Players, parents upset Olympia coach was fired
Aug 24, 2012, 11:56 AM | Updated: 1:22 pm
Basketball players at a high school in Olympia are threatening to quit after their longtime coach was fired following a “hazing” incident at a summer camp.
Doug Galloway, who was the boys’ basketball coach at Capital High School for 11 years, was relieved of his duties by the school district after an incident of “forced sexual contact” between students.
The incident occurred during a basketball camp at Western Washington University on June 30. According to The Olympian, 32 players and five coaches from the team were attending the camp when the head coach was made aware of “inappropriate behavior.”
While the school district will not go into detail about the nature of the behavior, a source familiar with the incident told KIRO FM several senior players were “hazing” several freshman players by “goosing them” inside a dorm room on campus.
When he was made aware of the incident, Coach Galloway reportedly called police and informed the school and parents.
“Our coach did everything that should have been done and he was let go of his position,” said the mother of a player who was at the camp. “I really don’t quite understand the decision-making on that.”
The Olympian reports the school fired Galloway because he “didn’t provide adequate supervision to ensure the safety and well-being of the students at the camp.”
A former player of Galloway’s, Kyle Brown, attended similar camps with the coach and told KIRO FM Friday he did not believe the “hazing” incident could have been prevented.
“There’s just no way for the coach to have absolute supervision,” he said. “We’d get an entire floor of a dorm, each player would have them, and a roommate in a private room. Go behind a locked door and people do whatever they want.”
While the parent said she was “horrified” when she heard about the incident, she does not believe the coach is to blame. Her son, who is a sophomore at the school, has threatened to quit the team.
“A lot of the boys are saying they don’t even want to play basketball if Doug’s gone,” she said. “I think it’s going to be a huge impact on my son and also the entire basketball program.”
Requests for comment from the district and Coach Galloway were not immediately returned.
