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ELKINS -- In response to concerns recently raised regarding participation in local athletics, the Elkins High School athletic director addressed the Randolph County Board of Education this week.
EHS athletic director Ross Ware told board members he believes the individuals who previously expressed concern are "creating a hostile environment," adding they should be "banned" from any Randolph County Schools property.
Chris Lee, Charles Conway and DeManuel Smith were the three individuals who spoke at a previous BOE meeting.
"What these citizens are doing is creating a hostile environment for both coaches and players," Ware told the board members this week. "While they are preaching community support, positivity, togetherness, working for the common goal, what they are actually doing is trying to drive a wedge in this community and create an atmosphere that no one -- players or coaches -- can succeed in.
"I believe that it is in the best interest of Elkins High School and the Elkins High School football coaching staff that these three individuals be banned from stepping foot on any Randolph County Schools property for 365 days."
Ware noted administrators at EHS have not been contacted by any of the three individuals regarding their concerns, adding school officials only heard of these concerns after the three men approached the Board of Education.
Ware said EHS is "not alone" in low athletic participation numbers.
He provided an outline of statistics, including the number of male athletes that participated in fall sports -- 35 in football, 13 in cross country, five in golf and 17 in soccer, noting two of these individuals were multi-sport athletes.
Ware said he believes the three individuals' comments were pointed directly at the EHS football program, noting he evaluates all of the school's coaches and will defend each of them.
"As an athletic director, I will defend my coaches," Ware said. "There is nobody out there who is perfect, everyone always has room for improvement -- even the football coaches. As the athletic director at Elkins High School, this board and the EHS administration has trusted me with making athletic decisions and also trusted me with evaluating all of our coaches."
Ware said the football staff holds weekly meetings, travels to watch opponents on off weeks, creates tendency sheets and play sheets to prepare for upcoming games, provides food to players before and after practice during regular season and off season and collects gear and uniforms for cleaning.
"We have a young staff, with our current oldest coach being in his late 30s to early 40s. ... The hours and hours of work and time put into this team (despite) being some of the lowest paid coaches in the state," he said. "They are doing it for the right reasons. They are not looking to get out of coaching after the good teams or players are done. They are sticking it out through the peaks and valleys of coaching."
During the Feb. 4 meeting, Conway expressed the willingness of himself, Lee and Smith to work with county officials to find avenues and resources to ensure students and student-athletes can thrive.
Ware responded by stating there have been numerous coach openings at EHS, including six football assistant positions, and the three individuals have not applied for those positions.
However, Lee responded in an interview with The Inter-Mountain, noting the trio are actively involved in the community and serve as youth coaches and mentors for youth programs -- including football, basketball, baseball and other activities.
A prepared statement from Lee, Conway and Smith reads "Mr. Ware's comments at the board meeting bring to light the negative aspects of EHS sports that we were trying to address to begin with. We hope he will reconsider his recommendation to ban us from attending games to enjoy watching our own children and the many current Tigers that we have previously coached play the sports that they love – all because we expressed legitimate concerns in a positive manner."
Amanda Smith, the BOE president, said Ware's comments and time spent preparing his statement filled with statistics were appreciated.
"I appreciate Mr. Ware's remarks during the public comment period of the meeting," she said. "It is evident that he spent much time researching the subject. We welcome the opportunity to hear from the community at the beginning of each of our board of education meetings."
• Also during the meeting:
The board met in executive session regarding personnel matters for approximately 20 minutes. While Smith noted no decisions were made during executive session, the resignation of the following individuals were accepted by the board:
Matthew Taylor, English/public relations teacher at EHS; Donna Auvil, substitute cook and substitute aide; Lora Wilson, substitute cook and substitute aide; John Yoakum, bus operator; and Beth Brenwalt, head cheer coach for Elkins Middle School.
In addition, Rachel Anger, board vice president, recused herself from voting on the employment of Eric Anger, volunteer baseball coach for EHS. This proposal was approved by the remaining four board members.
The next regular board meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on March 3.