Fulkerson: Coon Was 'Best Candidate' To Coach

Shirley Fleming has coached volleyball for eight years in the Warsaw school system.

She helped start Warsaw's freshman volleyball program.

Her husband, Jason, has been Wawasee's varsity volleyball head coach the last several years. Three years ago, she and Jason started the Warsaw club volleyball program.

But at Monday's school board meeting, Fleming turned in her resignation as assistant high school volleyball coach.

Fleming, who has been Warsaw's junior varsity head coach the last three years, does not understand how she didn't get the varsity head coaching position and told the board members this during a 15-minute speech, a speech she stopped more than once to keep from crying.

Warsaw Athletic Director Dave Fulkerson doesn't understand the controversy. To him, it's simple. He picks the coaches. He didn't choose Fleming. End of story.

Fulkerson began advertising for the varsity opening last fall, after Jamie Byron resigned. Since that time, only two candidates - Itanya Baltimore Coon and Fleming -Êapplied for the job. Fulkerson interviewed both. He selected Coon over Fleming last month.

"I interviewed two people," Fulkerson said. "I picked the best candidate. That was Itanya Coon. I hired the person I thought fit in better in the program. That was Itanya Coon."

Like Byron, Coon played high school and college volleyball. Like Byron then, Coon has never coached volleyball at a school. Coon's coaching experience consists of one year as assistant varsity girls basketball coach.

"Jamie Byron could have been an awesome coach," Fleming said. "But she got discouraged and quit. She came in with no coaching experience.

"I feel as badly for Ms. Coon as anyone."

Byron replaced Penny Salm in 1996. Under Salm, Warsaw went undefeated in the Northern Lakes Conference for seven straight years and had an overall record of 215-42 (.837).

The records got worse each year under Byron - 24-15 in 1996, 19-15 in 1997 and 14-19 in 1998. Warsaw finished tied for first in the NLC once under Byron. The Tigers, who went to semistate during Byron's first year, lost in the first round of the sectional last year.

At Monday's board meeting, Jerry Burns, whose daughter, Jacquie, plays high school softball and volleyball, claimed female athletics aren't treated as equally as male athletics at Warsaw.

Fleming agreed and said this was the reason she resigned.

"I don't feel like I've been neglected," she said. "I just feel they didn't take the hiring procedure as seriously as they ought to.

"I want the administration to give these girls someone who is qualified to challenge them."

Fulkerson says Warsaw has been recognized as one of the best schools in the state when it comes to Title IX, which deals with gender and equity.

"For two years, 1994-1995, former assistant athletic director Mary Hurley and I served on the board for Title IX for the Department of Education," Fulkerson said. "If Warsaw was not progressive on girls athletics, would Mary and I have been invited to serve on the board?"

Attempts to reach an IHSAA official to discuss Warsaw and Title IX were unsuccessful.

Asked if she would have remained as an assistant had another person with prior volleyball coaching experience applied and been hired, Fleming said, "Yes. I would have gladly stayed on as an assistant had the school hired anybody with volleyball coaching experience."

Fleming can't figure why her experience didn't carry more clout. She spent her first three years as volunteer assistant then worked with freshmen for two before being named junior varsity head coach.

Why didn't it, Fleming is asked.

"You tell me," she said. "I was curious to see after the first board meeting, it said in the paper Warsaw likes to give preference (when selecting coaches) to teachers in the school system, which is true. But when it came to me, all of a sudden they preferred to have someone who taught at the high school."

Fleming teaches fourth grade at Claypool Elementary. Coon teaches at Edgewood Middle School but also will teach one block period at the high school.

Asked if Coon was given the high school position because of the volleyball job, Fulkerson said, "She was hired as a teacher at the high school before I made the decision on the volleyball job."

To Fulkerson, Coon's experience as a player in high school and college meant just as much as Fleming's experience as a junior varsity and freshman coach.

"I think the thing is, Itanya played in high school and college, plus she is a teacher in our building," he said. "That's a good thing for the kids to see her."

A bonus, Fulkerson said, was a 3 p.m. practice start time since Coon is in the building. "But that was not a deciding factor," he added.

Said Fleming: "Her being at the high school for one block period is not enough to justify giving her the job over someone else who has been with the program for eight years."

Fulkerson brushed off the importance of AAU or club volleyball, saying, "The AAU volleyball, you have parents and people in the community coaching. It's just a matter of kids going out and playing."

Fleming claims parents and athletes have offered "overwhelming" support.

"The first two weeks after the decision was made, my phone was ringing off the hook with phone calls from parents and athletes," she said. "I got e-mails."

Asked what he heard from parents and athletes about Fleming, Fulkerson said, "There were a couple of letters and a phone call or two in support of Shirley prior to the interviews. That's been it."

But he had parents congratulate him for naming Coon coach.

"I've had parents call me when I hired her," he said. "They contacted me to tell me they thought I made a good decision."

For the record, at the last two board meetings, two parents argued for Fleming. Dan Woods, whose daughter, Lindsay, plays high school volleyball, supported Fleming in the June board meeting. Burns supported Fleming at Monday's July board meeting.

Fleming only hopes her resignation changes future hiring procedures.

"I've had a great relationship with the kids and administration," she said. "My resignation is to make the point that something needs to change. I want the administration to hire coaches who are qualified to challenge the girls."

Fulkerson picked his coach. It's Coon, not Fleming.

"I've been hiring coaches for 17 years at Warsaw," he said. "We have a pretty good coaching staff."