Get the popcorn ready

[24GahannaLadyLions7]

I haven't read the entire thread, there is a lot of crap to wade through, but I may be wrong and maybe I need updated in the Stingrays way, being away from it for about 4 years but I am pretty sure the coaches get a stipend from the Stingray tournament of around $2k- $2500 to do whatever they feel is necessary. This includes team equipment pitching machines, catchers equipment, balls, so there is a possibility you are not part owner of that beautiful trailer. I cannot defend the actions of the coach as I have never been a fan of that group, but again it is the responsibility of the PARENT to do due diligence when researching your potential coach. If you are coming for the name, it's a risk that you are going to have to take if you aren't on board with the coach. I have been guilty of the same thing of moving to a name but again if its THAT BAD, you cut your losses and leave the team !!

There are a lot of cupcake parents out here who want the name, but don't want the person in charge coaching their kid. So lets bash them so we get what we want, I have been following this Stingray group somewhat closely and I am no Joanna fan myself, NOT AT ALL, but I think she has put her team in the correct situations to be somewhat successful and somewhat challenged. Could her schedule be more tough than it is, certainly, if you don't like it then play out your tenure and find somewhere else next year. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

 

[24GahannaLadyLions7]

This organization is one of the best family oriented, loyal organizations you are going to find in the state of Ohio. Chris and Mike have done a great job over the past 10 years running this organization. Coaches are really tough to find sometimes because of us parents, again it is our responsibility as parents to get our kids in the right situation and to be coached by the right people. If an change is going to be made, they will make it, but they will give the coach a chance time to rectify their situation. Again they are LOYAL group, so this could be a 2-3 seasons process, but if things needs to be improved, I am certain they will make a change.

 

[24GahannaLadyLions7]

Lastly, Rays 06 in 2017-2018 announced 10 players on their roster in August 2017, looks like they had 6 of the 10 comeback the following year in August 2018, so couldnt of been that bad.. they did have a drop off when they only had 3 of the 10 return in 2019-2020 BUT looks like they still had 9 out of the 10 playing in December '19 as they did in August '19 of this year... maybe im wrong, but looks like an everyday team to me with a few disgruntled pot-stirrers...

 

[SonicMojo]

I'm still not seeing any serious statements about what any of the alleged wrongdoing is. The best I can decipher from all this is:

1. The coach bought an equipment trailer for the team. It may have been paid for with a stipend separate from team fees.
2. The team has a losing record (which is probably the real issue).
3. The team with a losing record is not playing in the top tournaments/showcases (I wonder why).
4. The coach, at 11U and 12U, didn't get the girls in front of enough college coaches. Get real. Unless you are paying them, college coaches don't want to see your 11 and 12 year olds.

 

[ChiefRBW]

With all due respect Mr. Bailey, the trailer was not paid for by the tournament check. The 06 team received 1500 last year which is not enough to cover said trailer. Unbeknown to us parents, after the trailer was bought, Ms Talbott had no issues admitting that the trailer was bought by fees. Regarding your statement, coaches are not allowed to just “do with it whatever they want”, you are gravely mistaken on that or I was lied to yet again. Since I was apart of last years team, I am certain on many facts of the team.
You are also mistaken as far as returners to the teams at the end of the season, or I was lied to, but It seems to me people lie to make a situation better not worse.

Tryouts in Aug. 2018, we joined the team. They had 4 returning players. After tryouts, we had 11 Rostered. Then lost 4-5 after fall season. Added a few during the winter/spring getting us a full roster. Then lost 2 more during the summer.
Total player loss 13

Tryouts in Aug. 2019, we left the team, along with 9 players that went through the summer. No way in hell any of us were staying. 3 returned.
The 06 team had 10 rostered, picked up another, making a total of 11 as of November. By end of December, Ms. Talbott kicked a girl off who’s dad was an assistant coach because he approached her regarding several parents that had issues. My understanding is that the assistant was trying to nip things in the bud and smooth things before more players quit. Feeling threatened that parents were talking to the assistant and not her, Ms. Talbott kicked a 13 year old girl off the team. Between January 1 to today, 2 more have quit.
Total player loss 3 (so far)

That’s a lot of turnover in my opinion. Red Flags after Red Flags. Everything we saw and were apart of, the turnover had nothing to do with playing time or college exposure.
Maybe you all should take the time to read the posts or the op’s post at the minimum, since you are having trouble understanding all the problems of this lady. From what I have read, the op wants to warn people about this coach.

We left. Other People can leave and they do. I think the biggest issue here is, why is she still allowed to coach. There have been major issues not counting misappropriation of funds. The org should not continue to keep this lady in place for other families to fall pray to. Mr Marcum and Mr Back have received no less than 15 emails regarding serious issues. They have also received complaints from tournament directors and a president of another org. This lady’s chances have been used.

 

[Passion4theGame]

A trailer would be nice. Just think about the Nationals trip, you and the family can fly out to the tournament and the coach can drive the new trailer with all the gear to the tournament.

I feel the coach probably should of asked the parents first before buying something like that with team funds. New nets, balls, etc. I can see not asking but a trailer??.... Big Nut to crack without permission.

I’m sure there’s no wrong doing here or something would of been done by Marcum. The Stingrays is a solid prestigious organization in Ohio. They would not let a trailer hurt them.

 

[ChiefRBW]

[QUOTE="Passion4theGame, post: 592566, member: 1021"
I’m sure there’s no wrong doing here or something would of been done by Marcum. The Stingrays is a solid prestigious organization in Ohio. They would not let a trailer hurt them.[/QUOTE]


That’s what we thought too. Except 9 of us from last years team sent emails. 9 complained and brought it to the heads attention. Nothing was done. She’s still coaching.

I noticed the op made mention of it as well. It’s no secret. It stands to reason that maybe more than the 9 of us from that team have said something. She’s still coaching

 

[Passion4theGame]

So what did she do that’s so bad?? I’m trying to figure this out.

 

[okiedad1961]

Wow my popcorns been burnt for weeks .Theres a lot of things that can cause problems within any org.
1.Parents unrealistic ideas of there daughters talent.
2.Coachs with HUGE egos.
3.Parents filling there kids minds with wrong ideas on how they should look at themselves as a teammate.
4.Coachs overselling there ideas on where and what level there team can compete.
5.Parents buying into it
Summary
Your going to find bad coachs,bad money managers in most orgs .Its up to heads of these orgs to see these folks and send them packing .

 

[24GahannaLadyLions7]

With all due respect Mr. Bailey, the trailer was not paid for by the tournament check. The 06 team received 1500 last year which is not enough to cover said trailer. Unbeknown to us parents, after the trailer was bought, Ms Talbott had no issues admitting that the trailer was bought by fees. Regarding your statement, coaches are not allowed to just “do with it whatever they want”, you are gravely mistaken on that or I was lied to yet again. Since I was apart of last years team, I am certain on many facts of the team.
You are also mistaken as far as returners to the teams at the end of the season, or I was lied to, but It seems to me people lie to make a situation better not worse.

Tryouts in Aug. 2018, we joined the team. They had 4 returning players. After tryouts, we had 11 Rostered. Then lost 4-5 after fall season. Added a few during the winter/spring getting us a full roster. Then lost 2 more during the summer.
Total player loss 13

Tryouts in Aug. 2019, we left the team, along with 9 players that went through the summer. No way in hell any of us were staying. 3 returned.
The 06 team had 10 rostered, picked up another, making a total of 11 as of November. By end of December, Ms. Talbott kicked a girl off who’s dad was an assistant coach because he approached her regarding several parents that had issues. My understanding is that the assistant was trying to nip things in the bud and smooth things before more players quit. Feeling threatened that parents were talking to the assistant and not her, Ms. Talbott kicked a 13 year old girl off the team. Between January 1 to today, 2 more have quit.
Total player loss 3 (so far)

That’s a lot of turnover in my opinion. Red Flags after Red Flags. Everything we saw and were apart of, the turnover had nothing to do with playing time or college exposure.
Maybe you all should take the time to read the posts or the op’s post at the minimum, since you are having trouble understanding all the problems of this lady. From what I have read, the op wants to warn people about this coach.

We left. Other People can leave and they do. I think the biggest issue here is, why is she still allowed to coach. There have been major issues not counting misappropriation of funds. The org should not continue to keep this lady in place for other families to fall pray to. Mr Marcum and Mr Back have received no less than 15 emails regarding serious issues. They have also received complaints from tournament directors and a president of another org. This lady’s chances have been used.

Again, I wasn't there to hear everything, nor do I really care anymore about the thread -- I vaguely looked at all the complaints, quickly looked at some stats/rosters on gamechanger, and provided some old outdated numbers from an organization that I was a part of, for four great years.

Good post... still no issue with purchase of the trailer, very little issue with the turnover, and from experience softball is such a small community, that it is hard to believe that those who decided to come to this team, didn't know what they were getting into. Because it was a few short 3 years ago, being a parent of an 06 player looking for a team that there could be an issue with the coach and some of the players coming over from the Central Ohio Ice team to form the New Stingrays06 team. It was already out there then with very little to go on... so buyer beware and never trust a coach who promises things.....

 

[Run26]

Ohio Stingrays has been around for longer than most of you have even been involved with the game. They have always put a solid team on the field. You know when you have Stingrays in your path that you better pick up your attention. Now, do they have stinker teams from time to time? Sure - who doesn't? Sometimes a roster just doesn't mesh and not even the Stingrays can coach themselves out of a mess.
All I know is you don't have this type of longevity unless your management staff handles issues appropriately. We're talking about an organization that puts on the premier showcase in the midwest. Are you trying to convince me that all those college coaches that attend every year worry about how Mark, Chris and Rudy are operating their business? There's no way! Sorry, I'll put my trust in them on this one.
Ya'll lost bunch of games. Didn't perform up to expectations and booked it to another squad. You can blame a coach all you want but sometimes you need to polish up the mirror instead of your keyboard.

 

[Softballlover]

Our daughter also played for this team, and coach. I’ll keep this short and sweet. Those of you who think what happened/happens on this team is just a “normal” bad situation, you have no idea what’s behind closed doors. The “trailer” that was bought the last week of the season, with OUR money, that was told would be spent on other things, was just the tip of the iceberg.
The fact that many of us (who KNOW the situation) is posting on this forum, should be a warning to others, that something is wrong.
The Stingray’s organization is an elite organization that needs an elite coach, who will win games with their elite players....instead of what really happens.
I’ll end with us.....I could take everything I know public and you’d see it on CNN tomorrow! And you can take that to the bank.

 

[coachtomv]

This thread is very disheartening I must say. Like alot of you guys and gals, I have been around Ohio travel softball for a decent while, about 10yrs. For so many to be on the same page with this situation and to go as far as call the org and coach out, man I have not seen many other situations more concerning to me. He said she said is always tough and I would want to be fair, but it is concerning.

To say you should do your research or take what you get, paraphrasing, exactly how do families do that? Not as easy as you think and once your deep into it, its not always easy to find another opportunity. Though I 100% agree that your daughters mental health and love for the game is not worth it, take a year off if needed. We made mistakes ourselves as parents along that way that caused our daughter to take a year off herself, just wasn't fun anymore, we should have cut our losses and moved on as soon as we knew what the situation(s) was doing to her passion for the game.

With our Outlaws(5yrs), Lookouts Premier(1yr), Emeralds(1yr-non coach) teams and our USA Patriots WWAST(6yrs-overlapping) tribute charity teams, I have had the privileged to coach over 250 players from 8-19yrs old, and coach with many different coaches. Hell myself and Warren Wolf even coached a 10u Outlaws team back in the day, best season ever I think, lol. Many for one weekend at a time, many full seasons. I have seen a little of everything for sure. It is immensely important to myself and our current WWAST coaches now, to keep the love of the game strong in our players. We have met many great coaches-people along the way, many more than bad, but so many players leaving of hating the game also.

That being said. I personally have very little patience for truly bad coaches/people being anywhere near the game our family and extended softball family has grown to love.

There is absolutely nothing....NOTHING....more important than the kids and the love of the game. Please get your s$1t together and fix it when you see it. My 2 cents.

 

[Softballlover]

This thread is very disheartening I must say. Like alot of you guys and gals, I have been around Ohio travel softball for a decent while, about 10yrs. For so many to be on the same page with this situation and to go as far as call the org and coach out, man I have not seen many other situations more concerning to me. He said she said is always tough and I would want to be fair, but it is concerning.

To say you should do your research or take what you get, paraphrasing, exactly how do families do that? Not as easy as you think and once your deep into it, its not always easy to find another opportunity. Though I 100% agree that your daughters mental health and love for the game is not worth it, take a year off if needed. We made mistakes ourselves as parents along that way that caused our daughter to take a year off herself, just wasn't fun anymore, we should have cut our losses and moved on as soon as we knew what the situation(s) was doing to her passion for the game.

With our Outlaws(5yrs), Lookouts Premier(1yr), Emeralds(1yr-non coach) teams and our USA Patriots WWAST(6yrs-overlapping) tribute charity teams, I have had the privileged to coach over 250 players from 8-19yrs old, and coach with many different coaches. Hell myself and Warren Wolf even coached a 10u Outlaws team back in the day, best season ever I think, lol. Many for one weekend at a time, many full seasons. I have seen a little of everything for sure. It is immensely important to myself and our current WWAST coaches now, to keep the love of the game strong in our players. We have met many great coaches-people along the way, many more than bad, but so many players leaving of hating the game also.

That being said. I personally have very little patience for truly bad coaches/people being anywhere near the game our family and extended softball family has grown to love.

There is absolutely nothing....NOTHING....more important than the kids and the love of the game. Please get your s$1t together and fix it when you see it. My 2 cents.

Thank you for listening Coach. You’re absolutely right.....it’s for the girls. Our girls shouldn’t have been “scared” because of threats by their coach, and instead should have been using their talents to play softball games. They were an amazing (elite) group of girls, who could’ve gone far with a good coach. This situation is much worse than you can imagine, in so many sick ways. I can only hope the organization will do the right thing.

 

[Passion4theGame]

A Bunch of New Member He said she said going on.

TROLLS...

 

[Long Baller]

The enclosed utility trailer thing is kind of interesting. This story implies that it was purchased by the team, and not by the organization. I believe that Stingrays are still a non-profit, so the trailer would need to be titled in the Org’s name if purchased with team/Org funds. The Org’s board would have to approve the purchase prior. It would be interesting to hear why the Org thought this was a bona fide need for this one particular team.

It’s been my experience that teams run a really tight budget, and said budget is proposed to the parents at the beginning of the season. Was the purchase of a trailer brought up during the budget discussion? I would also think that ’06 Stingrays don’t travel a lot, so in that regard how to you justify using such a large portion of your budget on a $3,000 trailer? Were all other financial obligations of the team upheld? How did the coach even bring up the need to purchase a trailer to the parents?

I’m thinking this is another one of those instances of “the truth is somewhere in the middle.”

 

[wilsey73]

DO WE LIKE SHITTY UNETHICAL COACHES??????? NOOOOOOOOOOO !!! NAME THEM.... NAME THEM !!!!!! OH OHHHHHHHH

Tim Villes

 

[Allforthegirls]

Tim Villes

Joanna Talbott
Has anyone mentioned her?

 

[Allforthegirls]

The enclosed utility trailer thing is kind of interesting. This story implies that it was purchased by the team, and not by the organization. I believe that Stingrays are still a non-profit, so the trailer would need to be titled in the Org’s name if purchased with team/Org funds. The Org’s board would have to approve the purchase prior. It would be interesting to hear why the Org thought this was a bona fide need for this one particular team.

It’s been my experience that teams run a really tight budget, and said budget is proposed to the parents at the beginning of the season. Was the purchase of a trailer brought up during the budget discussion? I would also think that ’06 Stingrays don’t travel a lot, so in that regard how to you justify using such a large portion of your budget on a $3,000 trailer? Were all other financial obligations of the team upheld? How did the coach even bring up the need to purchase a trailer to the parents?

I’m thinking this is another one of those instances of “the truth is somewhere in the middle.”

No implications or half truths Long Baller.
I believe there is now 3 other people besides myself speaking up on their experiences with this lady. I do not know the others, I’m not sure whether they know me, but none of this has been “coordinated”.

Fact.. the trailer was bought 100% by team fees. Player fees. Parent’s money
Fact.. this was not voted on by the team or the families.
Fact.. this was never ran by the org President, the org board, nor was it in anyway approved.
Fact.. it is in Ms. Talbott’s name.
Fact.. I don’t have to embellish the real story or the facts. This lady has done so many crazy things that I almost wish, even half of it, wasn’t true. It makes everyone involved with her look bad; Including an organization that I had always held in very high regard.

I do appreciate those that have come on here to validate and share their experiences. I can only hope that we are being heard. No other family, or child, should be subjected to the shadiness of this person.

 

[Allforthegirls]

A Bunch of New Member He said she said going on.

TROLLS...

AND Gahannaladylions, since you made a point to like this particular post.

Like myself, some of the others that have commented about what’s been happening with this lady, they are not “new members”. If you’d take the time to read their profile before commenting, you’d see that Softballlover, for example, has been a member since 2015.
That’s the sad thing about all of this. 15 or so emails to Chris Back, people posting on a public forum, and this is still getting second guessed and questioned by a few.
People, this lady is bad news. She has hurt a whole bunch of families and kids. This isn’t just a playing time issue. This is misappropriation of funds. Degrading little girls. Threats. Lies after lies after lies.
What more would you all like to happen before you stop dismissing a serious situation? A situation that families should not find themselves in because it is my opinion that the organizations are obligated to protect those trying out. Those who want to be apart of. It is their job to vet these coaches and protect these kids.
Unless, of course, all they want is to collect the players fees. In that case, I guess it doesn’t matter about the threats, or the kids