Hi Team,
See that group of (mostly) smiling guys who are all totally looking at different cameras and pointing in 852 different directions? That's Nice Nation. Those guys show up every day ready to work, and they do it with some of the best attitudes I've ever encountered. They support each other. They tease each other. They make each other laugh. They encourage each other and push each other. They compete for each other. I'm not afraid to say that this group of guys is the best group of guys I have ever coached. Period.
Last night started like most meet nights start for us, except for the fact that the guys were all dressed up in super hero costumes per the captains' request. Before they tumbled out of the bus sporting their Antman and other various costumes, we had our team meeting. I said a lot of words. I passed out captain visors and Keegan got a "Cheer Officer" visor. We discussed the theme of the night, "Individually we are a drop, together we are an ocean." The guys grabbed a Gummy Bear bag with the quote stapled on it as they left the bus.
The meet started quickly. Keegan got out there with his new pompoms and cheered for the Fondy JV Medley Relay. He got some weird looks, but he just kept waving his pompoms anyway. By the time we were done with diving, we were ahead in the meet. The guys were throwing down some fantastic swims--there were several best times, which is quite unusual for this part of the season. Everyone was excited about the 200 FR, because every single diver was set to help the swimmers out by swimming on a relay. Soon after the 200 FR, though, I heard that a Fondy swimmer had said a homophobic slur to one of our relays.
The guys got a play-by-play of everything that happened from that point on (and I know you all had front row seats to all of the excruciatingly slow action), so I'm not going to go into it all here. What I do want to let everyone know is that I will always confront inappropriate behavior. In this case, it was something that falls under "hate speech," and the athlete admitted he did it and the other coach admitted he did it. No one was disputing that the Fondy swimmer broke the sportsmanship rules. The problem came in when I tried to get the rules enforced. Because here's what else I want you to know: so many of life's lessons are learned through high school athletics. High School athletics is supposed to be about growing skills that will help our athletes succeed later in life. There is a zero tolerance plan in place for hate speech/bad sportsmanship/bullying. There are consequences for bad behavior. I knew the rules, and I knew what the right thing to do was. I also knew that my guys deserved to have someone fight for them. I will always fight for these guys. It matters.
I wish I could say that everyone was on the same page with the rules and enforcing the rules. That was not the case. I stood my ground. I'd still be standing behind block 8 if I needed to be. In the end, the Fondy coach pulled his relay (which he had to do according to the rules), but he would not stipulate to voiding the points that athlete had earned in the meet (which was supposed to happen according to the rules). We finished the meet. The head official said he would contact the WIAA to have them make the call. That is why the varsity score was not announced.
A little over an hour ago I found out that the WIAA ruled in our favor. So, we won the meet. More importantly, the right message will be sent to the athletes. Winning meets is fun. Winning meets will never be as important to me as leading a group of guys who are respectful and encouraging to others.
One last thing: after the deck cleared last night, a Fond du Lac swimmer approached me. He looked me right in the eye and thanked me for fighting for what was right. He said it meant a lot to him to know that there were coaches out there that did the right thing. He then apologized on behalf of his team. I thought about that swimmer a lot last night. Doing the right thing is not always easy, but it is so important.
I am so proud to coach Nice Nation. I love coaching AW-K.
With all kinds of AW-K Pride,
Coach Vicki
PS I'd like to respectfully ask that we keep all social media posts about this incident positive. We can be very happy about our victory without ever saying anything negative about Fond du Lac. Thank you so much for your help with this.
PPS Here is the letter I received from the Fond du Lac Athletic Director:
Jim, Coach Terlap, and Coach McBride
I was made aware of a situation that took place tonight during the Boys Swimming and Diving Dual Meet at the Fond du Lac Aquatic Center regarding a statement that was made by one of your student/athletes before the 4X400 relay. From my understanding, the student/athlete stated, "Good luck gays, I mean guys." This comment is obviously inappropriate and unacceptable. Also from understanding, after discussion with the officials and the coaches, the relay team that the student athlete was competing on was removed from the competition. The situation was then addressed directly to the student/athlete, as well as the entire team after the event had concluded. After speaking with Coach McBride, I also believe the student/athlete attempted to apologize for the statement.
I want to take this opportunity to apologize to the entire Appleton West/Kimberly Boys Swim team, Coach Terlap, and the Appleton West community as these types of statements do not reflect the values and beliefs of the Fond du Lac School District.
I will be investigating this further tomorrow, and any information you can provide would be greatly appreciated. This type of behavior and actions are not tolerated and we will be handling them swiftly and appropriately.
Thank you and Go Cardinals!
Dave Michalkiewicz
Fond du Lac High School
Athletic Director
