Sidelines
Kalani Simpson
THE penalty, handed down Thursday by the Hawaii High School Athletic Association, seemed shocking at first glance. The buck stops
on the benchNo, not the one given to the Baldwin soccer player who allegedly attacked a game official during this year's state tournament, and was subsequently banned from state tournament play for life.
That sanction was perfectly appropriate for the offense, and also relatively toothless, as the young man is a senior who doesn't play any other sports.
(Though he could face further penalties stemming from the incident, including possible criminal charges.)
The stunning blow was the one given out to the Baldwin coach, Fred Guzman, who is now prohibited from coaching any team in Hawaii state tournament play for five years.
The same coach who said he was "mortified" immediately after the incident.
The same coach who at least had a hand in Baldwin's forfeiting its next game, thus withdrawing the team from state tournament play as a self-imposed penalty.
It seemed he said and did all the right things -- or at least the only things you really can say or do -- after one of your players runs out onto the field and physically assaults a referee.
Now the coach has been effectively banished, waiting to see if a school will want a coach who has been so censured, one who would have to step aside if his team makes the state tournament.
In explaining this decision the HHSAA said that there was more to the story. There always is.
It seems Baldwin had a reputation for unsportsmanlike behavior this season. The HHSAA cited a lack of control, an atmosphere in which something like this could eventually happen. And that simply can't happen.
Though important ones, those are details. This is the big picture:
Coaches are on the line now.
That's what this says.
With this precedent on the books, coaches, bottom line, are the ones who will take the heat when something happens in high school sports.
The school got lots of bad publicity, and shame, and a year's probation in soccer. The kid, who apologized in tears to the referee after the game, will regret this for a long, long time, to be sure. And should. He'll probably remember this mistake for the rest of his life.
(And the referee was right to press charges with the police. You simply can't accept this type of behavior, in sports or anywhere else, and there must be consequences.)
But the lesson here, in taking a guy out of commission for five years, is that the coach is the one who will ultimately be held responsible by the HHSAA for what goes on with his or her team.
And if, in this day and age, coaches have had to give up some measure of control to administrators, players, parents, then they had better get it back. And they had better get it back now.
And be responsible with it.
After all, they are going to be the ones who will have to take the blame.
Kalani Simpson can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com