have the last laugh,  which we all will enjoy.  Our own daughter's degree would have allowed her to teach business in high school but chose not to because of some of these very things.  To bad isn't it.  I will quite although I have just begun.   > >  
 

[Haldersham]

Re: Parents not happy about playing time

38 Jack:

The Brookings Register is getting tight fisted so either you spend 56 bucks for the electronic subscription, or you get nothing via the internet in terms of news. The point that was brought out in the Register's print article was the fact that Darwin Hofer was tenured apparently under state statute. If the board had failed to renew his contract for this year, the Duebrook School board could very well have had a law suit from Darwin for being dismissed without cause.
I dont know Mr. Hofer personally but have a few friends who do. They have told me he is a good person, and has been a very good teacher and who knows he might be a Norman Dale of a coach( Hoosiers reference). The point is these parents don't seem realize what they are doing to their school district financially as I heard that the district has already incurred substantial legal fees defending this action. An action that makes no sense at least to me. If the school board had not renewed the contract, there could have been a bigger cost to the district in a likely legal action by Mr. Hofer. I dont know anything about tenure, but if its on the books, the school board apparently did follow procedures.

I am thankful I own no real property in the Duebrook district. This would not be a way I would like to see my tax money spent. Education? Yes, no offense JackJD, but Legal fees? No. I have found the legal profession to be very helpful when needed, and wow, education money is being wasted on questioning a coach. How dumb.

I am old enough to remember when Duebrook was three schools, the White Wildcats, the Toronto Vikings and the Astoria Comets. White has some good teams as I recall.  Those were the days

[38_Jack]

Re: Parents not happy about playing time

The dumb part about all of this is the district has had to spend all this money because of one individual who is all about me and not what is best for the district.  He does not care about anyone else except for his own selfish interests. This is a good school district and a good place to live. Deubrook has this small group of individuals and Brookings has those who thought they had a better idea than the Council did on a RR crossing agreement with DM&E. Deubrook's bill may be small compared to what it could cost the residents of Brookings because of the defeat of the Council's agreement. Deubrook School District might be a cheaper place to live than Brookings. Time will tell.

[JackJD]

Re: Parents not happy about playing time

I wonder what the district has spent so far.  That likely is a matter of public records...with a few exceptions, the school district's legal expenses are public information.  

It is possible for a judge to allow a party to recover attorneys fees if the judge determines the other party's actions were meritless.

Sad to see events like this because they can tear a community up.  On the other hand, if the complainant doesn't have any supporters, it can bring a community together.  Deubrook has a very good reputation and I doubt this will hurt it in the long run.

[Haldersham]

Re: Parents not happy about playing time

The dumb part about all of this is the district has had to spend all this money because of one individual who is all about me and not what is best for the district.  He does not care about anyone else except for his own selfish interests.  This is a good school district and a good place to live.  Deubrook has this small group of individuals and Brookings has those who thought they had a better idea than the Council did on a RR crossing agreement with DM&E.  Deubrook's bill may be small compared to what it could cost the residents of Brookings because of the defeat of the Council's agreement.  Deubrook School District might be a cheaper place to live than Brookings.  Time will tell.

I was not being critical of Duebrook specifically, but more of how our education system is financed in South Dakota, mostly with property taxes, and what affect it has on smaller schools. No doubt Duebrook is a fine school system, but its probably was on a very tight budget to begin with and to have disruptions like this one which involve the necessary need to seek legal advice by the board is not a good thing no matter how you look at it. I agree its like you have said an individual or individuals acting in self intrest and not in the interest of students its suppose to educate. The students are getting robbed here and for what? Playing time issue? Its nuts.

Yes its might be a cheaper place to live in the Duebrook district than in Brookings for which I dont live. I have lived in Arlington only one year and I would hate to see something similar happen in this district. I dont know what my property tax bill will be yet, as assessments occur each Nov and when I purchased a new constructed home the assessment was based on a basement being dug as of Nov 1, 2004 and nothing else. The full assessment will occur with this tax year so, I expect a considerable bump over last year. Yes we have a new school and a fine one, but there just is no room for these issues.

The point about costs of the DM & E is well taken. I have tried to follow that issue and find it over my head. No doubt its going to be costly before all is said and done.
Good luck to Duebrook and I hope your team keeps on winning.

[38_Jack]

Re: Parents not happy about playing time

The idea of the district being able to recover their costs is an interesting one. I have been told about what it has cost the district but am not at liberty to say. It has brought the rest of the district together. The coaching and teaching community has rallied around Darwin and that is good to see. I had a mild mannered dad in the district get very upset about all of this and really vented to me. The community has had about enough of this so some things may happen. Time will tell. Darwin told me that the team is really ticked off and is playing with a chip at this time. Colman-Egan found out Saturday night (102-60). I have had two sons play at Deubrook and it is not easy if they do not play a lot, but they got a good education and had good years in Deubrook. This to will pass.

[rabbitcoach]

Re: Parents not happy about playing time

As a former player of Darwin (Will never give him the satisfaction of being called "Coach&quot Hofer you all should know there is alot more to this story other then playing time for Mr. Trooiens kid. In fact he started his campaign against Hofer long before he had any kids in High School and frankly hiring Hofer with his past resume over the other 2 finalists for the position in 1996 was beyond everyones belief! None of you should be posting on this unless you've been involved in the situation!

Heres the 3 finalists:
Coach Norberg (current coach at Chester): he took chester to a State B championship as well as a State A championship all within 7yrs I believe. So that raises the question of the talent he had right? Wrong!! If you know the history of Chester they have always been a football school and he turned a program with LITTLE talent into a basketball powerhouse!! Enough said about that finalist!

Coach Shane Warwick: do any of you know Adam Morrison? Yeah, Warwick was his personal coach leading up to the 2006 NBA draft! WOW, did Deubrook miss one there!!! I do have to admit that Warwick had some off the court issues while coaching COLLEGE, but what a resume! Check out his bio at this link-- http://www.warwickworkouts.com/bio.aspx

And last but not least Finalist number 3 yours truely DARWIN HOFER: Heres his resume in a very very long extended version-- Coached Waverly High School---Never made it out of their District!!! I know, short huh???

So, that sums up on where the first mistake took place, THE HIRING of an unaccomplished "Coach" for a highly talented Basketball program for many years.

Now that we got the fact that he should never coached a game in Deubrook history out of the way lets focus on the present!

The issue that has been brought up at almost every board meeting in probably the last 5 years has been the COACHING ABILITY of Hofer. In his first 3 seasons he had teams that should have went to the State Tournament and in one case was picked to win the TITLE hands down! He couldn't coach his teams, with talent, over the hurdle. Since then they have moved to a tougher conference so you have parents who take basketball very seriously, (remember, this is a town where basketball is a tradition, kids dream of playing in the state tournament in 2nd & 3rd grade) asking how are we ever going to get better? Being a player under Hofer I can attest to the fact that his coaching skills lack termendously! In one district game a couple of years ago he let 2 guards go 3-32 from the 3pt. line. Sorry everyone, but thats a coaching problem. No coach allows that to happen! He has no drive at making players better. And in fact he has not once, not twice but on numerous occasions has answered the parents concerns by saying "I've never had a losing season"!

Come on people, being cocky about never having a losing season says nothing about a coach, especially in a traditionally basketball rich program. Talent will always win games, coaching will bring the talent together and win the big games!!!

Deubrook parents want a coach that will push kids to be better then they already are. They don't want someone who is happy with mediocre results. In 97' when his team was predicted to win it all he was HAPPY because in his eyes it was a GREAT season. Losing in the region game and not even making it to the tournament is nowhere close to a GREAT season. This has now trickled down to 10 years later! At my job, and i'm assuming all of the jobs all of you hold, I am EXPECTED to go above and beyond. I would never dream of walking up to my boss and say 'Well, I did ok', or 'I did as good as I needed to'. I would be fired immediately! In this case his boss is the parents and he hasn't said that once, nor twice, but for 10 SEASONS. Its time for a change, unless Deubrook is happy with MEDIOCRACY!

And the last point that the media has left out of the story. The DEUBROOK AREA SCHOOL BOARD ****BIG POINT, READ CAREFULLY**** made the choice to NOT renew his contract due to not performing to standards. This decision was overturned after "CHARACTER" accounts by members of the community that don't even attend games.

No one has ever accused Hofer of a bad CHARACTER, they are upset about his coaching ability! So for the school board to reinstate him based on character had nothing to do with their original REASON for dismissal!

*****Can you imagine working next to someone at your job who works half-A**, gets let go for not working to their potential and the next week is hired back to work right next to you?

Changes your opinion huh??

[1stRowFANatic]

Re: Parents not happy about playing time

Nope.

[EQguy]

Re: Parents not happy about playing time

ditto on the nope

[BTownJack]

Re: Parents not happy about playing time

You say that Adam Morrison worked out with Shane Warwick before the NBA draft yet Morrison is not listed on the website as an NBA Client???

[rabbitcoach]

Re: Parents not happy about playing time

BT, you don't see the adam morrison picture working with Warwick??? You all need to check yourselves!

[rabbitcoach]

Re: Parents not happy about playing time

Again, if you didn't know the 3 finalists prior to my entry then you don't know enough about the issue to be posting your opinion. I may listen to your opinion if anyone of you have ever played for Hofer in the past!

[BTownJack]

Re: Parents not happy about playing time

BT, you don't see the adam morrison picture working with Warwick???  You all need to check yourselves!

No, I really don't.

[rabbitcoach]

Re: Parents not happy about playing time

go to www.warwickworkouts.com....first picture on the left should be of him and morrison, if not wait for it to come up....btw, morrison or not aren't the other names enough?

[jacksfaninne]

Re: Parents not happy about playing time

Changes your opinion huh??

Actually, your post (and subsequent posts) pretty much cements my opinion -- and I don't think you'd like it.