Here’s The INSANE Emails Out Of Control Braintree Parents Sent Coach Kristen McDonnell That Forced The 2 Time State Champion To Resign
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The other day we shared this story about Braintree High School girl’s basketball coach Kristen McDonnell resigning after 8 successful years, including two Division 1 state championships, because some overbearing parents were leading a “parent revolt.” Coach McDonnell is as qualified as they get, having been a high school and college basketball star locally. She has sent many players on to Division 1 colleges, and they are incredibly loyal to her because she’s such a good coach.
But the Patriot Ledger, like most mainstream media outlets, did a pretty half assed job at reporting. They interviewed one parent, but it was a father of a player who supported the coach. Real reporters would find out who the other parents were. That’s the story. Luckily real news and real journalism is what we do at Turtleboy Sports, and we have the REAL story now.
For starters the Braintree Wamps had another wildly successful season. They lost to Springfield Central in the State Championship after winning the South Sectional District Tournament (upsetting arch rival Bishop Feehan in the process), and then defeating Andover in the State Semifinal. They finished with a 21-5 record, losing to Feehan twice, at Newton North, Enfield, CT, and Springfield Central. The fact that you can lose to a team twice and then beat them on the biggest stage tells you that you’re coached by someone who obviously knows how to make adjustments, study game film, and improve on weaknesses.
And when they won, they often won big. They beat Weymouth 54-9 and 71-23, Bridgewater-Raynham 73-30, Brookline 93-39, Framingham 79-18, and they beat Norwood, Needham, Dedham, Mansfield, and Milton by 30 points or more. These epic blowouts allowed Coach McDonnell to empty her bench and give everyone time on the court. Many coaches are not afforded this opportunity because they don’t murder teams like Braintree does.
But for whatever reason this was not enough for the expert parent/coaches in the bleachers. Not all, just some. Three sets of parents in particular. We do not want to embarrass kids for the sins of their parents, so we want to make it clear that none of this is the fault of the children. They’re in a pretty crappy spot because they’re going home and Mom and Dad are telling them that their coach is an idiot. An obstacle that needs to be overcome. And now their parents have basically forced this coach to quit. Coach McDonnell had no beef with the kids. She loved coaching them. But their parents drove her out of town.
They often stared her down before, during, and after games. Several parents we spoke with said it was incredibly uncomfortable. All three sets of problem parents were parents of seniors. One was the star player and leading scorer. What could a parent of a star player on a state championship finalist team possibly complain about? Well, apparently Lisa Dixon sent some emails to the coach, complaining that her child wasn’t getting as much attention as previous Braintree High School superstars got. Whatever that means.
The second parent is the parent of a really hard working kid who played tough defense, was the heart and soul of the team, but just wasn’t as physically talented as some of her teammates. That’s not a knock on her at all though. She’s playing on one of the best teams in the state. Even making the team is an accomplishment. But according to an email we saw but was asked not to screenshot, after the state championship game her mother Michelle Scarpa sent an message to coach McDonnell that said, “my beautiful lovely daughter will persevere despite your attempts to tear her confidence down.”
This is what coaches all over America deal with on a daily basis. Out of control parents who think coaches are intentionally trying to destroy their kid’s confidence by not giving them more playing time. Insane.
After the state championship loss the team held it’s awards banquet that many schools do to officially end a season. They gave out five awards: MVP, best offensive player, best defensive player, most improved, and hardest worker. Evidently parents Kim and Rick Tonetti were not happy with who got what award. This is Rick Tonetti:
And after the ceremony Rick went home and fired off this INSANE email to Coach McDonnell. Keep in mind that for most of the season their daughter was a starter, she just wasn’t the leading scorer or anything like that:
Now I get why she quit. Let’s break down his email one rant at a time. His misguided diatribes are in italics, followed by Turtleboy’s rational thoughts in bold.
There are so many other things you should telling my daughter “sorry” for, and I must admit that wishing her the best does smack of hypocrisy. As soon as I saw the politics her freshman year, I have been trying to get Bella to quit your team and concentrate on track where politics don’t exist. Politics and favoritism can’t exist in track and field; it’s all time and measurements. No matter how much a parent kisses the coach’s ass, or how many dinners they buy her, it won’t make the kid run any faster or jump any higher. I even told her, “wouldn’t if feel good to look over at Kristen’s favorites during the awards ceremony when you are standing up there getting every award,” but that’s not her style.”
You can tell a parent is a huge nudnik the second they start using the word “politics.” This is a word used by parents who think that there is some political conspiracy that is intentionally keeping their child from being the super star. There are no words for this type of delusion that can only come from someone with way too much free time.
More importantly, what kind of awful human being tells their kid to quit the basketball team because they don’t like the coach? The guy has been trying to subvert her authority for four years. He says it right in the email. And even worse, he tells his daughter that she should join the track team so she can live out HIS fantasy of getting a bunch of awards and shoving them in Coach McDonnell’s face. What an AWESOME parenting strategy that is!!
If you knew my daughter at all you would know that Bella is very strong willed, private, humble, loyal, and would not leave her team, even when almost every team parent had vocalized that you were intentionally trying to destroy her self esteem.
Yes, that’s exactly why this highly decorated woman took the low paying high school job for. To intentionally destroy the self esteem of a girl who was in the 4th grade when she started coaching there.
To quote one of the junior parents, “she treats her terribly.”
Well then, quoting another parent? Case closed!!
It is a testament to her strength and intelligence that she endured, proving her superior fortitude as a young woman. To this day, I have no idea why you treated her like this, and to be honest, I really don’t care any more. Whatever the reason, the problem is not hers, but yours.
“I really don’t care, and I’m going to write you this long email to show you just how much I don’t care.”
For years she managed to slug along as the teams most unselfish player, caring far more about defense than using her speed to score easy baskets by taking off down the court for an uncontested layup. Not a day went by when I didn’t tell her to “just score and get what is yours.” Even Stephanie Roche told her to “go and get 30 points a game, you’re the quickest kid on the court.” But as I have said before, that’s not her style. She is the definition of a team player.
This guy just admitted to the coach that he told his daughter to worry about her stat line instead of focusing on what was best for the team. The most remarkable thing is, he sees NOTHING wrong with this!!
And what does any of that even mean? How could she score an uncontested layup without playing defense and causing a turnover? Has this guy ever even watched basketball before? In other words, what he’s saying is that his daughter could’ve easily stood at mid court, not played defense, and waited for the outlet pass to score an easy two. This is what HE wanted her to do!!
I think that one of the main things that kept her going was that even though you never spoke highly of her, and barely, if at all mentioned her in an interview, the Globe, Herald, Patriot Ledger, and the commentators on BCAM did. Their unbiased opinions meant more to her than yours ever will. There is a reason why she was in the paper almost every week. They saw what you didn’t. I’m sure you are not interested, but just in case there is a link to follow at the bottom of this email. Don’t even bother watching the whole thing, just listen to the commentators at the beginning.
Oh for fuck’s sake. This guy really just told a 2 time state championship coach to go on an internet chatroom site and read comments from anonymous trolls about how good his daughter is. I mean, she could see for herself what a super star she had in her presence, but, ya know, she hated her. So she intentionally was ignoring her talent, despite the good it would’ve brought to the team, because she was trying to destroy her self esteem.
First you marginzalized her captaincy after she was voted captain unanimously I might add, by suddenly decreeing that every senior was now captain.
Marginalized her captaincy???? What does that even mean?? Here’s the Braintree roster:
You’ll notice that there are five seniors. It’s perfectly understandable that instead of having 3 senior captains, and leaving 2 out, Coach McDonnell elected to have her five seniors be captains:
It’s a cool thing to do. I’d probably do the same. Plus, she’s the coach so she knows the inner dynamics of the team, and if this is what she thought was best, then more power to her. Turtleboy trusts state championship winning coaches who have excelled in high school and college as players.
But according to Dad this somehow waters down or dilutes his daughter’s captaincy. As if it matters who the freaking captains are. What does that even mean? The girl was a 33% captain before, and now she’s just a 20% captain? They go out to talk to the refs at the beginning of the game and shake hands with the other team!! God forbid you have five girls out there instead of three. Wouldn’t want to “marginalize” anyone’s captaincy. Of course it’s safe to assume the kid didn’t even care, and the only one who was bothered by this was Rick Tonetti. These girls really look upset:
This is something you never would have done to the previous seniors, and probably won’t do for you upcoming favorites, unless of course they aren’t elected. I’m also pretty sure that this was also the first time that a returning Comcast all tournament player was not allowed to start in the tournament the following year. By the way, when people see (parent of another girl) Jeff Timberlake talking to all the officials ahead of time and his daughter starts and plays the entire game, it’s not a stretch for even the most naive to see when something is being manufactured.
Translation – I don’t like this other parent of a junior who gets playing tie, so I’m gonna toss his kid under the bus too.
Anyway, this was the final straw for Coach McDonnell. She had had enough of this after eight years, and the previous coach had resigned under similar circumstances. So she resigned in the most bad ass way possible – by forwarding this email to the rest of the parents and letting them know that emails like this were the reason she couldn’t coach anymore. She loves coaching, but she hates the fact that this comes along with it now. It wasn’t this way back in the 90’s, that’s for sure. We would’ve told our parents to sit down and shut up.
Well, after Coach McDonnell quit and put Rick Tonetti on blast, Mom fired up an email too. This is Kim Tonetti:
Her number one concern appears to be making sure that her daughter gets in as many pictures in meaningless, small town newspapers as possible.
An she’s actually a second grade teacher in Quincy:
So she should know a thing or two about obnoxious helicopter parents. But nevertheless, she persisted with an email of her own:
This can’t be real. But it is. Let’s break down Kim’s madness….
What you don’t get to do is tell a group of devastated teenagers who played their hearts out that their parents are rude and a disgrace, because they didn’t talk to you after the game.
She didn’t tell them that. Don’t get me wrong, you were in fact rude and a disgrace. But she never told them that because unlike you she has class and carries herself with professionalism.
Including my husband’s email as a guidance counselor (Coach McDonnell is a guidance counselor in Norwood), as someone who works with students, your reaction is unprofessional and childish at best.
Coach McDonnell is childish? This is coming from a woman who just wrote an email that amounts to second grade playground gossip. “This parent says you suck, and so do a bunch of other parents, so you must suck.” That’s basically the gist of what she wrote.
Sharing the parents letters is unethical, shows absolutely no integrity, and I can’t even begin to express, as a teacher for over thirty years, how completely inappropriate your behavior is.
Your husband just admitted that he told her to quit the team and not play defense. But yea, more lectures about what is an isn’t inappropriate please.
Your intent was to embarrass either the parents or the children or both which you did not succeed in doing, as they echo many other parents’ views. What you did do was to embarrass yourself.
Oh look, another person who thinks emails sent to public employees fall under a magical umbrella of secrecy. Newsflash – once she quits she can do whatever she wants. Her intent was indeed to embarrass the parents as you claimed Kim. Because make no doubt about it – your behavior is EMBARRASSING. You should feel HUMILIATED. The problem is that you don’t, and you see nothing wrong with it.
If you feel strongly about the email your husband sent then you should have nothing to be embarrassed about. But you thought you could get away with berating this woman outside of the public eye, and then you got called out on it. Parents like you are a disease, and for too long you’ve gotten away with your recklessness. Not any more. We’re calling you out one by one until this plague is eradicated.
As for junior parents, you seem to be under the misguided impression that they never question your behavior, your coaching or criticize you. Unlike you, I will not name which parents said what, as I would never try to embarrass them or their children.
Yea, don’t embarrass other people’s children. Just your own.
1. One parent for years has said nothing but negative things about you, even before the child was on the team. Their comments over the years have been….Kristen makes a mockery of this team. I have to walk out of the gym, because I can’t watch her coach.
Oh, you mean an anonymous parent with no coaching experience decided before her princess got to high school that the 2 time state champion coach didn’t meet her expectations? Well then, that settles that!
2. Another junior parent unsolicited “I hate that women over there. I can’t wait until I can write a letter to her.”
The scary part is this woman is a teacher, and she can barely spell or put a sentence together. Oh, and the junior parent she’s talking about is actually her, in case you can’t tell. Dad had no problem throwing the Timberlake’s under the bus. Naming names ins’t a problem for these parents.
3. Another parent during the playoff game was writing out plays for you, because they did not feel you knew what you were doing.
HAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!!! A parent was drawing plays on a napkin during a playoff game that they won!! She actually thinks that matters. You cannot make up this level of stupidity. It’s mind boggling.
4. Another couple rips you apart every time your name is mentioned.
Once again, she’s talking about herself.
So it seems that the junior parents of which 4 share the same views as the senior parents not to mention countless past parents and players. You seem to surround yourself with parents who tell you what you want to hear, but the sad thing is they are the ones who have the most to say about you.
Actually, according to countless past parents, rival coaches, and media members, it seems like people who actually matter have nothing but GREAT things to say about her. Even ask them (including their rival Bishop Feehan):
We have seen first hand how amazing of a person and coach @CoachKristenMcD is. Her presence will surely be missed in this rivalry.
— BFHS Girls BBall (@bfhswbb) April 5, 2017
Girls hoops is losing a great leader, coach and person with @CoachKristenMcD stepping down from @BHSWampsBball D1 South won't be the same! https://t.co/8yCJdar2PP
— CHS Girls Basketball (@Canton_Bulldogs) April 4, 2017
Kristen McDonnell–best of the best. Tough day for the HS coaching world; so proud to call her a family member and friend. #rolemodel https://t.co/xNMWV5fxrZ
— Hopkinton Athletics (@HillerAthletics) April 4, 2017
@CoachKristenMcD much respect for the run you had. Thanks for setting the bar high and challenging us coaches to try and keep up. Good luck!
— lowellbasketball (@lowellhighbball) April 4, 2017
@CoachKristenMcD From one coach to another….great job and good luck on your new adventures. pic.twitter.com/G91kerh4uD
— Coach Bob (@iamgratefulbob) April 5, 2017
Very unfortunate!
https://t.co/1XHEV9M5aj— DS Athletics (@DSRaidersSports) April 4, 2017
Just heard Braintree HS girls hoops coach Kristen McDonnell steps down due to a "parent revolt." Unequivocally, one of best I've covered.
— Bill Burt (@BurtTalksSports) April 4, 2017
Such a shame that parents can't see how lucky they were to have @CoachKristenMcD as their coach. Parents!! https://t.co/LyLt6OEVwJ
— Shaun J (@ShaunJay) April 4, 2017
https://twitter.com/Kristen_Bball/status/849032583094710278
166-25 w/ 2 state and 5 sectional titles over 8 seasons wasn't good enough for some psycho parent. Think about that https://t.co/EChdRO3TMb
— Brendan C. Hall (@BHallUFA) April 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/Jennnaroche/status/849801406869581824
Because Braintree High School is extremely lucky to have such an asset. Oh wait, WAS lucky. Until you ruined it. It’s literally all your fault. Well done.
On Kirk and Callahan this morning they were talking about this story, and agreed that the reporting was incomplete and lazy. They couldn’t understand why a coach would quit because of some emails. But that’s because those guys have never coached high school in the 21st century. Dealing with parents and being politically correct in order to please them is now part of the job. Back in the day you could just yell at them and tell them to stick it. Not anymore. Now Mommy and Daddy will complain to the principal, who is in the business of trying to please everyone and have the least amount of stress possible. And thus the principal will fire a successful coach in a heartbeat if they’re not good at keeping parents from emailing them.
That’s what happened here. The Athletic Director Michael Denice had the coach’s back. But ultimately he is hired by the principal, and the principal can overrule an AD. That’s what happened here. Principal James Lee was too GUTLESS and inept to realize what an invaluable asset he had with Coach McDonnell. And like a spineless coward, he sided with the parents by not putting them in check. Obviously they were out of control. If he had any sort of leadership ability he would’ve called a meeting and let them know who the coach is. Instead he tried to appease these LUNATICS and in the process he let a 2 time state champion coach walk out the door. What kind of candidate are you going to attract for the position now? Who would ever want this job? Answer – a mediocre, inexperienced person looking to collect a stipend.
I hope the Braintree parents, and any other “my kid’s a super star” parents read this. I hope they’re thoroughly embarrassed and humiliated. They’re out of control and need to be checked. A public shaming was in order because it’s the only way they will learn that this will NOT be tolerated any longer. We blame millenials a lot for everyone getting a trophy. But they didn’t buy the trophies. Parents like this did.
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152 Comment(s)
none of you are objective. the dads email…if those thing are true thats why she quit. people/coaches have limited emotional bandwidth. people/coaches have to choose who they will prefer, promote and develope. coach obviously feels that she failed some of those girls. thats why she quit. file it under “the truth hurts”.
I like how you completely dismiss high school sports “politics”… I have witnessed in many, many, many ways over the years.
During varsity tryouts the coach always explains that they are going to put the kids on the floor that puts the team in the best situation to win. Obviously she was doing a good job with all the success they had. Once you get to the varsity level coaches don’t care about playing time, they are brought in to win. If they wanted to worry about getting the kids in the game that don’t contribute as much as the best players on the team they would’ve coached JV or freshman where it’s about everyone getting playing time more than wins and losses. She was just doing what she was told to do, win. She wants to put the kid on the floor that can make 10 shots a game, get 5 asssists, 7 rebounds and be a factor on the defensive end of the floor . Not the kid that is going to score 4 points get 1 assist and let the person they are guarding blow by them every possession
Some parents would rather have their kid be all-state rather than state champ.
I always say, I would rather be officiating than coaching. It’s not the players, well in most cases it’s not, it the dang overbearing parents. There is a reason why your on the sidelines and this young coach is teaching your child! If you think/thought you could do a better job, you now have a chance….wait, your kids graduated so you really don’t give to craps about next year’s team. This coach sounds like a pretty good one and will definitely end up coaching somewhere else but if not, we could always use more officials that know the game!!!!
Omg this is so perfect it’s almost scary! Lolol
“Kristen” is derived from the Greek word “Christos” (latinized to “Christ”) and means “anointed one” or “savior” AND its Easter season. I therefore present:
“The Passion of the Kristen”
Part I: The agony in the garden
Kristen was in the garden of Gethsemane, praying with her assistant coaches. There were rumors swirling of discontent among the basketball parents, who only one week before, had welcomed her into Braintree by throwing palms at her feet.
A cohort of BHS athletic department employees arrived to arrest Kristen. Leading them was Judas “Mike Denise” Iscariot. He had told them to arrest the one whom he kissed. He greeted Kristen with a kiss on the cheek.
The BHS athletic employees rushed to arrest Kristen. Peter “Tom Herlihy” defended Kristen, cutting of the ear of one of the BHS employees.
“Stay thy hand, Tom,” Kristen ordered.
“But, Lord,” he protested, “you let my girls stay in meaningless blowouts so they could rack up 1,000 points against demoralized teams. I can’t let them treat you so poorly!”
“My father’s will be done!”
She then healed the BHS employee and allowed herself to be arrested.
Judas Mike was so upset at what he’d done that instead of returning the 30 pieces of silver he was paid by the parents, he went back to his job and said nothing to the press except to say how sad he was–and to hint, darkly, that it was all the parents’ fault.
Part 2: Pontius “James Lee” Pilate confronts the parents:
“I have questioned this coach and I find she has committed no crime,” he said to the parents.
“Fire her!”
“Fire her!”
“She has 160+ wins, two state championships, and once had a 63 game winning streak!”
“We don’t care! My kid didn’t play enough. Fire her!”
It was customary for the BHS athletic dept to spare one coach a year from being fired. Pontius James reminded them of this.
“Shall I spare this coach Kristen?” he asked the parents.
Now there was an assistant coach for the boy’s baseball team named Barrabas who was pretty terrible at his job.
“Spare Barrabas!”
Pontius James was surprised. “Are you sure?”
“We want Barrabas!”
And Barrabas was spared. But Pontius James was left with a quandry: what to do with Kristen? Again he asked the parents: “What shall I do with her?”
“Fire her!”
“Fire her!”
Pontius James then decided that Kristen had violated no BHS athletic guidelines and tried to hand her over to parents to decide her fate.
“You are the BHS athletic department! You decide her fate!”
“But what shall I do with her?!”
“Fire her!”
“Fire her!”
Pontius James then caused a basin of water to be brought before him. He put his hands in it and said:
“I wash my hands of this act. This coach’s firing will be on your heads.”
“Let it be on our heads and on the heads of our descendants.”
“But guys, Kristen’s going to take cellphone pictures of the crazy e-mails you sent her and leak them onto social media.”
“We don’t care! Let Kristen leak the cellphone pictures of our crazy e-mails and the cellphone pictures of the crazy e-mails of our descendants onto social media!”
“But guys I can’t just fire a successful coach. What’ll she do for employment. She’ll starve!”
“Let her continue be a guidance counselor at Norwood High School.”
And Pontius James made it so. And coach Kristen “resigned” with “a heavy heart” and three day’s later went back to work in Norwood. And BHS athletics searched in vain for 40 days and 40 nights for a coach who’d coach its dysfunctional girls basketball program, until the hiring committee decided to promote Barrabas.
Exeunt
WOW I can’t wait to see what the team does next year, with these parents as coaches!!!
For people shaming the author for this subject matter, take into consideration just how many kids are in the US. Between 15-18 million kids this year will attend school-private and public-for the 9th through 12th grade. This isn’t just a piece about a coach. It’s a piece about rabid parents and a system that is failing because it tries to appease everyone, while ultimately failing almost everyone instead. Teacher, coach, admin…whatever role they play, this is an issue that is pervasive in our education system. And it’s why our teachers aren’t teaching anymore, at least not in the US. They are going into higher fields like college education, or traveling broad where being a teacher or coach comes with some authority and dignity.
I’ve seen a number of friends that are in the education share this story; clearly it strikes at a nerve for many of them. So don’t degrade it simply because you cannot comprehend just how terrible our current state of affairs is.
checks and balances man. the legislative/parents impeached the executive/coach. high school games only have 160 minutes of playing time. a good coach will have managed this and the expectations of the parents. #dothemath
my parents said “shut up and listen to the coach no one’s twisting your arm to play”
I’ve met all the people in this saga personally and none of them are the cartoon characters they’re portrayed as here.
The families are decent people and don’t deserve this. Coach Kristen is too.
Yes, some parents are definitely nuts but I’ve been an assistant coach on several teams and some of the people i’ve assisted were maladjusted children who didn’t have the sense to be embarrassed at their own behavior. The stuff they did makes these e-mails seem tame in comparison. I had to pull one lunatic of a coach off a player after he missed a foul shot…and he was back coaching next season!
And good lord, the martyr complex some of these coaches have…you’d think they were trying to cure pediatric cancer! It’s like watching “The Passion of the Coach”.
There are many wonderful coaches but enough with the idea that every coach is Jesus, Buddha, & Ghandi mixed together!
There’s more to this story than “helicopter parents going nuts”. The letters, while of questionable appropriateness, aren’t horrific. And why has any of the ridiculousness gotten out and not handled professionally and internally?! Braintree Athletics could have handled this better.
Bella, Keela, and Scerpa are seniors. The basketball season is over. These girls and their “crazy” parents are gone forever in two months. Why resign now? Why not write back, explain your position, and regret your difference of opinion? Why not even say, hey I have a .900 winning percentage, two state titles, bleep you!
My guess is that she got zero support from the principal and AD. That’s why she quit. Not because of the emails.
The principal and AD have much more insite into what went on than we do. So if they did not support her, maybe she was not completely innocent in this. I am sure they are furious about the emails getting out in public and causing problems at the school. And all the negative publicity. I’d be surprised if she can get another coaching job in Massachusetts. It was unethical, spiteful, and I am not even sure if it was legal (seems like it would violate students right to privacy laws),
and it put students at risk.
Good for this wonderful woman coach! Better things ahead for her, unlike for these poor Srs. If they are heading to college they are already screwed! Good job parents! Hope you live with yourselves okay. I am so happy none of you were not burdened with a daughter with a physical disability, imagine them not being the superstar ball players like your daughters. Or imagine your child having CF like my dear friend, jeez what a loser she would be not able to breathe enough to run the court. Jeez so sorry you all got totally healthy dtrs who got so screwed with this horrible coach!
You should all be ashamed of yourselves! Truth is, your poor dtrs are so far worse off than my friend with CF !
Bwahaa…how does an “email” “force” anyone to resign? Did it jump out of her computer & demand her resignation? Sounds like something an AD does
And why has no one mentioned that this psycho coach obviously gave turtleboy d-bags the emails from these psycho parents? Who else would have? The parents? No. The Braintree AD? Yeah I’m sure they looove being part of this shit show!!! So much better than winning a championship lol they’re thrilled that someone sent cellphone pics of employee emails out
Hmmm maybe the bitter coach who lost the big game and wanted to give the parents a giant FU as she took her ball and went home?
Sounds like they all deserve each other lololol
Whoa man! Too much. I mean all around too much. It’s a freaking basketball game folks.
I don’t even know where to begin regarding Braintree parents. I am speechless. My husband and I have had two children go to BHS and both played varsity sports. Throughout their sports career, we have always supported the coach and allowed the coach to do their job. We had respect for the coach and taught our children the same. Someone needs to teach these parents the importance of respect for these coaches. We have always been proud to be a Braintree resident and supporter of the BHS teams. The selfish behavior of these parents is truly shameful. What a loss to BHS and all the girls who wanted to play on this coach’s team.
You got the coach’s name wrong in the freaking headline, and then continue on to rip “MSM” for the integrity of their reporting. I mean, come on haha.
Oh this is before posting personal information about the family members of the high school students involved – who probably already feel bad enough. The parents may be in the wrong, but I doubt the students want more attention. Too bad for them, I guess?
Q
Kim and Rick Tonetti – how do you look in the mirror each morning? Better yet, how does your daughter have the inner strength to look at you each dy?
Parents need to relax. I BET if this coach was a male that father would have NEVER written this e-mail. He seems like a sexist pig who doesn’t value equality and chose to take advantage of the fact that the head coach was a female. Also, I BET this athlete went home and cried to mommy and daddy because she wasn’t the super star. This is not how the real world works, parents should be teaching their kids to apply themselves and work hard for recognition, not just expect unearned praise. She’s a senior in high school, probably 18 years old. Grow TF up
This resignation is very odd and there surely is much behind it. This article, however, does little to illuminate it. The emails seem annoying and overreaching by parents, but hardly qualify as “insane”. The parents seem wrong in their positions, oddly focusing a lot of energy on how much time the coach spent speaking about their daughters for “press” stories that were likely only read by friends and family anyway. It is, after all, high school sports in Greater Boston, which are largely swallowed up in the sports media by coverage of pro teams and, to a much lesser extent, college. Their whining does not seem like it would be enough to push out this highly successful coach. There has to be more to it.
The article’s writing is very poor, by the way. Strange to see so many errors from a writer who kicks on others’ writing so much.
Anything that happens in a negative light to their daughter is a direct result of their actions. Having a daughter myself I wouldn’t ever do anything like their emails to the coach as I would actually think “could this negatively effect my daughter” and if the answer is yes, I wouldn’t ever do it. Job #1 of a parent is to protect their children. The second they let their egos get involved they exposed their daughter to all of this BS. I am disgusted by many of the comments here but those are also on the parents that wrote the emails because those emails started the snowball effect that is this trash excuse for journalism. Good job parents..this is all on you.
The girl is probably more embarrassed by her “parents” behavior.
These parents are a joke. As a previous high school basketball player there are always parents who think their kids are amazing and should be starting or getting more time. Coach McDonnell has coached multiple now Division I and II basketball players. I think she knows who is really good and who is not and who should be getting a lot of time and who should not. These parents need a reality check and need to realize that they just ruined high school basketball for all the underclassman who respected the coach and the program. Selfish. BTW the rumors were that Coach “favored” the underclassman and juniors…..so their statements about the junior parents are flat out lies. Coach should head to college basketball, where the players and their parents have grown up and realized that sometimes your kid is not the best and life just isn’t always fair!!
My question is…who the hell would ever want to coach at this cesspool of a program, given the parents you have to deal with and the administration you would have to work for?
Something missing here. I live north of Boston and have never seen a girl’s high school basketball game. Furthermore I do not know anybody named in this article. That stated, there has to be more background info out there. All of the girls in the team must have come up through a local elite or AAU team. They were friends or at the very least, knew each other as did their parents. There was an unstated pecking order. The players knew it as did their parents; i.e., my daughter is good but not as good as Rebecca is. At the high school varsity level, something upset that pecking order. This wasn’t like going to B.C. averaging 25 PPG in H.S. and being beat out by a better recruit from the state of Florida or New Jersey. From the ages of 12 -16, these girls knew who the best shooters in Braintree were, the best rebounders, etc., etc..suddenly and without explanation, your daughter is now primarily a defender when in fact, she had out scored other players the last 3-4 years. If her NEW team role was not properly explained, or sold, by Coach McDonnell , I can understand the frustration from parents like the Tonetti’s. Yes, the team did win but subjectively (aren’t most parents subjective ? ), some parents felt that their daughters were not given a fair chance to fully display their ability. Its human nature. I don’t agree with the coach “outing” a few parents because my guess is she was more upset with the lack of support from her employers than anything the parents said or did. I’d also be willing to bet that like Urban Meyer at Florida, she’ll show up at some other school soon. I think there is a part of this story not being told
I agree with your assessment about the known “pecking order.” That’s pretty much true anywhere and in any sport, from middle school up through high school. What can upset the talent pecking order is coachability. That is, how receptive is a player to being coached?
I’ve experienced it myself and seen it with others: A kid with more natural talent doesn’t follow instructions, dogs it in practice, uses pissy body language, etc., and loses a starting position A kid with less talent listens to the coach and goes all-out to accomplish the coach’s objectives – that kid gets to play, while the talented kid (and parents) sulk and make their situation even worse. I don’t know if that’s what happened in this case, but it’s not unlikely.
A good coach usually knows best! And, judging from results, Coach McDonnell was a damn good coach.
I am in no way condoning the emails from the parents, but what I find interesting is that the emails seem to be in response to emails they received from the coach. And the emails the coach sent them has been conveniently omitted. Why? Did she email these parents who seem to dispise her, to wish their daughters the best of luck? And they just completely went nuts?
Thankfully, the kids usually turn out nicer than their dooshey parents. They see how F’d up they are…
I am an AD at a high school, and these emails are, unfortunately all too common these days. In every email that I get to complain about a coach, there are one of three statements made:
1. Please don’t tell me kid I sent this email. (check)
2. I’ve done some coaching myself. (check- parent mentions another parent writing up plays to impress others of their knowledge of the game)
3. I’m not the only one who feels this way. (check and check!)
In youth sports, parents are the real problem. It’s not the coaches. Sure there are some bad coaches, and some that shouldn’t be near kids. But the overwhelming number of parents are just deplorable.
I’d hire Coach McDonnell any day, just to help put my parents on notice.
Real reporting does not have typos or start sentences with and. Great topic, but delivered poorly.
Kim Tonetti douche bag irregular should be tested for syphillis or given an IQ test. This dumb whore can’t write a cohesive and grammatically correct sentence to save herself from tripping on her tampon string, but she is a teacher! As for her husband, history has a way of confirming that decent looking men marry ugly dumb women so they can either hit the glory hole booths in RI or strip clubs or both. It’s a shame that they reproduced, they should have been born sterile. Despite these two the child is regarded as intelligent and has a conscience. Someone please get the dumb whore teacher a dictionary and some English writing classes before her STD infected grey matter infects another child with irreversible stoopidity!
This is unacceptable. There is no need to make such commentary or degrade another person in this fashion. Stop.
Why were the girls so tired the day of the big game? No sleep?
I have officiated high school and college basketball for over 20 years and have officiated multiple Braintree teams led by Coach McD. Not once have they ever been ill prepared or poorly organized. These parents need to get a life and let their children lead theirs. This an embarrassment to Braintree, its high school and all those involved!!
Is anyone else annoyed at the mobile load time? Needs a new site platform/compress image files and/or “ads”
I’m please to announce that we have filled the coaching vacancies. Here are your 2017-18 coaches:
Head Coach- Rick Tonetti
Asst. Coach- Hakeem Dixon
JV Coach: Michelle Scarpa
Freshman Coach: Kim Tonetti
Looking forward to another great season.
GO WAMPS!!
Truly.
Wamps AD.
Anyone else think that maybe the coach should’ve just grown a pair and moved on?
Every parent mentioned in the article is a fucking clown. EVERYONE ONE OF THEM!!!
Well thanks , I know which teacher I won’t be letting teach my Quincy second grader !! Psycho
Agreed… My thoughts exactly
The biggest change in athletics has been the “I / Me generation”. What is in it for me? How many awards will I receive? What college will offer me that full ride?
I am really worried about our current generation. I know that has been a common theme across he ages, the current generation is doomed. However, with past generations, coaches and leaders were respected. Team members were team players. Authority was the authority.
Now, it’s more about the individual and what did the coach or teacher do to wrong by my kid?
Parents, there is a procedures in place if you or your child has issues with the coach. Use it. It’s called due process. Don’t hide behind an email. Try face to face. If you can’t do face to face and use technology instead, you are a coward. In my world, cowards have no say!
I have taught and coached at the high school level for 35 years. I have experience dealing with parents. I never compromised my principles and I have always put what is best for the TEAM above everything else. If your child plays a TEAM sport, you too, must buy in. If you can’t, then keep your personal thoughts to yourself, support your child and let them grow on their own. This will help them more in the long run than having you coming to their rescue every time they face adversity.
Shame on those coward parents!
Where the hell was the athletic director when all this was happening? How can the article say he had her back it looks like he did nothing but let it happen.
I have been in coaching and broadcasting at many levels for the past 40 years… I had the pleasure of broadcasting several high pressure games involving Braintree High School girls teams. I can tell you with no reason for bias . You just let a future Hall of Famer walk out the door. I would welcome your calls any Sunday evening on WATD from 5-7PM
Kristin was always professional and cooperative in my dealings with her and leaves very big shoes to fill . Good Luck. BILL WILHELM 95.9 FM WATD
“As a teacher for over 30 years” … maybe she should know how inappropriate her and her husband are with their tough guy emails . Dad also “hopes his daughter never sees this ” .. I learned in middle school if I don’t want it seen , I probably shouldn’t write it ! Time to face it mom and dad , if the teams doing that well without your kid being the “superstar” your kids probably not better than whoever is on the court . I say good for the coach for getting out of that environment.
This is a problem everywhere. It’s happening more and more. Spineless administration taking the easy way out and letting the coach walk. This isn’t Rec League anymore, it’s high school. You are not guaranteed playing time of any sort. You earn everything you get. This was a very harsh article. But an incredibly honest, fact based article. This specific story I think is a big deal because it’s never happened to such a high profile coach before. And He’s absolutely right at the end as well. Who in the hell is going to want to coach at Braintree after this. These parents made this an incredibly undesirable place to coach. I bet you that Timberlake girl transfers out as well for the good of her potential basketball career.
Work for BU. Didn’t see that one coming but higher ed is a nice safe space to re-enforce the daughter is another victim of imaginary wrongs.
Rick Tonetti looks like a real POS. We all know the type. Arrogant. Probably himself spoiled as a kid. A complete bore at cookouts. In fact they type you try not to invite ever.
First off: politics 100% cause favoritism on sports teams all the time. I’ve had it happen to me personally and am currently watching it happen to my cousin. The issue is it’s usually not the coaches fault they have to play certain kids. A lot of the time it’s play those kids or get fired because the parents are apart of the school board or close with the higher ups. Seems like this coach would rather drown in her own puke than do that so she quit. Don’t blame her. But be careful not to push the notion that politics don’t exist in HS sports because they do and it leads to nasty bullying as well.
It’s pretty pathetic to see all you adults caring so much about a high school basketball team. I hope that by traumatizing the children of the parents mentioned that your day gets marginally better. And for those of you that believe that the children aren’t being hurt by these ridiculous stories, just try and put yourself in their shoes. How would you like it if complete strangers were calling your parents “douchebags” because they’re only hearing one biased side of the story? How would you like it if your reputation, along with your parents, is being destroyed, especially in your senior year of highschool? Honestly, expected to see more decent people in the comments, but I guess a trashy website really only get trashy commentators. At least the “fake” journalists were able to get comments from the parents, and not have to snoop through Facebook to get information on the parents like a jealous ex-girlfriend.
Awwww poor snowflake. Stay in your safe space for the night. Hope you’re not triggered. BTW there’s only 2 genders no matter what your generation says.
Seeing as how you referred to it as “my generation”, I’m going to safely assume that you’re one of the pathetic adults I mentioned in my previous post. Please realize you’ve wasted your time by attacking my radical liberal views of being aware of children’s feelings. And don’t worry about my safe space, seeing as you’re probably the type that gets triggered when someone mentions taking your precious guns away. You can take your Make American Great Again and Hillary Lied bumper stickers and shove them up your ass, seeing as that’s where you keep your most advanced thoughts and beliefs.
Either way you sound like a little pussy.
Not high school, but we do care about how these parents are improperly raising these kids. Why shouldn’t we? Its apart of todays problem in society. The I deserve everything without working for it mentality. Stop whining.
FYI Herlihy loves the spot light hypocrite if i ever saw one Sat next to him for a few HS games doesn’t understand anything just his kids stats.
Wait…. you’re bashing a guy whose kids aren’t even on the team anymore? Because he publicly defended the coach?! Just looked it up and see that his kids are playing Div 1 BBall at Villanova. Maybe you should take a hint at how to be a sports parent from him. As you say, he understands nothing but his kids’ stats as opposed to you, disgruntled parent, who apparently knows it all. Seems his approach of supporting the coach and the team by allowing the coach to coach was on point. Worked out beautifully for his girls, the team, the coach, the high school, the town….and Villanova!
Is he the team spokesman, we saw him on the news and in the paper? I’m from Braintree if he is embarrassed for the town by this , why keep being the fore front. Again has nothing to do with him why be involved. It now has something to do with me since it is bringing up filth of my town.
Wow! This was a fun read. COMMON SENSE! This just barely scratches the surface of a systemic issue in this when it comes to crazy sports parents.
Just don’t…actually stop don’t know what your trying to get out of this article but it’s not working
There maybe a better way to go about this, but coach Kristen had known what she was getting into with the Tonnetti family. At last count she played on 6 or 7 different AAU teams in 8 years! Parents talk shit about everyone. Reminder to all coaches, if someone is willing to talk shit about someone to you, imagine what they say about you behind your back!
Why the fuck are you writing about a Massachusetts Division I high school team?
What do you think you are? A sports journal based in Massachusetts?
Realist- you’re an idiot. I thought the best part of this was putting the parents and their pictures on blast. This has NOTHING to do with the kids. Whatsoever. I don’t know how anyone that can read can’t understand that. That’s the ENTIRE point of the article. Are you an upset parent on blast? Or friends or family with one of them? Because that would make sense
I’m happy those parents are on here and are called out. They deserve it. I live in southern CT and have been following this. And the coach is right to quit. I played basketball in high school and went undefeated in my three years at the school I transferred to, and parents knew better than to get in the way. Because we WON. They did too. So why mess it up. Because you’re child isn’t winning a team award? I’d be mortified if those were my parents. Terrible parents who only think about themselves
Parents need to realize not all kids are going to the olympics . Let the coach do their job. If you’re not satisfied volunteer. This way you can see the routine.
Just missing a murder & a pregnancy and this plot has Netflix written all over it
If the coach is a public employee and she is receiving emails in that role, then those emails are automatically considered to be public record and can be requested under the public records act.
And any emails between the AD, the principal and the coach are also public record. TB could request those emails by filling out a simple form with Braintree city hall. With the new law just passed, it is much easier to get those requests fulfilled in a timely fashion. This is why parents should be very careful about what they put in writing to a public employee. In my opinion, TB was absolutely correct to publish those emails. They are public record. There is no “right” to privacy here actual or implied. I also would characterize the parents as bullying the coach. Do not try to privately bully a coach by creating a public record of the bullying in doing so.
“We do not want to embarrass kids for the sins of their parents…” [but you know we’re still gonna list the kids’ names, plaster pictures of them on the web site, and post their parents’ pictures, and snapshots from their parent’s facebook pages, and let them know where their parents work, etc…]
“so we want to make it clear that none of this is the fault of the children.” [It’s the fault of their parents, people these children love and people whom we’ve portrayed as ridiculous caricatures…]
Yeah, turtleboy is a real *bastion* of journalistic integrity.
“Yeah, turtleboy is a real *bastion* of journalistic integrity.”
I bet you watch a lot of CNN…hahahahaha! They’re super credible and have loads of integrity. LMAO!
… apparently there is a story out about ‘superstar’ Bella the night before the State Finals this year and who she was with…sounds like the parents created this little prima donna…
How much of a turd are you? She’s a high school kid, not friggin’ J-Law.
As a former 20 year veteran High school boy’s Basketball Coach I couldn’t help but have flashbacks of these unrealistic self absorbed parents who feel they have the right to attack a coach who Probrably knows these kids better than the parents do, spends more time with these kids than their parent do, and most likely teaches them the importance of what it is really like to be part of a team win or loose.
Coaching is a skill and a talent that not all are cut out to do. The last thing a young teenage athlete needs is a micro-managing parent playing Monday morning quarter back. After all, it is really our jobs as coaches to help mold these you capable people to be productive members of society and help to get them ready for the roadblocks and struggles in life they will encounter along the way. The amount of trophy’s and newspaper articles will never be as valuable as the support, encouragement and constructive criticism that coaches hand out throughout a high school career is most times remember for years after they graduate from high school. So parents keep in mind that for me and any other coach who have put in countless hours and time trout the years are in no way in it for the money, that ends up being about 12 cents an hour during the course of a season, they do it for the love of the game and the satisfaction of playing a role in developing young men and woman to be super stars in the game of life.
I totally understand that what this parent did was so wrong, and it definitely deserves some attention and discussion, but I don’t think this article was done tastefully at all.
I was a student athlete, and unfortunately, at the end of my senior season, my parents wrote an email to the coach about how I was treated unfairly. They did this without my knowledge at all, and when I found out, I didn’t speak to them for close to a month. I was humiliated. I knew that my coach wasn’t “out to get me.” If that email had been released with my full name and pictures of me and my parents, I would’ve received so much hate and backlash that I didn’t deserve, because I had no idea my parents were writing that email. Had I known they were going to, I would’ve gone as far to break their computer to stop it. Now, this poor girl is going to be seen as the main reason why they lost their beloved coach, when she quite possibly had no idea her dad was doing this. It seems in the email, that she actually has a much better attitude than her dad. However, not a lot of people will see it that way. People are ruthless and now this girl is at the center of a conflict that she didn’t start.
You should really consider the damage you could do before posting someone’s information. High school is hard enough as it is, this girl doesn’t need all the bashing that’s going to come her way due to your article.
I agree and disagree with this because the parents should have also considered the damage they could do by writing the email in the first place. As a parent of a high schooler and a rec league coach, parents stick to parenting (which does not include trying to blame shift like the parents in this article do) and let the coaches concentrate on coaching.
I agree that the parents should’ve considered the damage, but they clearly didn’t. Doesn’t mean the girl should suffer because they did something stupid. Parents need to think about how their actions affect their kids
Disagree. Put it on the parents, not on someone shining a light on a problem. That’s very shortsighted. Time to stop cuddling kids and parents.
Yes, kids should toughen up and start taking responsibility for their actions. BUT, in this case, it’s not her actions, it’s her parents. She doesn’t deserve backlash for something she didn’t do. If you think she does, you’re just unreasonable and enjoy controversy as long as you’re not the one facing the consequences.
All I know is that John Leroy wouldn’t have taken that sh*t from the parents.
Good to know the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Not that I want to put this child on blast but Bella Tonetti is known as the bully in high school not the selfless team mate her father proclaims. I think this is a good life lesson that your words and actions have consequences. Maybe this will be a humbling lesson. I commend the coach for doing this. Signed from a parent of a child that was bullied by your daughter!
Figures
Hello, I’m actually not known as a bully and if your child has ever had any problems with me at all I would love to know because I can assure you I have never once “bullied” a kid.
Whats the matter Bella? Truth coming out…huh, mommy and daddy’s good girl not so perfect after all. Here’s a taste of what life is like after high school…Buckle-up and my advice is keep quiet and take another swing of your cheap ass alcohol that you bummed off your friend’s parents. I know you have worked hard, you don’t want all that hard work to go to waste. Tell the parents to put a sock in it as well. And maybe if you all learn to keep quiet, you can be just as mediocre as your parents. Damn parents feeding their kids with false confidence leads to cocky seniors like you who THINK they know a couple of things. Life is going to chew you up and spit you out…get ready. #BellaisaBully
Bella – no idea whether you are a bully or not… But your parents need to let you experience the world. Take those hits that define us all. They did bully the coach, and I bet she will have no ill will against you. Coaches (at least my coaches) would forgive the kid. You will grow, you will learn.
Hey Bella just to let you know you are known as a bully and there have been multiple instances where you have gone out of your way to make people’s lives a living hell! It’s nice to know that you are experiencing the same things you put us through everyday! Maybe people don’t want to come forward because they are afraid that you are going to torture them like you do everyone else around you! Karma sucks doesn’t it?
If anyone knows bella tonetti they would know that she is one of the most loyal and caring people. She is in no way a bully and for a parent to sit behind a social media website and harrass a teenager is pretty pathetic you should probably get a life. I am lucky to call her a friend
Well maybe she’s nice but her parents are awful human beings. Entitled scum.
How is it harassment because she simply stated that Bella bullied her daughter? Might want to understand a word’s meaning before you start throwing it around like that. Sounds like you’re the Karen to Bella’s Regina. Harassment is what her parents are guilty of with the coach!
This is prob the mom or sister gassing her up. The WHOLE Tonetti family is SO pathetic. Just shut it and I’ll keep quiet. So glad this is your last year at BHS, you have made my time in Braintree AWFUL. #BellaisaBully
Anyone who knows bella tonetti knows that she is one of the most loyal and caring people in the world. She is in a no way a bully and for a grown adult to sit behind a computer screen and harass a teenage girl is pretty pathetic and immature! The only bully here is you!
Is there an echo in here…..?
Thanks for posting Mrs. Tonetti!
I had sumfin like dat happen to me once. Coach Lamah said CHIPPAH GET BACK ON DA BENCH because I wasn’t playin to good. Maybe de kids should stop gettn’ so fawhkin zooted before gamessss…HOMERUN chippahson
Fawk yah! Do you know Lamah? He said my muddah had a lot of cushion…he fawkin bullied the OL chippah
“Good to know the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Not that I want to put this child on blast but [that’s exactly what I’m going to do] Bella Tonetti is known as the bully in high school not the selfless team mate her father proclaims. I think this is a good life lesson that your words and actions have consequences [Unless you post them anonymously, then don’t worry]. Maybe this will be a humbling lesson [public shaming over something she had not control over brings condemnation and potshots from anonymous trolls]. I commend the coach for doing this [resigning when things got tough and leaking e-mails to a second rate blog]. Signed [No, hon, you didn’t actually sign anything] from a parent of a child that was bullied by your daughter!
Errrrrrrrrr………?
Turtleduv. Is that your born name??? Reveal myself like you did??? Why so my child can become a victim again? No thank you.
Just another example of how parents ruin a season…. in 20 years those girls will remember playing at the garden, and now sadly the coach resigning. I blame AAU for opening up the lines of communication with coaches…. The worst part is I guarantee the Daddy Coach who is complaining about playing time started his email with “Bella doesn’t know I’m writing this”. How many of those kids actually spoke with the coach about playing time? As a guidance counselor, I’m sure she can hold a conversation with a 17 year old girl. Also, lots of ignorant comments blaming the AD. School admins are required to be at games…. and sports are considered an “extension of the school day”. How can admins lets parents behave this way towards a contracted school employee??? Just a sad daddy and mommy with time on their hands…. I bet Bella puts up 20 in B level AAU games. Everyone gets a trophy
Playing the un athletic Jew card.
Wow you prejudice fuck! Get a fucking life!
Are you kidding me? You are beyond pathetic. How dare you bring religion into it. You are what’s wrong with this world. You gross me out and your “point” is irrelevant. Pretty sure that “unathletic jew” is playing college basketball! But good one! Much love from another “unathletic jew”
The AD at Braintree is a POS
Braintree athletics… same song, same dance. Just a couple parents who coached their, “All-star,” their entire life, upset that their kid isn’t getting much playing time. I’m sure its not because your daughter was dogging it one day after polishing off a bottle of rubinoff down Watson Park the night before. Why not call a meeting yourself if all the other parents were upset? Did that hair gel finally reach your brain dad and you forgot you can do that. If a parent ever sent me an email because they were unhappy with their kids playing time, I would ask them to talk to a kid who got cut and wasn’t getting any playing time. There’s a few girls playing D1 and Ivy League because of McDonnell. Tell your kids to get the bottle out of their mouth the night before a game. Don’t drive a beloved coach out of town because your glory days as the Braintree Youth Basketball Coach of the Weekend days are long gone.
*mic drop
It would make since if what you say was true about the kids. But you got it backwards. These are the kids whose parents do NOT coach them. All the parents you are talking about are the ones she personally thanked. And I believe she is even a part of their AAU program that runs the town. And the owner of program has kid on team, which would make him her employer. His kid was quite happy with team. The kids/parents that have been humiliated are not a part of the “clique” and play for different AAU teams . They were 4 year varsity players. One started all 4 years other one 6th person off bench. They are a major part in the coach winning all the awards she has. They are key players. And she would not have gotten where she is without them. Point blank. So basketball and playing time is not the issue. One is an all scholastic player and holds the schools highest scoring record since 2006. And will continueplaying at prestigious school. Her coach did not help. They are good kids. Members of honor society and great players. They have contributed majorly to Braintree High as students and as athletes. They did not deserve this from their coach. If she could do this to them, is it really that hard to believe she could have treated them horribly when they played for her?
Politics has everything to do with this whole situation.
This is all too real in athletics and academics.
Recently I explained to a parent that I had cancer and my treatments prevented me from grading essays in a timely fashion.
The parent then responded with an email describing how much worse her spouse’s cancer was than mine (of which she knows zero details) and it was no excuse.
I backed off, knowing you can’t fight crazy. She wins, and I live to fight another day.
I didn’t have Kim Tonetti but many of my friends did and she was/is an amazing teacher and you have no right to bash her when you don’t even know her.
I didn’t have Kim Tonetti but many of my friends did and she was/is an amazing teacher and you have no right to bash her when you don’t even know her. Think before you speak.
Do you want to post it for a third, fourth, or fiftieth time? She may be an amazing teacher but she sucks at parenting and life in general!
The coach is a winner. Move on to Division one college, you deserve more than this.
You’ll be real successful in Div One college because parents of college basketball players are *totally* nice and rational. Just ask Lavar Ball! And there’s no pressure at all!
But don’t worry, coach, you can always just resign again in the face of adversity! That’s what the great ones do…
This is one of the most disgusting articles I have ever seen. You are doing nothing but exposing the children and probably making it even harder for them to go to school. Your intent to defend the coach in turn will make these girls’ lives a living hell. To out the parents who sent private emails while also including their place of work is disgusting and low. I couldn’t even focus on the crazy emails sent by the parents because I was too concerned with the way you grossly displayed children’s’ names and highly personal information about the parents. This article popped up on my facebook newsfeed and you should be ashamed of yourself for even calling this journalism. This “journalism” has no integrity and the point you are trying to make, which was probably right and justified, now is tarnished with your slander. Best of luck to the coach, she seemed to be one of the greats, it’s a shame the parents have to get involved like this, but even more a shame you put the children on blast, whether or not that was your intent.
The only thing disgusting in this article is the parents. Publishing their emails is not slanderous as it is not oral, nor is it the correct term libelous, it was written with their own hands. Go to the games, cheer for your kid’s teams, and praise your children when they deserve it. Be a spectator, not a spectacle, leave the coaching to the coaches.
Grossly displayed children’s names? It’s a team roster that anyone can google. Those parents are clearly ignorant, overbearing assholes. Their actions shouldn’t reflect poorly on their daughter. The only disgusting thing is the behavior of these grown ass adults. Best of luck to the coach in her future endeavors while the Tonetti’s pursue another victim.
The parents put their children on blast. That coach has a reputation and a career to worry about. She did a phenomenal job and was unjustly bashed for it. They were very fortunate to have that coach and ruined it for future players, parents, and fans with their selfishness. As a coach different strategies are used for different players in different situations in order to motivate. Some players require praise, some require a challenge, some are fueled by doubters, etc. If you want your kid to just play and not grow as a person from the experience, than you should probably play something else or play basketball at a less competitive level.
Anne settle down, the kids won’t be harassed for this…. and even if they were; they are seniors. They’ll survive. It’s literally like one more month. This was a great blog and those parents should be shamed.
Looks like you are one of the parents. Their children aren’t screwed up because of this article, but because they were raised by those nut jobs. Liberal helicopter parents at their finest! Tell those parents to act like adults and they won’t have to be outed! Your “its always someone else’s fault” attitude is what’s wrong with parenting today. Blame these crazy parents and no one else.
Anne, your diatribe seems very familiar or should I say FAMILIAL? The parents have been well and truly out of order. If they have issues with the manner of things they should have approached the coach in a professional manner and not with snide comments, divisive actions and self serving words. You might want to rethink your lowly position on this as it is clear the ones involved have created the hardship for their own children and others. As a parent it would be a severe mistake to include one of my children or others in their masquerade of a parade. Those parents should have stood up loud and proud and not bother with cocktail napkins which clearly came with some highly toxic drinks. The district, school, local sports and most of all the children now miss out on what it takes to be a winner. The avenue of parents behaving this way and to spew hateful words or protest by tying themselves to a tree, metaphorically speaking, embarrasses the rest of the team and the other parents. With proper guidance, hard work and character the parents may learn that it is about the big picture not the pictures in the paper. This is something the AD, Principle, District and other parents should have prevented. Those that have supported the Coach, who is also a person, should be upset and rightly so. These school yard antics should never be allowed to happen. Shame on those parents and shame on the school for not taking action and doing the right thing for all.
“Grossly displayed children’s names” The rosters are on the schools athletic page and the MIAA web page. “Highly personal information” You mean public information that anyone can obtain? For being bad journalism as you claim you seemed to have read the whole thing.
Completely agree! Publishing those emails is so unbelievably unprofessional and unethical. But, this is the pathetic result of a social media driven world where everyone is so thrilled to publicly display their lives and carelessly publicly crucify just about anyone for anything. And all of these armchair quarterbacks are going to take the bait…disgusting. Just as parents in the good ol days sat back and let the coaches do the coaching, coaches had integrity and grit. Most of the coaches I know still do. This may be a good coach, I don’t know and don’t really care, but I would never hire someone who couldn’t handle the fire and had to run to social media to get an electronic slap on the back when a few parents got angry and privately emailed her. Get a grip…
I’m a teacher. Emails we receive are public documents. We’ve been told to put nothing in an email that we are not prepared to have become public. I don’t blame the coach for quitting. She did her job, apparently quit well, and had to put up with this crap. People will naturally ask why a successful coach would quit, so this issue is fair game for the press. It’s too bad the kids’ names have to be out there, but the parents created this mess. Who would possibly want to take a coaching job at this school in this situation? They kids lose all around.
Rick & Kim, wow, have you been exposed. Shame on you too. You probably didn’t think your bashing (cowardly) emails would be put out there for all of us to see. I believe you both may have deep underlying issues & insecurities that make you do something like this. I’d speculate you are both deep down unhappy and unfulfilled with your lives. But I have no sympathy after seeing your attack on this coach. This blog link will be passed along like wildfire so many MANY will get to see the true you.
The problem here was AD did not do his job, not the headmaster, but the AD that his his job and the AD here is useless and should be fired.
Problem is the AD has no real power, (he may have taken the job thinking he did) and the superintendent and the headmaster should stand behind the AD. But they won’t – to quote an entitled parent “politics”.
Hey Rick you are a fucking duchwba
Through my own children, I learned basket ball parents are some of the worst spectators. Even though the parents highlighted here seem arrogant, judgmental, and biased, the children were probably complaining at home. Im not getting enough time to shine is not just a parents complaint
Ding. Ding. Ding. Children learn it from the parents. This isn’t difficult.
I believe exposing these total douche bag parents is completely necessary.
It is the story behind the puzzling decision of a successful basketball coach to suddenly quit coaching.
A coach who clearly loves the game and coaching but cannot take the insanity of the helicopter sports parent of 2017.
What kind of self important douche bag would send an email like that to their kid’s coach???now we know.
Nice selfies…what a tool.
The new coach does not need to be good, they have all those plays written on cocktail napkins.
Let me clue you in on why the evil mainstream media didn’t write this just groundbreaking piece of investigative journalism. Because it’s high school. You just posted a bunch of drama about things that have to do with high school KIDS. You posted 47 pictures of the team, kids, and the drama around this. GOD you are a total scumbag. Seriously.
Lets be real…Realist, this is the drama of the parents, not the kids. You’re a fucking moron.
If you think this has to do with just high school kids then you are completely missing the point of the article. If you are missing the point of the article, then you might be part of the problem and shouldn’t be so quick to call someone a scumbag…
Hey Realist – Are you the mother or father from this story? I have been involved in kids athletics for about 17 years and these liberal helicopter parents are ruining it for all of the kids. Keep up the bad work.
Liberal helicopter parents? I’ve been coaching as long as you have, and whether liberal or conservative makes no difference.
Realist is 100% one of the parents … lol
One quick question Realist, why do you read TBS? Go back to Huffington Post or Slate for articles you can agree with, all you do is bitch, kinda like these helicopter parents reliving their shitty childhoods through their kids.
Gaffney? TB? Pretty slick!
Normally I would agree with you, however in this situation he is justified. These parents have been very selfish and unrealistic in their accusations. They are entitled to their feelings, but they need to be more mature in how they go about expressing them. The team has been extremely successful and everyone is getting to play. These parents care more about their kids racking up accolades than the overall success of the team.
Philip, it’s not even that I don’t agree with the piece. I just don’t think drama in high school sports is really newsworthy. I don’t give a shit about these douchebag parents. How do you think this is working out for their child, however? That his holiness here just bashed the shit out of her parents. If there is a backlash, who do you think is going to take the brunt of it?
Sure, you can blame the parents for that. I don’t see any reason why that needed to be amplified by the infallible one.
The post above Philip is not me.
So you’re mad because the truth was exposed? oh ya you’re definitely one of those douche bag parents
Now the rest of the kids will have sub-par, mediocre coaching and will NEVER get noticed or be the “super stars” their parents were hoping for. Because losers don’t get put on the front pages of papers, and that is the only coach that will EVER apply for this gig……
And you just keep in clicking and supporting… Lol
How many screen names do you have ?
HOMERUN CHIPPAHSON
Realist hahaha what a joke. Your ego must be through the roof with a name like that…or your just a loser. It’s sad you think this is bad for the students they all deserve an explication why an overqualified coach walked away. They deserve to see what happens when scum bag parents who try to manipulate their kids into being a selfish player cause daddy likes hearing his last name. If you can’t support the team your kid plays for you should probably stay the fuck home. As for you “Realist” take a lap your fake
TB- out of the 124 downvotes, how many of those did you do yourself? (And yes- you can vote multiple times if you clear your browser)
High school basketball team drama huh? Hot takes
And here you are, still reading. Thanks for your support.
down vote manipulation is a thing on tb huh