Hello Vista Football Parents,
This letter is in response to the recent firing of Coach Huffman.
Reinstate Coach Huffman Petition
As many of you know Friday August 12th Coach Huffman was fired from the Head Coach position at Vista Ridge. A last minute text went out to parents Friday and Bruce Grose (Principal) and Bob Felice (superintendent ) were on hand at that meeting to answer questions related to this incident. I did attend this meeting and was very pleased to see the remaining coaching staff was there to support the players and program but was absolutely disappointed at the lack of information and answers provided by the administration regarding their decision to let Coach Huffman go.
I have since been reading the newspaper and listening to the news and learned that Vista Ridge administration's reason for terminating Coach Huffman "stems from a philosophical difference of opinion on how the program should run" (a direct quote from Saturday's Gazette). In my opinion this is absolutely appalling for the following reasons:
I am consistently and have been at practices that Huffman coaches since my son starting playing for him and have seen a pattern of genuine concern for the kids future both academically and athletically, he displays a genuine interest in the athletes he coaches, his meticulous attention for detail of play execution is an example of passions and pursuit of perfection that sets an example for our kids that will serve them for the rest of their lives, his commitment to the game and winning instills a characteristic of competitiveness that will serve our children all their lives, his involvement and commitment to the kids before they are even able to play for him at the High School level (as many of you know he is actively involved at the middle school level) shows our children that great things happen from long term commitment . I could go on and on but my point is, in the 3 years I have witnessed firsthand his "coaching philosophy" I believe it to be most beneficial to our athletes and exemplifies the characteristics of a "winning" program through hard work and dedication.
In complete contrast to the statements above I see nothing in Mr. Grose's and Mr. Felice's handling of this decision, responses and statements at the meeting as to why they terminated Coach Huffaman that instills any confidence in what their "philosophy" for our football program would be. Their decision seemed to me "very poorly thought through", they were inadequately prepared to answer questions about the future of the program, expected support from players and parents "as if by virtue of position only" they were "entitled" to that support. Further in their "press release" regarding this matter they offered the reasoning they stated "they have decided to take our student athletes in a different direction" but made no mention about what that direction would be and to the best of my knowledge with no regard from parents and students as to their thoughts on how the current program was running? My biggest concern for this, is the message it sends our athletes and students! They have taken a program that was headed by someone with a winning track record and a huge sense of pride in school and athletics and replaced it with "poorly planned and executed decision making, inadequate due diligence on long term planning, indifference and insensitivity to the student athletes that this decision affects the most and no plan they will stand behind publicly for the future of our children in this program.
Haven given this a day to assemble as many facts as possible and discuss with my child who wholeheartedly would like to see Huffman back as the Coach of Vista's football program. I have made my decision to do everything in my power to overturn this decision and hopefully in the process educate my child on the fact that injustices can be corrected and some things are worth fighting for.
This being said I am not absolutely sure the best way to go about reaching the people who can ultimately overturn this decision and would appreciate any information and assistance in what the best way to go about getting some "scrutiny" of this decision would be.
Finally I know that as much public support as possible is a good place to start and have listed some contacts and links below that I feel are a good place to start to get the ball rolling:
KKTV'S Newspaper Coverage and comment thread: online:
Vista Ridge Coach Reportedly Not Returning for Upcoming Season
Gazette Article and comments:
Huffman fired as Vista Ridge football coach on the eve of the season | vista, huffman, ridge - Gazette Preps
KRDO.Com news and comment:
Sources: Vista Ridge Football Coach Fired - News Story - KRDO Colorado Springs
D49.Org's Board Member Contact information link:
Meet Your Board
A petition to overturn Coach Huffman's Dismissal as head football coach:
Petition
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