Roseville Area - An Incredibly Disturbing Situation

Just when I thought I had things wrapped up for the 2017-18 season with my recap on things last night, I came across a post on Facebook (of all places) this morning by LaToya Turk; a mother of a Roseville player, who laid out a disturbing account of mistreatment and possible racism on the part of the Roseville coaching staff, players and administration.  I had to read this post several times to let this all sink in for a bit and I didn't want to do a snap judgement evaluation either.  I think the best thing to do is to lay this all out here so you can think for yourself (see bottom) and I'll offer up some thoughts.

First off, know and understand that I'm not even remotely close to the Roseville program.  I don't normally follow the team during the regular season nor do I know any of the players on the team or the parents and I'm not that well acquainted with the coaching staff at Roseville either.  But this account provided by LaToya Turk about what happened at the season-ending banquet earlier this week really stopped me in my tracks.  It's really incredibly hard for me to believe that things like this were happening despite the fact that Turk herself met with the coaching staff and administration about this to try and address the situation.  The fact that her daughter had to be embarrassed and humiliated at the banquet by a senior and a captain player in front of fellow players, coaches, parents and presumably administrators is simply infuriating and unacceptable. 

So, what do we do here?  How do we address this problem?  If I had any say, here's how I'd go about it:

1.  First off, a complete and thorough investigation should be performed by the Roseville Area administration into the alleged misdeeds.  All the facts must be gathered and examined before any judgement or punishment is handed out.

2.  If coaches were indeed aware of cyber-bullying and other covert racist/aggressive misdeeds and did nothing to resolve the problem and instead let it fester, then these coaches need to be fired. 

3.  The Roseville Area administration needs to send out a clear and unmistakable message to coaches, parents and student-athletes alike that such behavior will not be tolerated.

4.  Oh, and where oh where is the almighty MSHSL in all this?  They're the ones who supposedly lay out the damn rules for member schools to follow when it comes to discrimination and bullying in the first place.  I guess they've got more important things on their mind such as making sure that bloggers such as myself don't get in to cover the state tournaments.  Well MSHSL, you've got a helluva lot more to worry about with this potential black eye to high school sports in Minnesota than you do with us bloggers.  If MSHSL refuses to deal with this, then some serious house cleaning needs to take place at MSHSL. 


So I would read this and absorb it as much as you can.  Think for yourself.  All I can tell you is that I was truly disgusted that such behavior was allowed to take place. 

Fire away with thoughts....

Monday at the Roseville Girls Basketball Banquet, my daughter experienced one of the most racist and shamming encounters at the hands of her coaches and two team mates that I’ve ever witnessed.

A senior and a captain player gave out “gag” awards. They gave things like a microphone to a player that sings a lot, butterfly wings for a player who fell on the floor a lot, friendship necklaces to players who were inseparable. But guess what these racists gave my child! A piece of hair weave! The white parents, coaches and players were laughing hysterically (as were some of her sleep minority players too). My daughter was embarrassed and we got up and left.

Several parents contacted me later to say how wrong and racist the gift was. I agree.
But not surprised. As of date, no coach or athletic director has contacted me. I’ve met with the coaches and athletic director of the Roseville girls basketball team back in January about my concerns of micro aggression on the team and nothings changed!

My child has had to deal with these girls hiding her gym bag, giving her wrong practice location and team activity location so her attendance can be omitted. She’s penalized unfairly compared to other white players. She and other black players are forced to sit on the end of the bench and are always the very last to get into a game and are clearly better players. The list goes on. You would be appalled at the behaviors I’ve seen exhibited by coaches and players this year. Coaches have been notified about cyber bullying that’s occurring and done nothing! As a coach myself, I’m beyond disgusted! It stops NOW!

Iron sharpens iron (we support each other) and if your on my page your either family or a friend (not used loosely). This starts at the head, please contact the Principal at Roseville, Christina Hester, and let her know this behavior will not be tolerated and discipline needs to show that there’s no place for this type of behavior at her school . Contact the Athletic Director,Jeff Whisler, and remind him of the anti bullying and discrimination rules of the MSHL! This behavior is not permitted among players or coaches and demand he eliminate it from any Roseville athletic program. Contact the Coach Jeff Crosby and ask why he’s condoning the racist and bullying behaviors of his players in the program? 651-635-1600 is the number to the High School.

I’ve heard of families leaving Roseville due to behaviors like this, well they picked the wrong one this time. Please FB family and friends take 5 minutes out of your day and do something to voice your disgust and demand swift penalty for this behavior. Our children need to see us challenge racism fiercely and show power and support in numbers. It doesn’t stop here for me. Thank you!