Letter to the Editor: Behavior of QND volleyball parents after loss to Macomb deeply disturbing

I have always hated losing more than I like winning.  Losing sucks.  No one likes it, but it is a part of life.  It is how we handle the L that says more about our character than the loss itself.  

You can blame it on the officiating, your teammates, your coach, your parents, etc.  Some days, it just isn’t your day.  Some days, we beat ourselves.  Sometimes, the other team is just better.   Losing hurts, but it doesn’t have to be ugly.

As a former athlete, coach and now sports parent myself, I am deeply disturbed by the behavior of the QND volleyball parents after their loss to Macomb (in the IHSA Class 2A regional championship match).  I don’t have a kid on the volleyball team.  I was not at the game.  My kids don’t attend QND.  I don’t know Coach Courtney Kvitle.  

I do know there are rules of engagement in [youth] sports.  I do know rules are put in place to protect the athletes and coaches alike.  I know sports are emotional.  I know parents and coaches don’t always agree.  

You don’t have to agree with the way a coach runs their program.  You don’t have to agree with the plays a coach calls.  You don’t have to agree on which players start or who gets the most playing time.  You can fundamentally disagree with everything your child’s coach is doing, but that doesn’t give anyone the right to invade a locker immediately after a game and verbally assault the coach in front of the team.  

There is no excuse for it.  There is a cry from the wild that, “You don’t know the whole story.”  It doesn’t matter.  Parents barging into a locker room is wrong under any circumstances.  It is inexcusable.  It is wrong.  It is embarrassing.  It is toxic and the type of behavior that is detrimental to [youth] sports.    

The powers that be at QND have some decisions to make, as does Coach Kvitle.  If the administration lets this slide without consequence, they are no better than these parents and a fundamental example of how youth sports have been highjacked by the unrealistic expectations of parents and their complete inability to understand their place—which is in the stands.  

I wish QND the best of luck finding someone with Coach Kvitle’s credentials and connections to take over this program should she decide to leave. 

Who could blame her?   

Casey Schnack
Quincy, Illinois