Coach's wife speaks out on behalf of her husband

SYRACUSE - After 14 years of coaching at Wawasee High School - the last 10 years as varsity baseball coach - John Blunk was asked by athletic director Mary Hurley to resign effective the end of this year's baseball season.

The Wawasee baseball team lost in the first round of the sectionals to Columbia City, ending their season with just three wins.

Thursday, John Blunk's wife, Deb, gave an emotional five-minute prepared statement to the Wawasee Community School Corp. Board of School Trustees on how wrong she believes the decision is.

Deb said she knows she is biased, but John has spent the last 10 years dedicated to the baseball team. She said many days as family outings were spent cleaning up the baseball field, adding that the future of Wawasee baseball looks bright.

She claims John spent the last few years dealing with Hurley's "nitpicking."

The main reason Hurley gave for his termination, Deb said, was because John does not have respect from his players.

But John has done the best he could with what he had to deal with, Deb said. She also claimed he was treated differently than the other coaches and that he was written up for being negative although he was no different than other coaches in other sports.

John is very involved in the community and well-known in Indiana's baseball community. He works at football games and goes to other sporting events to see his players play, Deb said.

What needs to be done, Deb said, is that the school corporation needs to ask what direction Hurley is taking Wawasee's athletic department. John, she said, is not perfect, but he does the best he can.

"Find me one player who doesn't respect him," Deb said, "and I can find you 20." She said others don't respect Hurley, but people are afraid to speak out because they are afraid it will come back to hurt their children.

"I came here tonight wanting to know why my husband is being singled out" for a losing season when the only consistently successful programs at Wawasee the past few years have been swimming and gymnastics. She said other coaches at Wawasee have had bad records, and wondered if they are being asked to resign.

"It's just cruel and mean to (do this to) a man who has given his all to the program," she said. After giving her statement, Blunk and a couple of supporters left before the school board could comment.

Board president Brian Dawes said he understands Blunk's emotions. However, the only coaching positions the school board makes decisions on are the head varsity men's basketball, women's basketball and football coaches.

Marion Acton, board member, addressed Deb's comment about children being hurt if their parents spoke out against Hurley. He said he wanted to ask Deb if she felt that reaction would be by other Wawasee staff members, because if that was her implication, he resented it.

Dawes said he thought that would be an unusual occasion and hoped that Wawasee staff members would not respond as such.

"We're all here to help the kids," Acton said.

It's not the first time board member Jeff Wells said he's heard that parents are afraid to speak out because it would affect their children. But that's a myth, he said, and people should feel free to speak their minds without fear of hurting their children in the process.

Dallas Winchester questioned why the school board made decisions only on football and basketball head varsity coaches but not baseball.

Superintendent Dr. Mark Stock said historically, that decision-making has just been a pattern of the school board. The school board, if they chose, could vote on all extracurricular positions. Football and men's and women's basketball varsity head coaches are higher profile coaching positions. It's not to say the other sports' coaches are less important. But the board can do as it wishes, he said.

There are approximately 23 varsity coaches at Wawasee. Stock said if the school board looked at all the extracurricular positions, there are several hundred to look at and the school board wouldn't know many of the people they would be making decisions about. Hurley and high school principal Alan Frank aren't opposed to the school board being involved in their decisions, Stock said, but that's not been the way the board worked previously.

The football and two basketball varsity coaching positions are two-year contracts, Frank said. Football and basketball, according to Wells, fund the whole athletic program.

Frank said he believes all sports are treated with the same importance. All are given encouragement and the equipment needed to be successful.

Instead of getting more involved, Dawes said, the school board could not be involved in the hiring and firing of any coaching positions. Dawes said, "The more we get involved, the more we're going to cause pain and suffering. We're not going to help people."

The day-to-day decisions of the athletic department are Hurley's to make, Dawes said. "I really feel like we've got to find the best people we can to put into these administrative positions and let them do their job."

Wawasee School Board members are Marion Acton, Brian Dawes, Jeff Wells, Brian Dawes and Mary Lou Dixon. Their regular meeting is at 7 p.m. in the administration office on the second Tuesday of every month.