From the Columbia Tribune:
There was one varsity player on the Hickman boys soccer team who did not play in Wednesday’s 2-1 loss at Rock Bridge.
That one player not playing led to Larry Thornburg resigning his position as the Kewpies head coach in the middle of his third season.
After a meeting with Hickman Athletic Director Doug Mirts on Friday morning, Thornburg stepped down as the Kewpies coach, effective immediately.
During a telephone interview yesterday morning, Thornburg explained in detail his abrupt resignation.
“This is what led to the resignation,” Thornburg said. “Following the Rock Bridge game on Wednesday night, I got an e-mail from the athletic director. There was one player that I had not played at all in the Rock Bridge game, and Doug Mirts in his e-mail said that the parents of that player wanted to meet with me Friday morning at 8 o’clock in his office.”
Thornburg responded that he would be unable to attend the meeting at 8, but he relayed to Mirts the specific reasons for why that player did not play against the Bruins.
Thornburg said that none of the reasons were related to discipline but were based entirely on the player’s performance and ability.
“I had my good reasons as a coach why that player didn’t get any playing time,” Thornburg said. “His parents were not happy with my answer, I guess.
“Rock Bridge has a very skilled, very athletic team, and I just felt like I had some players I needed to have in there if we were going to have the best chance to win.”
Mirts still wanted to meet with Thornburg before the team departed for a tournament in Collinsville, Ill., at noon on Friday. Later that morning, Thornburg met with Mirts.
“At that time, he told me that the parents were very unhappy,” Thornburg said. “The parents were going to start going over his head with their complaints, and it was going to get ugly if we didn’t handle the situation right now.”
Thornburg said he was informed by Mirts that more than 50 percent of the varsity parents had complained to him about the coaching their sons were receiving.
“They did not like my coaching style,” Thornburg said, before relaying some of the reasons given. “Their player was afraid to play in a game because he might make a mistake. Their player did not understand what I was asking him to do in practice or games.
“Doug said that because of the majority no-confidence vote, he wanted me to resign.”
Faced with the news that a majority of the parents and players did not want him as Hickman’s coach, Thornburg decided to step down immediately.
“I agreed, that with more than 50 percent of the parents of that attitude, I said, ‘I resign.’ ”
Mirts did not want to get into specifics about the meeting but said he did not ask Thornburg to resign.
“We discussed that aspect,” Mirts said. “At some point, I asked, ‘Where are we going with this?’ Those were all parts of the discussion. He decided to resign. That was where things ended up. That was his feeling on that.”
Thornburg also has some feelings on the coaching climate in Columbia. A soccer coach for more than 30 years at varying levels, Thornburg believes parental involvement has become a growing problem at the high school level.
“It’s a parent problem, in my opinion, because of the nature of soccer in Columbia,” Thornburg said. “With all the competitive teams that play in Central Missouri, starting young the kids are told to kick the ball and do this and score goals. When you get them in high school, they’ve been doing that for seven, eight, nine years, and you ask them to do something different, and there’s a lot of resistance. And if anybody sits on the bench, they’re not used to sitting on the bench, and the parents are going to raise Cain.
“That’s my interpretation of what’s gone on for the last three years I’ve been at Hickman.”
It’s an interpretation that continues to build credence. Hickman is still looking to replace baseball Coach Bobby Chick, who resigned in August after his first season as head coach, and last spring Rock Bridge girls soccer Coach Kelly Gates resigned five games into the season.
Hickman assistants Adam Taylor and Conrad Hake coached the Kewpies to the consolation championship this weekend at the Gateway City Soccer Classic.
There was one varsity player on the Hickman boys soccer team who did not play in Wednesday’s 2-1 loss at Rock Bridge.
That one player not playing led to Larry Thornburg resigning his position as the Kewpies head coach in the middle of his third season.
After a meeting with Hickman Athletic Director Doug Mirts on Friday morning, Thornburg stepped down as the Kewpies coach, effective immediately.
During a telephone interview yesterday morning, Thornburg explained in detail his abrupt resignation.
“This is what led to the resignation,” Thornburg said. “Following the Rock Bridge game on Wednesday night, I got an e-mail from the athletic director. There was one player that I had not played at all in the Rock Bridge game, and Doug Mirts in his e-mail said that the parents of that player wanted to meet with me Friday morning at 8 o’clock in his office.”
Thornburg responded that he would be unable to attend the meeting at 8, but he relayed to Mirts the specific reasons for why that player did not play against the Bruins.
Thornburg said that none of the reasons were related to discipline but were based entirely on the player’s performance and ability.
“I had my good reasons as a coach why that player didn’t get any playing time,” Thornburg said. “His parents were not happy with my answer, I guess.
“Rock Bridge has a very skilled, very athletic team, and I just felt like I had some players I needed to have in there if we were going to have the best chance to win.”
Mirts still wanted to meet with Thornburg before the team departed for a tournament in Collinsville, Ill., at noon on Friday. Later that morning, Thornburg met with Mirts.
“At that time, he told me that the parents were very unhappy,” Thornburg said. “The parents were going to start going over his head with their complaints, and it was going to get ugly if we didn’t handle the situation right now.”
Thornburg said he was informed by Mirts that more than 50 percent of the varsity parents had complained to him about the coaching their sons were receiving.
“They did not like my coaching style,” Thornburg said, before relaying some of the reasons given. “Their player was afraid to play in a game because he might make a mistake. Their player did not understand what I was asking him to do in practice or games.
“Doug said that because of the majority no-confidence vote, he wanted me to resign.”
Faced with the news that a majority of the parents and players did not want him as Hickman’s coach, Thornburg decided to step down immediately.
“I agreed, that with more than 50 percent of the parents of that attitude, I said, ‘I resign.’ ”
Mirts did not want to get into specifics about the meeting but said he did not ask Thornburg to resign.
“We discussed that aspect,” Mirts said. “At some point, I asked, ‘Where are we going with this?’ Those were all parts of the discussion. He decided to resign. That was where things ended up. That was his feeling on that.”
Thornburg also has some feelings on the coaching climate in Columbia. A soccer coach for more than 30 years at varying levels, Thornburg believes parental involvement has become a growing problem at the high school level.
“It’s a parent problem, in my opinion, because of the nature of soccer in Columbia,” Thornburg said. “With all the competitive teams that play in Central Missouri, starting young the kids are told to kick the ball and do this and score goals. When you get them in high school, they’ve been doing that for seven, eight, nine years, and you ask them to do something different, and there’s a lot of resistance. And if anybody sits on the bench, they’re not used to sitting on the bench, and the parents are going to raise Cain.
“That’s my interpretation of what’s gone on for the last three years I’ve been at Hickman.”
It’s an interpretation that continues to build credence. Hickman is still looking to replace baseball Coach Bobby Chick, who resigned in August after his first season as head coach, and last spring Rock Bridge girls soccer Coach Kelly Gates resigned five games into the season.
Hickman assistants Adam Taylor and Conrad Hake coached the Kewpies to the consolation championship this weekend at the Gateway City Soccer Classic.
