Turtleboy Investigates

Here’s The INSANE Letter Andover Superintendent Shelley Berman Wrote Complaining About His Kid’s Hockey Coach 2 Years Ago And Lying About Abuse

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We finally got ahold of the letter that Andover Public Schools superintendent Shelley Berman sent to former AD Don Doucette and principal Phil Conrad two years ago in regards to hockey Coach Chris Kuchar. Berman had the successful coach suspended while under DCF investigation, because according to Berman, the coach would not let kids eat food for 12 hours:

Berman told The Eagle-Tribune that the players didn’t eat for 12 hours as punishment for losing the game. 

A lie that was easily debunked.

Keep in mind he also denied the existence of the letter we’re about to show you:

Numerous reports in social media attribute the matter in part to a grudge Berman is alleged to have against Kuchar. Berman’s son played on the team two years ago.  Berman rejected those accusations and said he has no grudge against the coach.

“This has nothing to do with me,” Berman said. “I had nothing to do with making the complaint. My kid was on the team a long while ago. My kid had a good experience. It comes from inaccurate sources who like to report inaccurate things. It has nothing to do with the incident DCF is investigating. My kid played hockey, but it has nothing to do with this incident. He graduated two years ago. This is a complaint filed by parents, current parents, as far as I know.”

Your kid had a good experience? Doesn’t sound like it when you wrote this letter Shelley:

 

This is absolutely INSANE. Much crazier than I imagined. I figured he had some tact since he’s the superintendent and would at least try to walk the line between administrator and concerned parent. But he went full Braintree helicopter parent on this one. And once again he did it to a very successful coach who clearly knows what he is doing. A guy who is coaching the 15th ranked team in the state right now. This was only page one of six as well, but I think you get the point. Let’s check out some of the highlights:

I would like to express serious concerns about Coach Christopher Kuchar in his role as head coach of Andover’s Ice Hockey Team. My concerns are twofold. On the one hand I believe his coaching style is not one that is aligned with the larger interests of the Andover Public Schools. On the other hand, I believe is treatment of my son falls close to the category of abuse. 

The treatment of his son calls close to the category of abuse? But wait, here’s what he told the papers last week:

My kid had a good experience.

Abuse is a good experience? OK then. 

As a background, I have a good deal of experience with athletic coaching. I was a high school and college varsity athlete, placing 4th in the Big Ten in college – I played for the University of Wisconsin.

We’re all very impressed with your 4th place finish in a Big Ten sport you haven’t identified, that I can’t seem to find on the Google machine. By the way, what imaginary sport do you excel in as a 5’6″ white guy?

Pocket pool isn’t a sport Shelley. 

After college, I was a college coach at the University of Maine, Harvard, and MIT. I have coached teams to highly successful seasons ad had success in winning championships.

Is this guy the superintendent or someone looking for a coaching job?

I have also been a superintendent for 23 years ad have worked with principals and AD’s to develop programs that are not only highly successful, but also build character and sportsmanship among athletes.

In 2008 you let a coach finish the season after a 15 year old died after collapsing during a 94 degree practice. How exactly does dying build character?

In particular I am familiar with the coaching of hockey, both as a superintendent who has overall oversight of the athletic program and as an observer of the coaching of two of my sons as they worked with various coaches, including coaches who were previously in the NHL and minor league players. 

Perhaps you should’ve stayed in the places where your kids were coached by NHL superstars instead of jumping from job to job after getting run out of every town you’ve ever worked in. 

In terms of overall coaching I do not believe that Coach Kuchar has the coaching skill or appropriate attitude toward athletes to represent Andover well. This season the team had an exceptional group of hockey players on the team, so exceptional that they had the capability of winning a state title. 

I cannot believe this is the superintendent. He sounds like every psycho helicopter parent ever. 

Although Coach Kuchar did a reasonably good job of coaching defense, he did not develop in his players an understanding of offensive systems. For the most part, his offensive lines played as individuals. They rarely executed strategies to set up shots among members of the lines. Most often a player would skate the puck into the offensive zone and either continue to carry the puck (and then lose it to the other team) or take a shot on goal rather than observing where others on the line were positioned and setting them up to take a more effective shot from another angle. 

Often line members didn’t play their position so that they weren’t in the right place to receive a pass or a rebound. The lack of effective offense was the most significant issues facing the team. The team did well on the talent of a number of the members of the team, not on basic offensive strategies that they could use to be much more effective. 

Was this letter written by the superintendent or this guy?

Seriously, this is Wally’s world behavior. You are the superintendent of schools, and you’re writing a letter asking for a coach to be fired because the kids “rarely executed strategies to set up shots among members of the lines.” As if the principal or AD has any idea what that even means. This is his job as superintendent – to analyze shot strategies on the 2nd line of the hockey team. Insane.

I can only imagine what the next 5 pages say, but you get the point. The worst part about this is that he’s the boss, and he sent this letter to two of his subordinates – the AD and the principal. This is reprehensible and entirely unprofessional. The guy is a freaking JOKE!! I’m embarrassed for the entire town of Andover that they have a School Committee that was dumb enough to hire a charlatan like this. And he’s a filthy LIAR on top of that. A LIAR who is making up allegations of abuse against his coach.

Time for a revolution in Andover. This is our new Spencer-East Brookfield. I don’t care what we have to do, but we will not rest until Shelley Berman is no longer in charge of the public schools in that town. Time to learn more about town politics, find out who supports this boob on the School Committee, and make sure those people are voted out next election.

11 Comment(s)
  • Peter Smith
    January 31, 2018 at 11:56 pm

    I am Pete from Andover. Whoever the coward is who was impersonating me. call me. I DO NOT support the administration on this. It’s been a cluster since day one. Bermen has been fired for cause in his last 2 jobs. I also never speak for my neighbors. And everyone knows that. So who ever you are impersonating me is perpetuating fraud. Turtle boy and I will you track down who ever you are and I will hand deliver a pussy hat. Also being around hockey for 40+ years. I know the game. It’s HOCKEY not fencing or full contact knitting. Or cage match Glee club. Borrow a spine and get in touch. If not crawl back in your hole and wimper.

    Regards,
    Pete

  • January 31, 2018 at 5:59 pm

    As Al Jolson once asked…….Is Everybody Happy ? The answer is obviously NO.
    I’ve been umpiring college, high school and youth softball for over 40 years. I’ve heard and seen lots of abuse at the high school and youth level….not so at the College level because meddling parents have their kids thrown off the team. I have to personally say that the Andover High coaches and ADs I’ve dealt with are of high in character and instruction. The Youth program is one of the best……full co-operation toward umpires. If this trend in youth sports continues, there won’t be any coaches or officials left to manage the youth sports programs. I haven’t seen any evidence of mistreatment of players by Coach Kutcher and his assistants…but I have seen lots of hand grenades tossed out by some nit pickers……when I was a youth player and I told my coach I should have…he’d respond….woulda…shoulda…coulda……always an excuse for losing and criticism of officials and today’s coaches.

  • KimberlyS
    KJDS
    January 31, 2018 at 2:29 pm

    I just found a mention of ‘Coach Sheldon Berman’ in a 1980 article from the Harvard Crimson. He coached the women’s fencing team. That’s the same as coaching hockey, you know.

  • John Barker
    johnnyb
    January 31, 2018 at 9:36 am

    Grab them shovels…Make room in the Turtleboy Graveyard..

  • AHS Player from Another Century
    January 31, 2018 at 9:11 am

    Let’s all take a deep breath here and realize what’s going on: this is a highly paid superintendent of one of the best public school systems in a state with some of the best public schools in the United States of America, and what he’s spending his time on is writing letters to a school principal and athletic director over a hockey coach employing a Claude Julien approach to the game of hockey.

    Let that sink in. You think this guy has a ton of shit to do on his plate on your average Tuesday in March – enough to warrant that fat $200K plus salary?

    My God. This bald, bespectacled fuck stain would’ve been apoplectic if he’d been around during the dark days of dump and chase last century…

  • Hugh Jass
    January 31, 2018 at 7:24 am

    TB is a eunuch. DeDe Delgado proved that… snicker.

  • Goose
    January 31, 2018 at 4:51 am

    Yeah, there’s more to this guy, I’ve got a gut feeling. A year or two from now, we’ll be hearing about child porn charges or something of the like.

    Anyone who has this much pent-up aggression usually feels guilt about something they do; The guilt turns into anger at themselves, they expend said anger outward to (temporarily) avoid self-destructing.

    Many (certainly not all, obviously) of these individuals often serve in well-paying, “high-power” positions. Their convincing themselves that they’re OK has, in turn, led them to become master manipulators. Especially true if this guy abuses children sexually- most of those freaks are master manipulators. Any reason you gave up alllll those amazing things you mentioned in that letter to be around children for 23 years, Shelly?

    You’ll find people like this, while like I said, have high-paying jobs, often seek out such jobs that have a very vague and nebulous job description. All he’s good at is manipulating and deception- he doesn’t have a specific skill, craft, or trade that could ever be marketable. Well, besides being an oompa-loompa or *perhaps* a Napolen Bonaparte reanactor/impersonator. 

    I mean, while it’s often not wise to judge a book by its cover, just LOOK at this guy! How hard is it to imagine the dozens of hours he has spent practicing his smile in the mirror? Not hard at all, because his smile could run its own senate campaign. Bursting with confidence and arrogance, with a dash of “I’m only smiling because I think I can con another school district into keeping me on the job for a few more years.” Oh, and, anyone want to place a bet on how often this ambulance-chaser gets a manicure?

  • itsjustme
    Fire him now.
    January 31, 2018 at 1:09 am

    He is only 5’6? His wallet is bigger than he is considering he is paid about 99 times what he is worth. I think someone suffers from ‘short man syndrome.’

    I pity the next school school that gets him, but as long as he is out of our town I don’t care where he goes. Maybe Alaska will take him? He hasn’t ruined a town in that state yet has he?

  • Twat Tickler
    January 31, 2018 at 12:23 am

    Where the fuck are the other 5 pages

  • Jojo
    January 30, 2018 at 11:20 pm

    TBS, shouldn’t this letter be public record? Make a request and get the whole thing.

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