As a 28-year former coach with a record of 505-176, I was very disappointed to hear of the dismissal of coach Chris Drenning as the Bishop Guilfoyle boys basketball coach.

I am not a diehard BG fan but a concerned citizen about how politics can affect negative outcomes of an athletic program.

I think the disgruntled parents of the entitled athletes had so much clout that the BG administration and board sank to such a low level as to let a winning coach go just because their sons were not getting enough playing time.

Drenning, like me, always strove to put the players on the court that were most likely to benefit the team and for a positive outcome.

I never once in my many years of coaching had a disagreement or confrontation with a player’s parents about playing time.

I told my athletes that if they wanted to know why they were not playing, that it was because they were not performing up to my expectations and that someone else was doing a better job at that time.

The BG administration that allowed those parents with their political clout to dismiss a man who had led the BG basketball program to success has done quite a disservice to the program, the school and its reputation.

It is unfortunate for the athletes of those parents to think that they are above reproach. They may not see it now, but I’m certain their lives will take a much different turn when they are not the stars and only another player, in the much bigger picture of basketball, life, or their future careers.

These athletes have cost Drenning his job and have helped to put BG and the quality program that he has developed into a very sad state of affairs.

Drenning devoted countless hours into making this program tops in the league (Laurel Highlands).

It will be extremely difficult to find someone to replace Drenning who will put in the same amount of time and effort for the small amount of money he was paid.

I hope that circumstances like this never happen again in the realm of sports at BG.

Let the kids play, take their licks and learn from their mistakes. Parents, let the coaches do their jobs, but encourage your sons and daughters. Don’t try to be coaches.

Tick Hedrick-Sheaffer

Altoona

(The writer is the former volleyball and women’s basketball coach at Penn State Altoona.)

Hoping for reinstatement

I’ve delayed writing this in hopes that the Bishop Guilfoyle Board of Trustees would exercise some common sense and reinstate Chris Drenning.

Drenning has been the BG boys coach for 11 years. In that time, he has won 219 games (75%), five conference championships, six district championships and made one appearance in a state championship game.

He gets paid $4,000 a year.

He was approached the last two times the Altoona job was open, paying three times what he makes at BG, but each time he chose not to pursue it.

He and his coaches don’t do it for the money. A lot of people think basketball season is from November until March, and they could not be more wrong.

After the regular season is over, there are open gyms, weight room training, two summer leagues and traveling around the state to what are called shootouts. The coaches are present for all of these activities. When you factor everything in, they are basically working for nothing.

They do it because they love the school and the kids. They get little to no support from the administration.

One influential family thinks their kid didn’t play enough, which is pretty typical in the world we are living in.

Another family, whose kid was a football player, was upset because he didn’t start, and he was a starter last year. It doesn’t seem to matter to them that he was third on the team in minutes played.

They contend that Drenning is biased against football players, and that is the reason the principal used when terminating him.

Over the years there were quite a few football players who have played basketball. Just about the entire jayvee team this year was made up of kids who also play football.

My understanding is the actual firing was by Principal Mike Cacciotti, who has a kid on the team, and I would think he should recuse himself from that kind of decision.

Some of you probably don’t know that BG is no longer controlled by the diocese and hasn’t been for years.

There is a president, Joe Adams, who lives out of state. Someone would have to explain to me how anyone could have their finger on the pulse of the school when he doesn’t live here.

There are 25 members of the Board of Trustees. I am hoping that enough of the members of this board would get involved and right this wrong. There needs to be changes in the administration which should include but not limited to:

n A president who is actually present.

n Retirement for Joan Donnelly.

n Removal of Mike Cacciotti.

There should be an athletic council to take decisions like these out of the hands of administrators that have their own agendas.

Since this news broke, this has been a very hot topic around town and on social media. I have literally read thousands of comments on social media, and I have yet to read one that supports the current administration or the parents involved. They are increasingly critical of the board.

Until changes are implemented, I, for one, will no longer financially support the school, and I would implore all alumni and parents and stakeholders to do the same.

And, I have to say: It breaks my heart to write this.

Michael Sisto

BGHS class of 1971

Hollidaysburg

Program is going to suffer

I am writing to express my extreme disappointment in the unfair, unwarranted and cowardly firing of Coach Chris Drenning.

As the wife of his assistant coach, I’ve had the privilege of getting to know Drenning and the rest of the basketball staff over the past seven years.

You will not find a more dedicated staff than the one being eliminated. I simultaneously love and loathe basketball season. For all intents and purposes, it renders me a single mother for three to four months of the year. It is not easy.

Yet, I would not have it any other way because I see the passion my husband has for the program.

BG’s athletic handbook clearly states, in part, “The player-coach relationship is perhaps the most critical relationship in athletics. While you may not agree with all the coach’s decisions, how and when you express your feelings can have a decided effect on your child.”

Yet I have seen this principle violated time and time again this season as BG’s administration has stood idly by and allowed it to happen instead of defending the coaches and the exact principles stated in its handbook.

I am aware of multiple occasions of parents questioning playing time and starting positions to the coaching staff through phone calls and texts.

A false narrative of some sort of competition between basketball and football has been created, and rather than ask questions, BG chose to appease the people who are paying the salaries.

So, that being said, I will ask some questions.

Where were these complaints in years past? As I recall, from previous years, there were some complaints from basketball parents about football players stepping right off the field into starting positions on the court.

There were hurt feelings from players that only played basketball and therefore could attend everything the football players could not, and some felt that it was unfair for football players to start over them. Yet, they did.

How does this support your football vs. basketball narrative? Where were the complaints about Drenning when older siblings of current players were integral parts of the team?

When parents are suggesting that they know better than the coaches to the coaches, administration and anyone else who will listen, what kind of conversations do you think are being had at home?

Certainly not one that is fostering a positive player-coach relationship. That has been evident this season from all of the temper tantrums and bad behaviors that have occurred due to BG’s lack of action in controlling the situation.

When my husband comes home after a 30-point win and complains that it was the worst night ever due to the attitudes/actions of certain players and their parents, there is a problem.

Claiming that the football vs. basketball narrative is out of control and the only way to correct it is by eliminating the current staff is evidence of complete failure on BG’s part — not the coaching staff.

BG’s actions (or lack thereof) are perpetuating a generation of entitlement, not one of hard work and ethics.

Hiring a new staff isn’t going to fix this problem unless BG hires someone without a backbone that concedes to every complaint about playing time and the starting lineup.

The program is going to suffer. BG has not exemplified the values I want to instill in my children, so at this point in time, I can’t envision them attending the school as my husband and I had planned since before they were born and as his family has for generations.

Michele Craig

Altoona

Drenning dismissal ‘bad decision’

I cannot believe Chris Drenning was let go by Bishop Guilfoyle.

It is a bad decision.

I have been BG Nation all my life. I went to school there, coached there, and I’ve always thought it was a special place.

This is maybe the biggest fallout that I thought would ever happen.

I heard about the football to basketball transition. The football players were not treated unfairly.

This is about greed, the buddy system, money, politics and groupies.

Drenning and his staff are highly respected in this community. I feel bad for the next coach. They will be micromanaged.

Duke Adams

BG class of 1984

Altoona

Punished for doing his job

I just read the Mirror article about Chris Drenning having his coaching position “opened up.”

What guy has had more success than him over recent years? No wonder you rarely ever hear of guys coaching for 30 years or more; somewhere along the way, all you have to do is upset one or two people off, and you’re gone.

I don’t know Drenning personally, but I’ve seen his teams play numerous times. They’ve always played hard and were well-coached just like the Dave Benton or Paul Hasson teams that I had to lock horns with.

If I had to pick one word that was the common denominator among the BG teams of all three coaches: Relentless.

Reading this article must have struck a nerve, I guess. Having coached basketball and/or football for over 40 years, it just irks me to no end when someone has been punished for trying to do what he was hired to do: Put a highly competitive product on the floor.

Again, I don’t know the inside specifics, but this situation smells very disgruntled-parent-oriented (DPO, if you will).

Dan Gueguen

Hastings

(The writer is a former head basketball coach at Bishop Carroll.)

Shame on parents behind firing

As an alumnus of Bishop Guilfoyle and former player on the basketball team, I was shocked and confused at the dismissal of Chris Drenning.

From Delaware, I have been following the team from the Mirror articles and the Altoona contacts I have maintained over the years.

Placing Drenning’s winning percentage, the numerous trophies and accolades aside, he and his staff made men out of boys for the past 11 years. Through his and his staff’s caring support and advice, not only on the court but off the court, they have enriched so many young men’s lives. I feel that a large majority of past players will agree.

Over the years, he has indicated through his words that he teaches respect for one’s self and others. He gives the credit to the players and takes responsibility for a bad coaching decision.

I would think that his and his staff’s work in the religious community of Bishop Guilfoyle would be what the school would want for the young men in his charge.

Coaching sometimes is a thankless job, but the rewards of helping young men navigate this tough time of their lives make the work satisfying.

As for the parents and administrative staff that were behind Drenning’s dismissal, shame on you. You are not doing the students any favors. If these young men go to play at the next level they will find out that they are a small fish in a big pond.

A coach or an assistant position coach will not listen to whining, bad attitudes or parents complaining. Even in small schools, coaches are paid to win, not put little Johnny on the field/court because his parents complain about playing time.

I have watched it when my son was playing at the next level.

From my long-distance view, Drenning and his staff were treated with very little respect by a few parents and administrative staff. For a Catholic institution that should be worried about the growth of its students, the dismissal was a bad decision.

In the larger picture, what did the students learn? Whine to get what you want or work harder to achieve your goals.

Now if you do add in the winning percentage, the numerous trophies and accolades that raised money for the program/school, built school spirit and created a large following.

Either way you look at it, the dismissal was not smart from a school perspective.

Allen W. Allshouse

Newark, Delaware

Mirror needs more on Shackley

Once again, the Altoona Mirror has missed the boat.

Leah Shackley was the lone Bedford Bison entrant in the PIAA swimming championships held last weekend at Bucknell University.

That is because Bedford does not have a swim team and Leah competes courtesy of other high schools. She does not score points because she is not part of a team but she does break records as she did last weekend.

If she were a high school football player she would be a five-star recruit whose name would be plastered all over the Mirror.

Because she is a swimmer and in one of the “secondary” sports, her results, if they are reported, get put on the back page, right next to the classified and the obituaries.

Leah just finished her junior year in high school and has already picked Indiana University as her school. IU has gladly offered her a full scholarship. And just so people know, IU is the equivalent in swimming circles to Penn State in football.

With regard to her accomplishments, this will be the second time that Leah has qualified for the Olympic Trials — you know that event that happens every four years to determine the best athletes in the world, not just the best wide receiver in the United States.

Most recently at the state meet, she set two state records. The 100 backstroke record was set by her last year and she broke that record twice this year at the state meet. In the 100 butterfly she set another state record in winning the final as she did in the backstroke.

Consequently she has four gold medals for four events in the state meet, this year and last year.

She is also one of the nicest teenagers that I have ever met as I have swam at the Hollidaysburg YMCA. Leah swims at the Y as Bedford does not have a swim team, and they don’t even have a pool. So despite all that Leah, breaks records, gathers gold medals, trains five-six hours each day and all with a genuine smile on her face.

It makes you wonder how can the Altoona Mirror miss an opportunity to recognize someone who very well, someday, be standing at the NCAA swim championships receiving multiple gold medals and/or at the Olympics doing the same.

David Gorman

Hollidaysburg