Tag Archives: Amarillo volleyball

local news, Sports news

Cheers to this inductee

As the saying goes, what goes around comes around … or words to that effect.

It is with interest that I saw the name of Kori Cooper Clements on the list of the latest group of sports figures to be inducted into the Texas Panhandle Hall of Fame. Who is this person?

Well, she found herself in the midst of a tempest when she resigned after coaching for one year at Amarillo High School, citing interference and meddling from a school board trustee.  She accused the trustee of forcing her to quit because she — the coach — wasn’t giving the daughter of the trustee enough playing time for the Sandies.

The school board never owned up to the conduct of the trustee, who eventually resigned from the board and has moved on to — oh, I don’t know — somewhere else.

Clements was a standout volleyball player in high school and in college and surely deserves a spot in the Panhandle Sports HoF. She became coach of one of Texas’s premier high school volleyball programs.

I just had to recall the turmoil that surrounded her departure from what she described as a dream job.

Clements has ended up in the right place … for certain.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news, Sports news

Might the coach reconsider? Hmm?

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I’m going to throw a bit of blind speculation out there for you to ponder.

Kori Clements quit her post as Amarillo High School’s girls volleyball coach this week, citing harassment and hassling from the parent of one of her athletes. Clements said the parent was angry because Clements wasn’t giving her daughter enough playing time for the vaunted Sandies’ volleyball program.

Her resignation — after just one season as coach — has ignited a serious firestorm in the Amarillo school district athletic community . . . or so I have been led to believe.

The Amarillo school board of trustees is meeting Tuesday evening. You can bet your big ol’ four-wheel-drive pickup that Clements’ sudden and shocking resignation will be on the minds of what I suspect will be a large crowd of spectators crammed into the school board meeting room.

Is it possible that Clements could get some form of public apology from the school board, perhaps even from the offending parent? Maybe from the administration, which she accused of failing to give her proper backing?

If all that comes to pass, might the young coach reconsider her resignation?

Just thinking out loud, man.

local news, Sports news

Amarillo school board now faces community scrutiny

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We’re heading back to Amarillo early next week for a few days and I think I might take some time to attend an Amarillo Independent School District Board of Trustees meeting.

The board has some questions to answer regarding the sudden resignation of a young coach who quit her job after one season holding one of the more prestigious jobs in Texas high school athletics.

Kori Clements quit as Amarillo High’s girls volleyball coach. She didn’t offer a milquetoast “thank you for the opportunity” to coach one of the state’s top volleyball programs. Oh, no. She said she resigned because the Amarillo Independent School District administration did back her in the face of constant haranguing and harassment she was getting from a parent of the girls on her team.

What’s more, the nagging parent happens to be a key player in the AISD community. I have it on good authority who the offending parent is, but I will keep it to myself.

Clements is a 2006 Amarillo High grad, so she’s got plenty of history with the school system. She isn’t some interloper who landed the coaching gig without knowing the history behind the storied volleyball program. She is a protégé of Jan Barker, the retired AHS volleyball coach and a recent inductee into the Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame.

As I understand the situation, Clements — according to the parent — wasn’t giving the parent’s daughter sufficient playing time. The parent then decided to hassle the coach incessantly. Coach Clements sought redress from the administration, asking administrators to pull the parent off her case. AISD administrators failed to back their coach, according to Clements’ letter of resignation.

From what I also understand, the offending parent is in a position to make life seriously difficult for administrators who might intervene on the coach’s behalf.

So . . . with that, the AISD board will convene a meeting Monday night at the Rod Schroder Education Center. My strong hunch is that the meeting room will be full of spectators.

I hope I can find a chair if I’m able to attend. If not, well, I’ll just stand, watch and listen.