opinion

Mid-game flyover slams Briarcliff baseball coaches, sends wrong message on sportsmanship

We do not yet know why a woman paid $1,250 to have a plane fly over a high school baseball game Monday at Briarcliff High School, displaying a banner calling for the firing of two coaches.

But just about everyone is assuming the same thing: that a frenzied suburban parent, stung by the (perceived) unfair treatment of a child, lost all perspective and sense of judgment and decided to make a dramatic statement to shake up the Briarcliff High School baseball world.

Is it possible that there's more at play here? Sure.

We're willing to accept the parent-gone-wild scenario, though, because we see it all the time. Anyone who attends youth sports — from little kids flailing at soccer balls at the town park to out-of-state trips for travel team tournaments — has seen the metamorphosis of well-meaning suburban parents into bug-eyed, dirt-kicking, profanity-spitting maniacs.

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Last year, a Journal News/lohud investigation showed that the pool of high school referees is dwindling, in part because refs are tired of taking abuse from parents who believe their kids are destined for college scholarships or even greater glory. "When we walk into a gym, or an arena, or a field, right away, we are targets,” one veteran ref said.

Another lohud investigation revealed how much money parents are paying on travel teams, private coaches and trainers, professional level equipment and more, all in hopes of helping their sons and daughters achieve their full potential as midfielders and pitchers. One effect of this "pay-to-play" culture is that some parents, having made too many hours at private training centers, think they know more than high school coaches.

So while we're flabbergasted by Monday's coach-bashing display over Briarcliff's game against Irvington High School, we can't be that surprised by it.

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There are stories all the time about veteran high school coaches suddenly getting relieved of their duties by schools in the Lower Hudson Valley, often without explanation. While there may be other reasons to make a change, of course, it is often assumed that parental pressure is a factor. This is what it's come to: In Rochester, a veteran basketball coach who was dropped in 2015 after facing pressure from parents, filed a defamation suit against certain parents and recently agreed to a $50,000 settlement.

Now, imagine being a parent in the bleachers at Monday's game at Briarcliff High. Or, better yet, a player on the field. It was a Section 1 quarterfinal playoff game, the kind of game that kids start looking forward to when they're in Little League. Briarcliff went 17-3 during the regular season, no easy feat, so the community must have come into the game with high hopes.

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All of a sudden, there's a plane overhead pulling a banner that says: "Fire coaches Schrader & Kowalczyk." Briarcliff's head coach is John Schrader and its assistant coach is Walter Kowalczyk.

Who knows how many players had the same internal reaction: "Please, please, let it not be my parents!"

It's hard to imagine what could have motivated the renter of the plane — a woman who was planning the whole thing for a couple of weeks, according to the owner of Fly Signs Aerial Advertising. Even if she had some sort of legitimate beef with Schrader and/or Kowalczyk, what could possibility justify distracting attention from the game itself and, most importantly, the high school students playing the game? Briarcliff schools Superintendent James Kaishian got it right when he said that the adult(s) involved were "conspirators in the theft of joy" from youth sports.

Seniors on the Irvington team, which lost the playoff game, get to remember their last game as one that was disrupted by an act of, quite likely, sheer selfishness.

Briarcliff won 13-0, giving Schrader and Kowalczyk the last laugh. In fact, the aerial banner had the opposite of its intended effect: rallying support for two coaches who most observers assume did not deserve to be embarrassed in public. Instead, the anonymous renter of the plane is the one facing sharp criticism, far and wide, thanks to social media.

We hear a lot about teachable moments. This really is an opportunity for parents and others to think about their own behavior, when they've gone over the line to blast coaches, refs, other parents and even student athletes (we've seen it). It might even be a good time for school officials and coaches to remind parents how to behave, and how not to behave, at games.

One more lesson that educators might share: If the renter of the plane is identified, go easy. Tone down the social media. Don't respond to nastiness with more of the same. Be above it.

Gary Stern is engagement editor. Twitter: @GarySternNY