Lone Peak coach Mike La Hargoue’s abrupt resignation from both his coaching positions last week has brought parental involvement – some would say interference – back to the forefront of the conversation in local prep sports circles.
I wrote in my Friday story that La Hargoue essentially resigned for family reasons, which he did. The article also noted that there had been some complaints from parents.
There was, in fact, a phone call made to the Herald news desk suggesting that there might be some criminal actions involved. As we would in any similar situation, the story was assigned to the police beat reporter, Jim Dalrymple, to check it out.
When he found out there was absolutely nothing to that allegation, the assignment was then sent on to the sports department.
As noted in the story I wrote, both the school principal and Alpine School District officials found not only nothing criminal, but not even any impropriety, in the coach’s actions.
Dalrymple forwarded to me the notes from his conversation with ASD spokesperson Rhonda Bromley. Here are a few of the comments she made.
She noted that whenever anyone comes forward with questions or concerns about a coach, the administration has the responsibility to follow through with that. They did so in this case, and they have done so in the past.
“In athletics there can be controversy from parents about who plays,” Bromley said. “As long as (Mike’s) been in coaching, he has dealt with that. As an administrator, you hire a coach to make those kinds of decisions. There are different philosophies about it.”
However, she went on, “He has seen his success. He has proven that he has been a great coach.”
I’ll add that La Hargoue is one of the most respected coaches in the state as well, with not only titles to his credit in both girls soccer and baseball, but an impeccable reputation too.
I’ve known the man for 17 years and coached against him also, so I can speak from my own personal experiences that he’s earned both his success and his high regard in athletic circles.
Bromley continued, “There were some concerns that his coaching may have been harsh when it came to the language or those types of things. On the other hand, there are people saying just the opposite.
“Coaching styles are different when it comes to what motivates kids,” she said. “Different coaches are different. The bottom line is, he’s put in many, many years and has been very, very successful.
“We’re just really appreciative of the service he’s done. Coaching takes a lot of time,” Bromley said. And, I might add, the pitiable compensation local coaches receive often boils down to pennies on the hour.
“Very seldom will you see a coach that someone’s not saying ‘why is he doing this?’” she concluded. “I think the fact that he’s still there teaching tells you all you need to know.”
It does, because in today’s point-the-finger world, if La Hargoue had done anything even remotely suspicious that could be proven, he would likely have lost his teaching job along with his coaching positions.
But he wasn’t fired. He chose to step away to devote more time to his family, which also means he’ll relieve himself, at least for the time being, from the endless parental whining which goes along with being a high school coach.
Honestly, the way some people act, administrators are lucky to find anyone who will coach – or referee – their children.
And that’s too bad, because most often, it’s the athletes – those same children – who come out on the short end of the equation when even the very best coaches and officials get fed up and call it quits.
Beky Beaton can be reached at .
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