Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Winning with(out) class? A deeper look into Lynbrook High School

athletics

"Winning with class": a famous quote echoed by former San Francisco 49ers
general manager Trent Baalke was once a rally cry for fans who longed for
current Michigan head football coach Jim Harbaugh. At the conclusion of a
four-year contract with the Bay Area's NFC team, Harbaugh was let go by
the Niners, with football executives citing a lack of class as the reason for
his exit. This ironic statement now seems to enter my mind when reviewing
Lynbrook High School's handling of the Aaron Persky situation.

As many in the Lynbrook community are now aware, Persky has since been
let go by the school for fear of bringing a distracting media attention to the
JV girl's tennis team. Obviously, this fear of media attention did not enter
the minds of the Lynbrook High School athletic department when hiring
Persky in the first place. Or, perhaps it's failure to conduct a thorough
background check allowed for Persky to be hired. Regardless, the facts are
as follows: the judge in the Brock Turner case is no longer employed by
Lynbrook High School, and the thousands of alumni and students' signatures
succeeded in removing him from his position.

I'm not here to say one way or another whether what Lynbrook did was
right. From the outside looking in, there are factors that point to Persky
being a qualified candidate: a high United States Tennis Association ranking,
prior tennis experience and ample free time. However, such a seemingly
brilliant candidate is not the first to fall into Lynbrook's hands.

For those unfamiliar with the Lynbrook baseball program, a great deal of
controversy exists within this institution as well. Though not deserving of
the media attention that Persky's case has drawn, the 2016 and 2017
baseball seasons couldn't have been more problematic. 2016's head coach
was let go at the end of the season due to rumors of detrimental conduct to
children, which led to the hiring of a new coach. A coach, who similar to
Persky, had lied. The new baseball coach crafted a fabricated story
detailing his experiences playing in the minor leagues, coaching at esteemed
programs and his wide-ranging connections. Of course, Persky concealed his
identity by changing his first name when applying for the JV tennis coaching
position, but the question returns again: how did either of these coaches get
hired?
This is where the athletic program must be held accountable, and the
Fremont Union High School District in general. I find it highly improbable
that a thorough background check was conducted for Persky. In my
experiences with Lynbrook, it seems much more probable that Persky was
hired in desperation to field a JV girl's tennis team.

As many of us Lynbrook alumni know, the athletic culture is lacking in many

aspects. From funding to fan attendance to athlete participation, the
mindset towards athletics at this school is often much of the same: how can
we get through this season with the least problems possible? With this
information in mind, one has to wonder how hiring the judge of the Brock
Turner trial came to be in the first place. Knowing that the main appeal of a
coach for this public high school is to prevent drama, in what world would
Persky be a logical choice? There seem to be only two potential choices in
this narrative: either the athletic department didn't spend the necessary
time verifying they had a qualified candidate, or they were sincerely
desperate for any able body. If the latter is true, it is time for the
community to take this uprising a step further.

Many of us are involved in athletics at some point in our youth. From

basketball to the dance team, it seems that countless Lynbrook students are
heavily involved in athletics at some point in their lives. However, upon
reaching high school, academics can often take priority. While these
admirable sacrifices yield exemplary SAT scores and overall GPA's for our
students, the lack of attention to athletics has allowed for situations like
the Persky hiring to occur. Until the student body, administration and
community as a whole take the time to devote more resources to athletics,
mis-hiring’s such as this are bound to happen.

As it stands, the masses have succeeded in removing Persky from his

position. A substitute coach will hopefully (and should) be found. It's highly
unlikely that the team can't compete this season, but this remains a
possibility until a new coach is brought in. Whatever your stance on Persky
is, this much is certain: his hiring highlighted a much greater issue in the
Lynbrook athletic department. At a potential tipping point in Lynbrook
athletics, perhaps there is a light at the end of the tunnel. If Persky's hiring
was what it took for the west San Jose community to wake up and see an
obvious problem, then perhaps the thousands of signatures, snapchat stories
and Instagram posts are what it will take to incite legitimate change in the
way Lynbrook thinks about athletics.