A threat of litigation forced the Castro Valley High to fire two assistant coaches, have an “ombudsman” attend practice, and allow a six-person committee including parents choose a starting line-up for the girls’ basketball team.

Attorney Andrew Sweet, who is speaking for the parents, said the program was out of control last year. “These kids were coming home from practices and leaving games crying,” Sweet says.

Sweet admitted that Nibarger wasn’t screaming at the players, playing favorites or subjecting them to physical abuse. It was more a matter of “communication” and “utter vindictiveness.” That sounded pretty vague, so Sweet went back to the parents and came up with some specific allegations.

Sweet says Nibarger once threw the girls out of the gym when a practice was not going well. (The parents’ group says it was 45 minutes early; Nibarger says it was “10 to 15.”) She didn’t attend picture day. (Neither do other Castro Valley coaches.) She cut the playing time of anyone who complained about her coaching decisions. (She’s proud of her record of playing 9 to 10 players a game.) Once, Sweet says, Nibarger was in a restaurant, saw the players and left without saying anything. (She says she wanted to respect the privacy of what appeared to be a players-only meeting.)

A local judge whose daughter is a senior on the team is thought to be spearheading the protests, though Sweet denies this. (C.W. Nevius, “Parents vs. coach: Battle goes wild”, San Francisco Chronicle, Oct. 22; Deadspin blog (h/t B.C.)).

Filed under: schools