By Jordan S. Azcue
Mark Storm, 61, was a physical education teacher and boys’ basketball coach for over 30 years of success at Honeoye Central High School (N.Y.) until parental complaints led to his departure.
Specifically, Storm was accused of being a bully and breaking promises to his student athletes.
David C. Bills, the superintendent, received a letter from a student’s parents, David and Tracy Lortscher, claiming that Storm was verbally abusive and had a drinking problem that kept students from trying out for his athletic teams.
Storm had an opportunity to get his coaching job back, but the Honeoye’s Board of Education voted against renewing his contract. After being denied his position, Storm “wanted to do something for other coaches” by standing up against parents that interfere with coaching careers.
“[The email] went over the line, something had to be done,” Storm told the media. So he filed a defamation lawsuit against the parents who made the initial accusations.
Storm sought $150,000, but ended up settling for $50,000 on the first day of trial.
“My hope is people will at least start to think about what they’re saying, think about what they do before they send that email,” said Storm.
Storm’s experience shows how the social relationship between families and coaches has changed over time, especially with the collection of “select” teams inside and outside of public schools. The expectations a parent has for a coach has evolved, therefore interfering with boundaries that were much stronger in past years.
The term “helicopter parent” has developed as a result of poor boundaries, which refers to parents who have unreasonable expectations for coaches. Storm calls helicopter parents “lawnmower parents” because he said “they just mow everything down that’s in their way.”
Katrina Davenport, a Honeoye High School graduate, was coached by Storm for five seasons and went on to be a coach herself. Davenport, like other athletes under Storm, had complaints about his coaching, but that did not interfere with her athletic journey.
“He taught us a lot of life lessons and now I know there was a rhyme and reason to what he did and said,” Davenport told the media.
In 2015 Davenport wrote Bills in Storm’s defense. In her letter she shared her experience with her parents in relations to Storm’s coaching.
“There were many times my mother wanted to call him and ask him why he was so hard on me. But she trusted him as a coach, and in the end I am thankful for every pro sprint, for every drop of sweat, for every time I was held accountable because it is solely the reason I am successful today,” Davenport wrote.
Storm was represented by John T. Refermat, a partner at Lacy Katzen.
