I am an educator at Glacier High School. I have been in the Kalispell School District for the last 25 years. At times over the years, I have coached basketball (at Kalispell Junior High), softball, and football (at FHS and GHS), and for the last nine years, eighth-grade football at Kalispell Middle School. I have seen high school coaches recruit middle school players by writing letters to parents and talking to individuals after practice. One coach offered varsity playing time by the time players were sophomores (if they came to his school). That is blatant recruiting. I never saw Grady Bennett recruit in these last nine years.
Parents can choose where they want their children to go to school. If I had children who were gifted in certain areas, I might want them to have the best opportunity to excel at the highest level. I might check out different schools in my area with outstanding programs. I might go through the allowable steps to enroll my child at that school. I would want my child to meet the director of a program to start building relationships. That is not recruiting by the director; that is a parent doing what they think is right for their child. Parents don’t know MHSA rules.
If running a successful program that treats kids right, makes deep playoff runs, and consistently competes for state titles is recruiting, then I guess Coach Bennett is guilty of that. If his program went 3-6 or 5-4 and lost in the first round of the playoffs every year, nobody would care, but success brings scrutiny. I appreciate the fact that Coach Bennet has taken this ordeal with grace and humility. The MHSA should clarify the language in their bylaws to reflect the reality of open enrollment and parental rights.
Joel Bemis
Kalispell