It's time for parents to butt out

It's the one word that drives coaches crazy. Causes a coach to make decisions that aren't best for his team.
    It's the one word that can make a coach fear for his job.
    It's the one word that coaches, at certain times, abhor.
    That word? Parents.
    I'm going to make a disclaimer before I move on. This column will bristle. It will ruffle feathers and it will make people angry. It will do all of these things because it's the dirty little truth in high school sports that is finally being brought to the light, if only in this space.
    And it also doesn't apply to everyone. For all of the parents of kids on high school teams that stay in the background, come to the games to dutifully cheer, raise money, let the coaches do their jobs, offer parental advice and encouragement, sacrifice time and work hard to make schedules mesh, this column isn't meant for you.
    But for the parents who try to do the jobs of coaches for them, who make their displeasure known when little Johnny's not getting the playing time you think he deserves, these words are aimed squarely at you. For the parents who meddle in affairs and try to turn high school sports into a political battleground, keep reading.
    And finally, for whomever went to the Jordan School District in an attempt to get Alta baseball coach Barry Harrington canned, you should be ashamed of yourself. For the school board officials who never spoke to Harrington but made the knee-jerk reaction to call Alta with the intent to force Harrington to step down, shame on you. And then there's the Alta principal, who passed the school board's buck and informed Harrington that he was to resign. He never stood up for a man who has been a huge part of the school by coaching two sports and teaching.
    By the time his principal tried to make amends, Harrington already had told his team that he was stepping down and he had obtained the services of an attorney.
    And for what? Because of things that happened in the past? Because of issues that were solved more than a year ago? If Harrington wasn't fired then, it certainly shouldn't have been a question now, especially with Alta in the middle of a race to secure the Region 2 championship.
    But it was. And it was because there were people out there who didn't like Harrington personally and who knew that a trip to the district would get him fired. And the scary part is, it almost happened. Harrington's situation sums up everything that's wrong with high school sports. Coaches know going in that a failure to win probably will get them fired. It shouldn't, because at the high school level, you aren't always going to have talent unless you recruit. But it is that way and coaches know it, so they adjust.
    But the X-factor is parental pressure. It should never be there, but it is. And because it is, it's driven many out of the business.
    "We, as coaches, become coaches because we want to teach young men and women life lessons," said James Cordova, who coaches football at Judge Memorial. "But parents keep jumping in, honestly, where they don't belong."
    I'm not naive, and neither are coaches. This is a problem that won't soon go away because parents are passionate about their children. And that's alright, as long as that passion doesn't hinder a coach and his ability to do his or her job. But I take issue when people like Harrington, who had 30 or 40 parents come to his aid, are hung out to dry at the behest of a few who clearly have ulterior agendas.
    Harrington, incidentally, now has his job beyond this season if he wants it. And he won't talk publicly about the issue, saying he simply wants to coach his players and nothing more. That's an admirable position to take. And it took a lot of class to not sound off when the tape recorders were rolling.
    Now, if only he's not forced to constantly worry about the security of his job.
    tjones@sltrib.com