RallyNorth.net: High School Sports – Merrimack Valley and Southern NH

Jones is a good kid.
More power to him.

Haverhill needs leadership.
Larry Snow is a fine man and a gentleman. He deserves better.

Those parents are acting childish. Way to show how stubborn and selfish they are. Snow is a great guy and you couldn't ask for a better Coach. Let the guy have a chance. It's not his fault the team is the way it is. It's time to rebuild and he's the guy to do it. Bad move on those parents part. What a shame.

To “Supporter” below, It's obvious that Larry Snow has friends in the area, and no one likes to see a friend criticized, but it is also obvious to anyone close to the situation that Snow was the wrong choice from the beginning. His coaching style and ability may have been effective 25 years ago, but it is anything but effective these days. The Haverhill girls deserve the same up to date and high quality training as the boys received when we hired Mike Trovato to lead the boys Varsity, (over Larry Snow I might add). From all outward appearances Snow was given the girls job as a consolation prize for not making the cut for the boys job, and for whining about it to the press and school administration. The result: and 0-19 season…the worst in HHS history, and a demoralized group of young talented players who've gone on record as saying that if he came back as Varsity coach next year, they wouldn't. Although I generally try to avoid name calling, in this case I'll make an exception and use Supporters statement of “selfish” to describe Snow's behavior. How else can you describe a person who puts his or her own interest ahead of the interests of the team or community?
Rumor has it he's gone as far as publicly throwing his players under the bus to escape any responsibility for his own awful results. Not exactly a great example for high school girls to look up to as a mentor, in my opinion.

Ray,

I have no connection to Larry Snow whatsoever. My only connection to Haverhill is I have a 3rd-grade son and every time I try to do something for the kids in this city, I run into roadblocks everywhere.
That said, I will relay this one story about the group of “talented” girls he had this winter.
I was at a boys game at the time that news spread some parents had called a meeting to oust Larry.
I was waiting outside the locker room for an interview and happened to glance at the team stats, posted on the wall near the equipment area.
I looked at the stats, and this was at least halfway more like 2/3s through the season.
The Hillie girls were shooting 33 percent … from the FOUL LINE!
Is that Larry's fault? Forget the fact that they were shooting 20 percent from the field, 18 from behind the 3-point arc.
Show me a team missing 2 of 3 foul shots and I'll show you a team lacking real talent.
But again, I don't know a ton about the situation. I can only comment on the facts I know.

Hector Longo

Admittedly, you don't know a ton about the situation. Must be a criteria to write for the Tribune(sorry, couldn't help myself) I think Ray was being kind to only mention his winless record and coaching ability when most of the damage comes from his communication skills(or lack thereof) with the student athletes. Just ask yourself one question…..Why didn't he get the boy's job? I'm sure it was because of a few disgruntled parents….ya thats it. The same ones that just keep following him around. The real truth of the matter is that he lost the job on his own.

Great call Snowjob,

Force me to look up Larry Snow’s coaching record:
At Whittier Tech boys for five years: 80-27. Last time I looked that was a .747 winning percentage.
The program’s record since, without Larry: 94-153
Don’t tell me whittier’s not getting the athletes he got now.
The football team was 16-32-2 when he was there. They’ve gone 74-46 since, kind of a total opposite.
He had one year with NECC women: 19-7
I guess those techniques weren’t so antiquated then.
It’s so easy to take shots when you do it anonymously.

Great call Snowjob,

Force me to look up Larry Snow's coaching record:
At Whittier Tech boys for five years: 80-27. Last time I looked that was a .747 winning percentage.
The program's record since, without Larry: 94-153
Don't tell me whittier's not getting the athletes he got now.
The football team was 16-32-2 when he was there. They've gone 74-46 since, kind of a total opposite.
He had one year with NECC women: 19-7
I guess those techniques weren't so antiquated then.
It's so easy to take shots when you do it anonymously.

Hector, you never answered the question. With that outstanding record of achievement, why did they look past him for the boy's job?

It may be an unfortunate situation with Larry and we as people from the outside looking in can bring up past records & accomplishments and give our different opinions of the situation, but the truth of the matter is that it is all about the kids & not we parents.
I could be wrong but speaking to different people rumor has it that it was a fairly large group of the girls themselves that requested a meeting with the principle & superintendent to discuss their concerns & issues that they had with the coach,and their feelings that if he came back as coach several of them would not return.
Now that is real bad situation because being a sports fan of this city we all know the drastic cut in the number of athletes that we lost due to the sports fees, can HHs really continue to keep losing any athletes?
Remember folks the bottom line is that it's still about the kids.

I think Bystander is exactly right…its about the kids…and the kids deserve the best possible coach they can get. I'm sorry to say this about any coach, but Snow just wasn't effective in teaching the basics to the HHS girls, running effective offenses or defenses, putting the right combination of kids together during the game, substituting effectively, coaching/correcting from the sidelines, etc. In fairness to Snow, he inherited a very strange combination…very limited talent and experience at the upperclassmen level, and the exact opposite coming in from the freshman class. Rather than play kids according to their experience or abilities, Snow chose to go primarily with his upperclassmen, who apparently didn't have the experience, ability, or training to compete at the Varsity level. It's not the winless record that was so discouraging to the players, it was HOW they lost their games…in some games they lost by as much as 60 points, playing the opponents 2nd string varsity or JV for the full 2nd half of the game!. No matter how limited your players are athletically, with competent (noticed I said competent not great) coaching you can teach almost ANYONE to play good defense, and keep games fairly close in the process.

As one further comment, with the right coaching resource in place the HHS girls have a lot of opportunity ahead, as the Freshmen girls won nearly all of their games, including against the MVC powerhouses such as Andover, Central, and Lowell, despite the fact that we have no exceptionally tall players amongst the Freshmen. It would be a shame to have those girls, the future of the Haverhill girls program, not come back next year because of a coach. The girls deserve the same caliber of resource as the boys received last year in Mike Trovato. If they get that, they will be competing for the title within 2-3 years.

This is the same “class act” who has involved himself with Haverhill Girls Softball and has players asking off his team and parents specifying that they want their daughters on any team but his. This guy is a coaching dinosaur who can't connect with young female athletes and will then blame them, other coaches, administrators or anyone else but himself as the reason for his demise. He needs to leave the softball league as well.

Hey Lancer get you facts straight! My daughter plays on that team and we would not have her play with no one but him! And i know i speak for the other parents too. Why don't you come up and see how bad he is. The parent ( i use that term loosely) who asked to leave the team tried to get others too. Guess what SHE got one other nit wit parent to go. One less than the confused 3 up at the HHS.

He didn't get the boys job because he didn't have a certification. He was a close second though and then got that certification.

I don't have a girl playing on the team but have one at the high school who knows what's going on. I suggest that there's two sides to every story and that as many (if not more) of his team supports the work he did. Unfortunately those who do not were extremely vocal and had a very strong presence.

Parents influence children and I bet that the team's record has discouraged many (I'd be discouraged too). However, the problems with the team started before Larry Snow got to HHS and it takes awhile to build a new team. I think that the problems that are mentioned here could be turned around with some “team” work by the parents and the administrators without blaming the coach or the girls. I say give him one more year with the support (and not such strong criticism) from parents and see where he goes from there. I don't know him but this sounds like a mob mentality going after one person and I don't like it when that happens (and I've seen it happen before with parents who had a strong but negative voice).

As we can see “Ray” has a vested interested in this but has no clue about coaching or athletics. If he did he would place zero emphasis on fresham sports knowing that Haverhill always does well on that level. That is a place to get better and develop or sometimes it is the last step before ending your high school career. As for the wins and losses who was going to defend the tall towers that Lowell, andover and Central have along with!?! If any sane minded individual with a fair amount of sports IQ watched any of those games (I am gussing Ray did not) would know they could not beat or compete with any of the MVC teams. But through it all the girls played hard and never quit. If there was a problem with the TEAM the girls would have quit on Snow!! They never did! Realistic Parents on the team could see that. Pat Summitt ( A Major College Coach, Ray) Could not have led them to a victory! But then again I am sure you would not like her style either. She would demand accountability and respect and a TEAM first mentality. Win/loss record? was not much worse than Kevin W. last few years he could not coach either huh? Ray why don't you ask any girls or parents from those teams that won state championships and see if it was warm and fuzzy for them? Answer NO! The program has been in the toilet for years. Haverhill girls hoop can not compete any more with the MVC powers they need to get into the small school division anyway( another topic) you can coach and teach but if the players don't want to learn then they can't be helped. DO WE GET A NEW COACH EVERY YEAR UNTIL WE FIND ONE YOU LIKE? I am going out on a limb here but guessing no one is going to fit your criteria which means telling you that they agree with you that your daughter is going the WNBA. The Freshman girls win a few games against a few teams and they are a couple of years away from a title!?!? Complete insanity most of the girls on the other Freshamn teams from the MVC won't even play varsity because if they were good enough as freshman they are moved up to get ready to play on a level that matters. This so called freshman talent it is up a the tech. The best 2 players the last 2 years went their. Guess Why?? There the players play and listen the coaches coach and the administrators adminster. What a novel concept? As far as Snow, the guy LIVES to coach and teach kids he has more paitents than a hospital!! Winning a “city championship” in middle school does not make you a girls high school athlete whose is able to compete with some of the most talented girls in the state who happen to be in the MVC. It also does not make them poor athletes either but having them believe they are WAY better than they are is not the way to go. Heard there was going to be a summer team for the girls so they could grow and develop together for the future. But a few parents the same few who started this BACK DOOR smear campaign decided their kids are going to play elsewhere?? Nice idea by the parents not to foster a TEAM approch but rather the HAVERHILL me first attidude. Ray wants to get an AAU coach? They are a dime a dozen. You give me a few thousand dollars to coach I'll tell you how wonderful your kid is too. Snow can't communicate with the players? I hear this all stems from when Snow gave all the girls something to work on in the off season and some of the parents to offense. HEAVENS he wanted them to get better? What was he suppose to do tell them everything was ok? They just lost EVERY game. I think their might be some room for improvemnt!! Get over yourselves parents you had your chance when you were in high school and did nothing with it. Don't ruin your daughters high school years. I also heard Snow raised to varsity athletes on the high school and college. Yeah Ray whats he know!!

Matt (or should I call you Larry?) you're obviously a legend in your own mind. Apparently you spent a lot more time playing basketball than learning to write.

My understanding is that the majority of the players, not just two or three had issues with the girls coaching. It was no surprise that the few that supported him are the same ones that would have been “riding the pine” under a more effective coach.

As for the dime a dozen AAU coaches…almost every one of the AAU coaches I've ever seen would be a big improvement over what the Haverhill girls had to endure last year.
Where do they apply?

Hey Matt, My facts are straight. I have been involved in the league now for 5 years and have watched and coached against this “class act”. Your idol of a coach was specifically mentioned to the league as someone several parents did not want their daughter playing for. This idol of a coach took a group of 12 year olds last summer and had them embarrassed in the summer league by 20 runs every game. Your idol then tried to blame this teams demise on other 12 year old girls who did not want to play for him and instead played for the 14 year old team. Parents were aggravated that they wasted their time going to these games to watch their kids embarrassed because “Larry Legend” coaching skills were on display. If you can't see the pattern developing here with kids not wanting to play for him or his teams constantly being embarrassed then you are doing your daughter a disservice.

you can call me whatever you want I have a few for you too. I am sure Larry would not hide behind a screen name such as yourself! I am sure in your vast travels in and around HAVERHILL you have seen many good AAU coaches. By the way if the girls were SO TALENTED you would think they would have been able to win a couple of games just on their SUPERIOR ability over the the other teams??? By the way it is a blog not an essay contest.

There's really no sense debating this with you any further “Matt”, but I'll end it on this note:

Even the most talented players can't win if they're not played, or managed inappropriately in the time they do play.

For the sake of the players and the program, lets just hope that next year some of the talent comes back to play for HHS, regardless of who's coaching.

Pete Rosinski must go next. I can only wonder how we squirmed his way out of the fact that he threw a player against the locker room it was actually hector your buddy Ben Proulx why don't you do a story on this, uncover the facts there buddy and put an end to this bone head coach at Pinkerton. Ask any class that had him as a coach the players, and parents will all say the same thing, a totally loser and moron.

“The Truth” what team are you watching? Take the blinders off! This program has been in disarray for years. It's so bad that it may never return to respectability. Do you blame Larry Snow for the lack of a feeder program for the last decade? Kevin Woefel is one of the greatest coaches in high school history. He managed to do it without a feeder program for one reason and one reason only…Central hadn't gone co-ed and Andover and Lowell hadn't caught on yet. Do you research and look into the feeder systems in those towns. They are head and shoulders above Haverhill. Do you have any idea how many girls tried out for the Haverhill Travel teams this year? The answer….so few that 6th and 7th graders had to play on the 8th grade team in order to field a team. Look it up! These are facts my friend! As for Ray's prediction about competing for championships, forget it Ray. Get your head out of the clouds. The schedule is brutal, the facilities are diplorable and quite frankly the girls just aren't very talent. Finally, not only is Larry Snow an excellent teacher of the game of basketball but he's an outstanding gentlemen who deserves far better.

Last comment. My understanding (I may be wrong) is that you can get certified through an on line course over 1 weekend. But even if the process is more intensive, and if certification was the only reason he didn't attain the boy's position, he could have been given the job with the criteria to complete the certification process prior to the start of the next season……….Loses the boy's job, ousted from the girl's position, and now I hear there are even problem with some softball parents. Was there…… it seems to me that its much more than 2 or 3 parents who have strong but negative voices. Maybe, just maybe, and I'm going out on a limb here, there is a problem with the coach.

Senor Ellsbury,

A clarification, my buddy is Ben's dad, Dave. We went to high school together.
Ben has told me and his dad that whatever went on between Pete and him was nothing to note.
I can only stand by the kid's word on that one.

you sure “hear a lot” of stuff. But it seems you don't see much. Why don't you come up to the fields ( Legion) and “see” for yourself how bad he is. Friday 6 saturday 1230 ask around how bad he is. It wont take long to figure out how crazy and shallow this situation is. Oh i forgot you relay on what you hear from a few nit wit parents.

yeah maybe we can hope the talent will come back for next year…… from the Tech and Central.

Too all you Helicopter parents out there,

You should be ashamed of the examples your setting for your kids. If you don't like the coach you gather your torches and feable minded supporters and march to the town hall at midnight to try and oust him.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and make a few assupmtions.

1) None of these parents played at a high level of athletics. If they did, they would never tell their kids to quit or try and get rid of the coach because “they don't like him”. That's the way sports is sometimes, you don't like every coach you ever get. Deal with it.
2) You're all under this grand assupmtion that your daughters will be playing at the next level on full scholarship. Once again, you are delusional. Statistics show that your kids not play in college (only 3% of h.s athletes play at the college level). Sorry again. It's life deal with it. How about they hit the books instead of rallying against a coach they “don't like” or that their mommy and daddy “don't like'.

If your AAU coach is telling you how talented your kid is. Guess what?? He's supposed to. He's getting money from you (and a lot of it) to go to his camps, travel teams ect…He'll tell your daughter the moon is made from cheese if that's what she and YOU want to hear.

As far as Larry Snow goes.

1) You won't find another coach in this City gets more enjoyment from teaching children than he does. He's been in this City teaching athletics ffor more than 3 decades and he has proven at every level he can get the job done. Not a good communicator??? Is that coming from the H.S firl who say “Like Um, really” every other sentence? Or the highly knowledgable, athletically gifted parent that watches every trip down the court when their daughter is on the floor with ROSE colored glasses.
2) HHS athletics is a joke. Pete Shanahan (the math teacher) was cruising his way through the job until his pension kicked in. You think he gives a rats' A## about anything other than trying to track down Usage Fees.

That's the other thing that has ruined athletics, mr. and mrs. helicopter parents. There was a time when playing sports was a priviledge and to be a varsity athlete was an honor. Now, you pay a fee and you're “supposed” to be on varsity because you can dribble with both hands?? Are you kidding me? Here's a tip folks just because you pay to have your kids play sports, doesn't mean you're the coach or decision maker.

In conclusion. What has happened to Larry Snow and all of HHS is frightening. If it weren't so tragic, it would be funny. Too many chiefs, not enough indians.

You should be ashamed that you HOVERED over your kids telling them they were the best at this and the best at that and when things didn't go well, they (because they don't think for themselves with you around) packed it in and quit on each other, the school, the coach and more tragically themselves.

Mr. and Mrs. Helicopter parents, I have one final question for you. After your kid graduates from Standford on a full athletic scholarship and achieves a degree in 3 years with a dual major in bio engineering and kinesiology and they get their first job in the REAL WORLD and come home (because lord knows they'll still be living with you) and tell you their boss came down hard on them today for not getting to the meeting on time and not be prepared to make a presentation, will you get all your friends from good ole HHS to get rid of their boss to?

Think about it. You parents are a Joke. Make sure you send me in invitation to their commencement excersises at Columbia will ya.

To Hillie Grad 89,

How dare you insult those poor players on Haverhill High School's Girls Varsity Basketball Team! They are minors and do not deserve to be talked about in such a derogatory manner, especially by someone like you who is so obviously ill-informed.

The attacks on the girls' intelligence was all too apparent throughout your last comment, and quite frankly I find it disgusting. If you want to take swipes at the girls' parents, ok. They're adults and are only trying doing what's best for their daughters. The parents can handle those stupid comments. But don't insult the girls. Like the saying goes, “Don't hate the player, hate the game.” I personally know many of the players on HHS's girls varsity basketball team and they are a very bright, hardworking, and positive group of girls. They love to play basketball….or at least they used to! The girls make good grades and work hard both on and off the court. Perhaps you will receive some invites to commencement at Columbia in the future!

How about next time you thinking about slinging mud over this issue, pick on someone your own age.

Dear Hillie Grad 89

Thank you for the BEST laugh I've had in a long time. I really enjoyed the irony of your insulting parents and players by referring to them as “feable (sic) minded”. The word is spelled F-E-E-B-L-E , as in, “Your FEEBLE attempt at insulting players and parents was a colossal failure”.

The next time you plan to insult someone in writing you might want to use a dictionary. I'm pretty sure they taught that at HHS in 1989.

I think you owe the players, the parents, and even Coach Snow himself an apology for your insulting comments. You obviously have no grasp of the facts, and I'm sure Coach Snow himself is ashamed to have someone like you defending him.

What makes me such an authority? I am a parent of one of the HHS players and I was able to attend all but two of the girls' games. I can assure you that neither I nor any other players or parents I've spoken with are delusional. No parent I've spoken to has any expectation other than seeing their son or daughter play to their highest ability, with passion, intensity, and strong leadership.

Coach Snow by many accounts is a good guy. Does that qualify him to repair a badly broken girls varsity basketball program? In hindsight, looking at the lopsided games, and frustrated players and parents, the answer is no. I think if we could turn back time, a lot of people including Coach Snow, might do things differently, but of course that's easy to say in hindsight.

It should be said that this time last year both players and parents held Coach Snow in high regard and wished him nothing but success. Unfortunately, as time unfolded it turned out to be a bad fit for all involved. That doesn't make Coach Snow a bad person, or even a bad coach…just not the right coach for this particular situation.

The question now is what is best for the players and the team and where does the school go from here?

Rather than spend your energy on insults and defending the indefensible, come up with some solutions, and write back soon.

PS: If you do plan to respond, please watch the typos. They reflect badly upon us real HHS grads.

Too I was there and Ama,

Thanks for the comments.

First, let me start by saying, in no way, shape or form was I ever trying to insult the student athletes. They have nothing to do with my frustration with this situation.

I know how hard it is for them to balance school and sports and outside lives. And, I'm sure all of them work hard.

ALL OF MY POINTS ARE DIRECTED AT THE PARENTS. Not players. You are the ones that want a new coach, you are the ones that have the meetings and sewing circles in the hallways to talk about how bad things are for your kids. Then, a plan is put in place. Not by the girls, but by the parents. If you think otherwise, you are on another planet.

I'm sure going through a winless season is hard to swallow. Especially for the seniors. But, please, don't point fingers at a coach who's had these girls under his guidance for a mere four months. Seriously!

And finally, thanks for pointing out the spelling and grammatical errors in my first blog. Sometimes I type too fast trying to get a thought out and just flat out make mistakes. My bad, I'm sorry. There…I took ownership of my faults, I didn't blame my HHS Typing teacher, nor any of my English teachers. You on the other hand, would want THEM to be fired for MY LACK OF SKILLS. Wouldn't it me ironic if I actually teach or have taught some of your children English?? Ponder that.

One final nugget of advice. Let your kids play, let them go through adversity, let them fail. It's OK. All of it. It builds character and strength. You want what's best for your kids? Stop trying to MOLD every minute of their day so it leads them down the path of Glory.

How about you let them play a few pickup games during the weekend instead of going to “specialized” training. How about you just roll the ball out and let them form a chemistry and an identity. Look up Darwinism. Let your dream of a scholarship go for your kids sake, it will make them better the sooner you lift off and drive the helicopter off into the sunset. They'll be fine.

Larry Snow was, is and always will be a good coach. A good coach doesn't have the record the Snow has had be being lucky and getting the best players. He knows what to do and how to get the best out of his teams. Four months is far too short a measuring tool. But, I'm sure if another coach comes in and you don't like that one, he/she will be gone too and so on and so on and so on..

Thanks '89 Grad' for your FEEBLE attempt at an apology to the girls.
I'll admit that you're right about at least one thing; it certainly would be ironic if you were a teacher of English skills. Tragic might be a better word.

I have no idea how you came by the impression that you have of Coach Snow. Perhaps it was in a different context, (boys teams) a different sport, (softball?) or in a different era, (the 1970's?) but I can tell you from firsthand observation, his performance last season was far from good, on every imaginable level. Not knowing anything about Snow other than what I'd read in the papers, I and most parents and players started out the season as huge supporters. By the end of the season, his actions and lack of leadership completely reversed the situation.

One last clarification, it was the PLAYERS that initially called Snow out…NOT the parents. It was the PLAYERS who had the guts to request a meeting with the principal and superintendent on the matter, because the AD couldn't have cared less. Perhaps he was too busy planning his retirement party…we'll never know. As parents we simply validated the players observations and supported our kids…which is what good parents do.

Those players deserve a lot of credit for having the courage to speak up in really bad situation. They deserve a knowledgeable and positive role model in their coach, especially at the varsity level.

I jsut have one thing to say. If anyone knew the Woelfel coaches, they got out at the perfect time. The year before Snow, the Girls record was 3-16. Why do you think they got out when they did. No matter who coached those girls, it would have had the same results. I have personally seen them play. And there is potential, but rebuilding takes years!

I want to introduce myself as a member of the girls Haverhill High basketball team. Most of you who have been commenting do not even come close to the authenticity of the ideas and things you think have happened or are happening involving this controversy. I was there and experienced it first hand. I not afraid to admit that i am a freshman who starting my basketball season at HHS had high hopes. I felt like this would be the payoff i was looking for, from playing in middle school on a level that wasn't challenging, or i should say wasn't making me a better player.
At the beginning of the year my other teammates and I all were excited to see and play our first season together. There was a lot of young talent coming up from the middle schools. After tryouts, with a new coach that no one had preconceived notions or ill-will towards, four freshman were placed on the Varsity roster. I myself was included. I will admit that our team was going to need some work on fundamental skills and a basic refresher to get everyone to where they needed to be. We started off this season with practices doing just that, or with the goal of this. Practices became a routine of simple drills and ball handling. We expected this in the beginning, but as the season went on nothing changed. We did not play ONE scrimmage against each other, and basically we were split up into 2 different 'groups'< Brown and Gold. We would run our inbound plays in these groups and most of the time half of the team just watched. Ive played on other teams and leagues before, and not once have i stood around for more than 2 minutes. A lot of the practices had us standing around, and it wasn't just me who felt that they weren't getting much out of practice.
I want to put out there that I'm very sad that all the freshman who were on varsity, and had problems with Coach Snow have such a bad rap. Many of the upperclassmen had insinuated, because they never directly consulted us, that we were doing this because we were 'spoiled brats' and had a problem with the time we played in the games. This is completely untrue, because we weren't mad about playing time, we were working as the coach told us to in practice and were not being used in the games and we felt like we would become better if we could play. We were not bitter, or angry, we just wanted to play and to me it didn't matter what team, Varsity or Freshman, that i played on personally. I love the game and so do many of the other players. Basketball has always been 'my sport' and i just want to play with out any drama.
Because of our view on this, me and another player(a freshman) asked Coach Snow to move to JV. My friend, was “allowed” to move down, but i was not. I found this very confusing, as i explained my reasoning to the coach. Finally a few weeks later, i asked a second time because i really felt i would get more out of playing and practicing with the JV than with Varsity. My parents found this troubling also. The second time i asked to move down, i was actually moved. I played the rest of my season as member of the JV team and had more fun in those few weeks, than in the majority of the season on Varsity. I got to play in close and intense games against other teams and feel i played to my best ability. Our JV coach knew how to communicate with us as well, which was a big improvement.
During this season a web of problems with the coach, and within the team its self were created. The team was not united, and we needed someone who could help bring us together. Coach Snow didn't seem like the best person to do this. I'm not bashing coach Snows ability to be a good coach, but only saying that he was not a correct fit for a broken girls basketball team.
There were also a few personal events that occurred between individuals and the coach, but i wont go into detail because its not my place to do that.

Another point is that you all need to stop blaming the parents. They are only trying to help us accomplish what WE, the girls, want. They are not the ones driving the hand to push Coach Snow out, but only acting as channels for us to get our opinions heard. I think you all who blame the parents for being pushy, and helicopter parents are completely unaware of whats really going on.

I just want to end on the note that myself and a few of the other players, with large amounts of talent, are most likely not going to come back to play for HHS next year. This is so sad, especially for me because I honestly love to play, and because i was so active and vocal about my opinion, i feel like i cannot return next year. I am going to miss playing, and its such a shame that so much talent is going to waste because girls feel they cannot go back. All i have to say is that I hope that this decision to keep things the way they are, and not look for a better solution works out well for Haverhill High Athletics.

I am not one to come onto these blogs but when it is about something so close to me and when i see all critizing things that are being said about the parents and “freshman” players on the girls basketbal team i cant help but jump in and put my two sense in. Every parent sticks up for the child(ren) no matter what the situation might be. They are supporters of what they believe in and they stand by, always. If that is the truth then the Girls Basketball parents did exactly what they were suppose to be doing. They stood up for their daughters and made it possible so that there voices and oppinions were heard. Most of the people that have been commenting on this story are simply on the outside looking into the situation. I am different. I was on the inside of this whole situation, i was one of the four freshman that got chosen to play on varsity. Granted i was not one that had a harder time with coach Larry Snow, i started, i had the 3rd highest amount of minutes played and i was usually the 2nd or 3rd leading scorer in most games, i did witness and had to deal with the things that were happening to “my” teammates. All differences aside, my teammates were technically the varsity players, i felt a personal resposibility to myself that the girls that i will one day graduate with and the girls that i have been playing travel, aau, and middle school basketball with were my actual teammates, i know that may be the complete wrong thing to say and you might be thinking how dumb i must sound right now that was the truth in my eyes, i was to stand up for what those girls that were going through this. It was my decision to make my oppinions and concerns vocal just as well as any other girl on that team, but as a 15 year old girl like myself it is very difficult to get to the people who you should voice your oppinion to and that is where our parents came into this equation.

If you have a problem with anything i have just said please write back to me, but do not voice your oppinions on the parents because it is very hurtful to the girls who know that they have voiced their oppinions and their parents that are doing the right thing are getting bashed for it.

You're right about one thing GMB…It's going to take a LONG time to rebuild this program…especially now that some of the more experienced and talented young players aren't planning on returning, which is EXACTLY what happened under Woelfel for at least the last 5 years.

HHS has no shortage of athletically talented female players, they've just all chosen to apply their talents to other sports the last few years, (track, ski team, etc) because the basketball coaching has been so dysfunctional, and the AD and administration held no one accountable.

Worse yet, the few talented upcoming middle schoolers and their parents are watching what happened last year very closely, and I've heard at least one parent say that unless changes are made, their daughter, (who happens to be one of the best basketball prospects in middle school), is headed to Central.

It's comical that the coaches and AD then have the nerve to complain how Central is so tough to beat. They apparently don't get the fact that they helped to create the environment for this to happen in the first place. Sue Downer should send our AD and coaching staff thank you notes as she is the ultimate beneficiary of our inbred policies and politics.

Perhaps this will all change now that the AD is retiring… I certainly hope so for the sake of the students, HHS Athletics, and the entire community. I for one am tired of the Tribune not publishing the HHS girls basketball results because they're too embarrassing to the program. Haverhill deserves and should expect far better.

Karma is a wonderful thing.

Now everyone ZIP THE LIPS and get to work. You have a lot to prove now that you've ran your mouths (moms and dads included). Hit the gym, get ready for the season and prove how good you are (or at least you and/or your parents think you are) and go out and show it.

Bottom line is this…and it has been throughout time. Players play, coaches coach, parents drive.

Know it, live it.

If you're good enough to play and win, you should play… and you should win. …If not, you're not. The coach can't shoot the ball (30% from the Foul line????)for you, dribble the ball for you(try working on both hands), or pass you're way out of a 1-2-2 zone trap for you.(you can't dribble through a press unless you're waterbug with speed)

You may have been or may even have some incoming players that thought and still think they were LEGENDS in middle school. Well, guess what….THE MVC is NOT Haverhill middle school or AAU hoops. The girls are bigger, better, faster and stronger. So, the only way to get better is to get bigger, better, faster and stronger. Once again, the coach can't shoot jump shots for you this summer or lift weights for you.

Start your NEW SEASON by doing two things. Point the finger in, instead of out and try to realize you're not splitting the Atom here, you're playing girls H.S. basketball and leave it at that.

The more you and you're parents complain the dumber and more selfish you all look.

I'm done here. Thank God.

Complaining?? Well if something wasn't right wouldn't you want to fix it..

You are coming off as a ill-informed jerk, and this isn't a place to be saying things like you said. You should be ashamed and quite frankly it is YOU whose looking dumber by the content of your posts.