Three parents of Bayfield High School girls basketball players lambasted the coach's treatment of players and her coaching ability to the school board on April 26. They don't want her coaching next season.
They said they have gone through normal channels with their complaints and that Coach Lana Killough penalized their daughters for it. Girls are being driven off the team, they said.
"My daughter went from being the top shooter to not getting the ball," Stephanie Florian told the board, adding that oaches demean and embarrass the girls on the court. "My daughter is talking about leaving the community because of basketball," Florian said. "Other communities are interested in our girls, and they are ready to go. They don't want to deal with Lana as a coach."
She said Killough benched girls for shooting three pointers or doing bounce passes.
Ryan Florian continued, "We don't feel she is qualified. We feel she is coaching at an elementary school or parks and rec level. She said no three pointers or bounce passes. They lost by an average 30 points a game to kids doing those things. ... She didn't know when to call time out. She doesn't have a defense or offense. The girls deserve more, someone who knows what they are doing."
He asserted that Killough has played favorites with one girl and set up a summer basketball camp focused on that girl's position. She expects all the other players to attend.
Tracie Baker said her daughter has played basketball since whe was five. She has had to work back from a knee injury. Killough told her she was playing at a mid school level. "I called Lana, and she demeaned me," Baker said. "She takes it out on the girls when we say something. We were born and raised here. My daughter is ready to go to another school for her senior year. ... Her grades dropped. She was crying every night. Mid-way through the basketball season, players were ready for track. They were ready to walk off."
Killough says things to the girls that are "just plain mean," she said.
Stephanie Florian said the coach claims to control whether girls can go to college and play basketball. "Our daughter is punished when we talk to the coach or (Activities Director) Rob Dean. She gets less playing time" and the one favored girl gets more. She said the coach screamed at her daughter with a finger in her face. "When Rob was at the game, (the coach) was on good behavior, but it was different in the locker room."
One of the moms said around seven girls told her they can't approach the coach. "That's why girls walked."
Ryan Florian said, "The girls program could have another 12 or 13 girls with a different coach." He said one girl was bullied by an assistant coach. "It's not about having a tough coach. Coaches should be tough. But respect has to be earned. You can't just demand it."
Superintendent Troy Zabel said he couldn't comment on the parents' complaints until he meets with Dean and the BHS principal.
"It's a difficult situation," he said.
Killough said she didn't know what the parents said at the meeting, so she did not want to comment. She did say she is looking forward to an improving season for the team next year.
