Dear Eric Rutz,
You were a fan, a supporter, and a coach. You were an advocate for me when I was a young freshman at tryouts, trying to find a place on the best team in the state. As someone I trusted and respected, it has been hard for me to face the reality of what you have become. What happened? What changed? These questions consume my thoughts. Despite all this thinking, I can’t find any justification for your actions.
Your outright rudeness and lack of compassion surprised me at first, but it has become a new normal. The support you gave me as a freshman turned into snarky side comments which were made behind my back. You no longer coached me to be better, you criticized without offering a way to correct what I was doing wrong. I understand that you might’ve been going through difficult times, but that is no excuse for any person to throw temper tantrums in the public eye. Yelling at players in front of their parents and throwing equipment is certainly not a good look for you or the program.
I told myself that if I had anything to do with it, you would never coach softball again. Your behavior is beyond inappropriate and has no place on a high school softball field or anywhere for that matter. I am thoroughly disappointed and angered by the stain you have left on the memories of my senior season. An apology would be nice, but change is something that I would much rather see. You have a lot of work to do, and I hope that someday, you will understand that.
Jamie Morin
English 110 Spring 2020 10:10-11:00 
This post is very relatable for me because my biggest reason for quitting club lacrosse was my distaste for the environment the coaches created. I joined the club as a fifth grader excited about taking the next step and playing for a team that would provide me with the competition I needed to better myself. What was supposed to be a fun activity for my adolescent-self turned out to be a cause for numerous anxiety attacks and a constant-stressor. My coach was telling 13 year-old girls that they were fat, “a school for the blind could catch more balls,” and his “dead grandmother could hop out of her grave and run faster than us.” I specifically remember one practice where one of my teammates didn’t sprint hard enough for my coach, and so he made her take a seat in the middle of the field and watch the rest of us run sprints the rest of practice to show her what it looks like to “want to be there.” Keep in mind we were in middle school at the time so this was probably slightly traumatizing for my poor teammate. So trust me, I understand having a not-so-ideal coach. I like how you took this opportunity to express your anger, because that is definitely the first step for me in letting go. I think the most important thing to take from an experience like this is that, yeah maybe the actual experience didn’t turn out as great as you wanted, but I’m sure going through that has made you a stronger person, and has taught you the right way to handle these types of conflict in a way with grace, unlike your coach. I’m sorry you had do deal with an immature coach, but I’m sure it built character and bettered you in ways that might surprise you. I really enjoyed this post. Hope you’re staying healthy and safe!
Emma Charles
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Wow, I loved how honest and strong you were in writing this letter. Just this fall my sister quit basketball her senior season due to the head coach. He also would throw temper tantrums and was outright disrespectful to the players. It really angers me that people like this keep their jobs as coached, especially since high school sports can have such a large impact on students learning and growth as people. My sister was the most dedicated athlete around me, running an average of 7 miles a day, going to any open basketball court in her free time, and making my dad take her to run hills before he went to work every summer morning. So, it is safe to say that basketball was her passion, and it was ruined by a single authority figure that caused her severe anxiety on and off the court. I feel like you would like to know that she quit by tossing her jersey at him, then flipping his off after he made a nasty remark about how “classy” it was–other teachers and coaches congratulated her and let her know how strong she was the next day. Powerful letter.
-Elizabeth Pohle
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I really like how you chose your (ex) coach to write this letter to. People don’t realize how much coaches have an impact on their players, on and off the field. Coaches should be someone that you look up to and have a strong relationship with, and it’s unfortunate that some use it as a way to control and have more power. I have had some amazing coaches, and some who made me hate playing. It’s crazy how one person can change the way you feel about a sport that you have loved to play since a young age. I totally understand what you were talking about when you said how your coach would yell at you for mistakes, but not tell you the right way or how to correct your mistake. I know for me, this frustrated me so much and made me dread going to practices, which would ruin my entire day. On the other end though, amazing coaches can change your life in the best way. In order to deal with bad coaches, I tried to think about how the bad coaches made me appreciate the best ones so much more. Your writing really took me down memory lane, and think about how all my coaches impacted me in my life. This is a great piece, thank you for sharing. Hope all is well!
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It’s crazy that there are so many coaches like this across the country. What always made a bad coach to me was always the ego that they had and the way they couldn’t control themselves when something went wrong. To me, coaches who throw tantrums have just as much self-control as a kid in middle school, it’s just childish and shows you don’t have the fortitude to stay calm and act like a leader. Sometimes, however, things just can’t get changed and it’s sad that stuff like that happens still. Hope you’re doing well.
-Austin
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