The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WAITSBURG – A group of students and parents attended last week’s school board meeting to vocalize their support for high school girls’ basketball coach J.T. Elsey, whose performance was on the agenda for review during executive session.

Sophomore athlete Chloe Pearson served as spokesperson for fellow players Taylor Hays, Devon Harshman and Tayler Jones. Pearson read the following prepared statement on behalf of the team.

I have played both years in this program and J.T. has improved our team in many ways. Even though we only had a few wins this year our team was much improved and we heard many comments about how this year’s team was competitive and fun to watch. We are not blessed with a lot of skilled basketball players but I feel we can learn a lot from Coach Elsey and continue to grow and become more competitive in the future.

As with any new, young coaches, I feel Coach Elsey also has a lot to learn. It is very clear, however, that he truly cares for all of us as players and as individuals, and wants us to grow not only as athletes but as leaders.

With the improvement our program has made over the last two years he has been coaching, I feel he deserves to continue to as head coach and I strongly feel the program will improve under his leadership.

Teacher and former coach Lynnsey Bailey said she was impressed with the skills she saw the team developing this year and credited them to a well-coached team.

“I enjoyed watching you and I could see that you had been coached in the way you played,” Bailey said.

“I see his enthusiasm and dedication and we haven’t had that for a very long time. And in a small school district, as you know, it’s very hard to find quality coaches,” said parent Becky Harshman. “Nobody is ever going to be perfect or do what every single parent or student wants them to do, but he cares about these kids, he wants to help them improve, he’s working on his own skills as a coach and I really feel we need to stand behind him and support him.”

Following the executive session Superintendent Carol Clarke told The Times she did not foresee, at this time, any changes in the head girls’ basketball coach position for next year.