Ask any student that had a class with him.

Nicely put Denver!

As a lifelong resident and former student athlete at EHS, I'm very disturbed at some of the comments about Coach. I played under coach from 91-94, and achieved many team successes. To write opinions that coach was a "bully, and hated by teachers" is ridiculous. Both of my parents were evansville teachers and i can assure you this is not an opinion shared by them. Coach taught us many things, like discipline, teamwork, and commitment to name a few. But the most important thing he helped us with, was becoming good men! You tell me one person in this community that has done more for our youth than coach. For those of you naysayers, that just moved here, but already have an opinion, this will be hard! For those of you that have lived in evansville, but have had no relationship with coach, other than writing random opinions on this blog, this will be hard. But it is not hard for me. Coach taught me many things growing up, that i am now passing on to my kids. I just hope he sticks around long enough to coach my son, as he coached me so long ago. I hope all of you have had someone in your life that was so influential, as i have had with coach. I am proud to have had the opportunity to call him teacher, coach and most importantly friend!

Grovesteen was 3 sheets to the wind 10 years ago probably still is. idk when this accident happened but the 1st few weeks of practice are no pads no helmet.

Everyone who is defense is expected to blitz, even safety's so yes they have to go through the drills like everyone else. As for the size difference, a majority of the time you get stuck with ppl ur size but you also have to know how to deal with smaller and larger players.

I have to side with the school system on this I just don't believe the statements are true. IF she was practicing w/o gear and everyone else was then shame on her. Doesn't take much common sense to understand how much damage a helmet can do on an unprotected area of the body.

tht guy on the bench better file a discrimatory suit too!!!!!

wow - i didnt know that when i was teased and bullied in school by GUYS i could have sued them.

Yes this is typical Grover, however, he didn't become that way just because she is a girl playing football on the guys team. It is was it is, this is Grover through and through, and all of the guys are either on the train going forward, and if they can't be in the mindset to play Blue Devil football, they move on. Sorry Coach McCarthy!!

Anyone who knows Grover, knows this sounds just like him. That said, there is a such thing as personal responsibility, also. The best solution may be to 1) Find a replacement for Grover, 2) dismiss the lawsuit, and 3)develop a comprehensive policy on how to handle girls in boys' sports an vice versa.

I wonder how many other times in life the parents have threatened a law suit because there daughter was not treated fairly in "there" eyes, or will they do this again everytime something is not fair in there eye's. I wonder if the tables were turned and the mom at her level of teaching was sued because she didn't treat someone fairly, what she would have to say about a law suit.
Did this girl go out playing football intending on kicking the big boys butts, and it didn't happen so let's get back at ALL of them and sue the whole coaching staff for not "letting her win". This just needs to be thrown out of court and the courts need to realize this is a means to an end for her college tuition.

How wonderful for you girls-can-do-anything-boys-can-do people. Here's your chance to sound off! However, just think for a moment about how this poster child for your "cause" is going to be affected by this suit. Nothing that took place on the field will compare to the scourge this law suit, her testimony, and the way her personal life will be thrown into court.
Why on earth would a mother choose to do that to their child? Because it will help her daughter recover from the poor treatment she claims to have received? Or is it possible that perhaps there’s a history of someone looking to get what they want through attorneys and threats, instead of simply sitting down as an adult and discussing matters in the best interest of their child?
It will all be on the table folks and do you honestly believe any of that will help this young woman return to a somewhat normal life? If any of you “cause champions” actually thought about that you wouldn’t be so quick to pile on. Where will you be in 5 years? Certainly not thinking or caring about her.
And just remember, for those of you who want to say that it isn’t about money, if it weren’t about money, then it wouldn’t be in court

My family lives, and breathes Longaberger and Yankee Candles, but I choose to stay away from them because of my gender. Does that make me sexist? I have red hair and was teased mercifully as a child on the playground, and the school did nothing about it. Should my parents have sued? I don't think so. Life sometimes isn't fair. It is what made us Irish "fighting" Irish. Again, if this is not financially motivated, I look forward to their donation to some recognized charitable organization.

If I was this girl's parent, for one I would of had a sit down with the coaching staff to be sure that my daughter's needs were met. With this said, these players are high school students, and should not need to be "babysat" to be sure that they have all of their necessities. If a player shows up without their equipment, and decides to practice anyway, that is their decision. Generally the coaches do not let them practice without their stuff on. I feel that she should of taken it upon herself to be sure that she had access to her locker room and equipment daily. Also, once practices start, they run everyday, starting at 3 or 3:30 until dark. I know that and I am only a parent. I don't even know if there is actually a schedule of practices posted.

I HEART GROVER.....why yes, I'm a girl, I used to play football, and I had a great time. BLOGGERS GET A LIFE AND THE WHOLE STORY!!!!! THE TRUE STORY WILL COME OUT:)

It was my understanding from another player that she refused to wear the equipment because it didn't fit her properly....... this then would be her own fault, and should have been told to go home. Which I beleive she was but refused. The coaches are not super human, they can not keep any eye on what everyone has on, or has taken off, or refuses to do, so again I say, where is HER responsibility in all of this? or her parents? Trust me, as I always say, there are 3 sides to every story, are you going to defend her because she was a girl and have sympathy for playing in a man's sport? Had this been one of they guys that got hurt because his equipment didn't fit properly. This is not the pro's or college, it is high school, and they are not custom fitted pads, you get what you get as close as it can be. DEAL WITH IT or DON"T PLAY!!

Whatever happened to common sense? The girl should have been smart enough to refuse to play without proper equipment. And not only that, there's no guarantee she wouldn't have been injured if she did have pads...boys get hurt too.

The family earlier filed a claim against the school district. This is the full-length Gazette article from then:
http://gazettextra.com/news/2007/nov/01/...
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The case filing with the federal court was August 4.
http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-w...

No localboy, she did not go out for football to make a point. How can you be so sure of a person's motives when you don't even know them??? She came from a family that lived and breathed football. She has two brothers who were all-state football players. She went out because she liked playing. When we were younger we would all play football together. Girls and boys. She played football through her freshman year. The only reason she stopped playing is because she didn't see the point of going to practice for coaches who treated her like crap. IF you read my last post, you would see that she knew what she was getting into and she took her "LUMPS". She never once complained about it. In fact the only people who did say anything were other people. They could see the discrimination. This included fans, parents, and team members. I had many football players who played with her tell me how sorry they felt for her because of how she was treated. See, not all men are blind sexist pigs. Even some of them can identify discrimination and harassment!

w8nc - if you walk in to a crowded room with a clown suit on, don't be surprised when people laugh at you. I am sure she went out for the team to make a point. Also, if you get a mohawk to stand out and be different, don't be surprised when you get treated different. You want to be a girl playing with a bunch of boys, be prepared to take your lumps.

I think there might be a lawsuit charging McDonalds and Wendys for making people obese. If this isn't about money, then I am sure they will donate their procedes to the Evansville Athletic fund, since their only motive is compliance - right? Talk about frivolous......

The girl who I talked about was forced to go against the biggest linemen, even though NONE of her male counterparts of the same size were. Even the other guy who played the same position on her team was NOT subjected to this. The lineman who had to go against her felt horrible because he even thought that she was treated unfairly. In the case I referenced, she was singled out and this to me screams DISCRIMINATION!!! Even though she was treated like this, she did not complain and she took the ostracizing for fear of being singled out even more.
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Does anybody besides me think that discrimination does and can happen? From all of these posts it sounds like the vast majority think that this girl is at fault and is only looking for money. None of us were probably there when the event occurred, so we can only go on what we’ve read, been told, and our past experiences. So, I can’t say either if in fact discrimination has occurred. I just find it so appalling that the majority of people blogging don’t even consider the idea that this could in fact have been discrimination and harassment. Believe it or not people, discrimination and harassment happen!
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As for Evansvillehousewife’s question regarding whether or not the former girl football players would testify to their experiences, I 100% believe the one I was talking about would if she were asked to. I don’t think she even knows about this story, so I doubt she would come forward on her own because she isn’t aware of the situation.
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Mainstreet --- If your son wants to play volleyball and they don’t offer boys volleyball, he should be allowed to!

...and in other news someone is sueing mcdonalds for their coffee for being too hot

Again, this is Football, kids are going to get hurt. If you can't stand the heat, don't do in the kitchen! I pray that my son does not get hurt every day but he loves the game. He takes it and doesn't whine that he didn't get special treatment. How she was treated is anyone's guess but and there are always 2 sides to every story. No one knows what was said to this girl except her and the person she was talking to. Even then things can be interpreted wrong. This is an unfortunate situation that is only going to get worse.

There are also notarized statements from other players about the actions involving coaches that day. Statements from other students who witnessed the teasing and comments. This law suit would not have gone forward without good solid evidence. There is not enough money to be gained. this girl put up with a lot of crap not just on the field but during the school day as well. The school had the chance to make it right and did not.

The locker room was locked, she had to go track down the janitor on a daily basis to open it. Snacks, I am not so much worried about that part. I mean that could have been a kid, pulling a bag out of his nasty duffel bag and sharing. But the schedules not being posted anywhere but the boys locker room is a big deal. She and her mom asked Brian Cashore, athlete director extraordinaire if they could not be posted else where, or online and he would not agree. She did not have proper equipment as she could not find a janitor on the day this happened to open the locker room. There was alot of rude comments and teasing that went on made to her female related that the coaches were made aware of and did nothing. That was also brought up to Brian Catshore and he did nothing.They tried to resolve the issues with the school , before they ever saw a lawyer and the school would not budge. It was not like that was the first thing they did. The Mom just wanted them to change things to include girls and they would not. They are guilty as sin.. Any practice I have watched and there have been many, if you don't have proper equipment you either get it or go home. Those coaches should have pulled her immediately , but they did not. We (son&I) were there the day she got hurt , and I wondered what the deal was that she was out there with out equipment and the others had it. NOW I know , she was a girl.

I want some pretzels, too.

Rims, what equipment was she missing?

How did she have to go get it? Snacks, are we really having a lawsuit about a girl not getting pretzels?

Give us details if you know so much.

I think they filed notice a year ago of intention to sue. The mother is a teacher. Very good teacher. Shame on the school district. IT is widely known of issues with the coaches on this team and how they treated her. NO big secret. It is the coaches job to get anyone off the field who is not complying with rules and regulations. Maybe she should have known but WHO is the adult? The Freshman coach should be fired. He is the biggest sexist around. It was ultimately his job to keep track of his players and he did not. They should have supplied her with proper equipment and they did not. She should have had to track down someone everyday to get the proper equipment but she did. Snacks should have been given to all. Practices should be posted where all can find the schedule. But it was not .. This school district is in big trouble and itknows it. This Grovesteen should have been fired years ago for abusive behavior and was not. This is not the first compliant against him or his coaches. But you know what they win, and thats all anyone cares about. Forget about proper behavior. The school should have settled this long ago. A lawyer would not take this case unless it was a strong case. They can only sue for up to 50,000. because it is a school. After lawyer fees that is not very much. So of you who post on here, should know the facts before you speak out of your ....

I have to agree with alot of things said here. She should have know what she was getting herself into here. MOST girls, when going out for a predominantly male sport, don't want special treatment. They expect to be treated the same as everyone else. I personally think this whole thing is ridiculous. This is nothing more than an "oh is me" situation with a ploy to make money. That's it, bottom line. They're just looking for a check.

KaChing!!

sounds like somebody after a wad of cash to me.

I know several players on the Evl team, my son being one. No player runs drills without the proper equipment. If you show up for practice without your gear, you do not participate in the drills if everyone else is geared up. He has also been tackled or has had to tackle a much larger player, do you think that in a game situation you get to choose who tackles you! This is FOOTBALL! If you want to play with the big boys, then be prepared to play and not expect to be treated any different. In this day and age, it is hard for a coach to determine what is right and what is wrong in how to treat different sex players. Heaven forbid that any of the coaches would of set foot in the girls lockeroom! Talk about a lawsuit!

Just one more reason to stop confusing sports with education.

I think I am going to send my 6'3" son out for the girls volleyball team at school, since the district doesn't offer a boys volleyball team.

As a football coach, who has coached 3 girls, I have always treated girls the same. I caoch sophomores, so I have kids who weigh 100lbs to 240 lbs. Do coaches look out for all 120 pound players? Yes, most tackling and blocking drills are done by weight. However, at some point a 120 lb player, will run into a 220 lb player, so they must work against them in drills. (There are only maybe 3 or 4 300lb players in the whole state and NO 300 lb linebackers even in the NFL)

No coach, especially not an experienced coach, is going to put a player in a drill without pads. No one is that stupid. I would be my house she was wearing the same pads as the boy, as far as required pads go. That means: helmet, shoulder pads, and leg pads. There are optional pads such as hand, and forearm pads. Some players with shoulder injuries where additional "spider" pads under their shoulder pads, but they are not standard. Is the mom saying she should have had these non-standard pads? If she is, it won't hold up in court.

As a former coach of girls on a football team, I'll tell you this; I didn't get withing 25 feet of the girls locker room. It just isn't done.

One last note, my brother was a 230lb junior, who got his collar bone broken by a 135 lb cornerback while wearing full pads. It happens, as someone said, that's why they call them ACCIDENTS!

The article read:
"The lawsuit alleges Elborough was injured because she was told to practice without safety equipment, even though the rest of the team was wearing gear during blocking drills."
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I can say that I was not aware that not all of the other team members weren't wearing equipment for the drill. If in fact that was the case, then, yes, accident is the word for what happened.

This is old news, and we are beating a dead horse from what came out a year ago. I said then, I will say it again, if you are going to play with the big dogs, then as a little dog your going to get hurt playing with the big dogs. This is NOT discrimination, a female playing on a male football team is only asking for trouble, and you can not be in the boys locker room, you can not be treated as "one of the guys", get your butt slapped as an atta boy. You ARE going to accuse someone of something at sometime, and the guy will spend the rest of his life dealing with the sexual harrassment charges that should have never happened when she wanted to play on a man's team as the only female. They just need to get over it, she broke a bone as do the guys, and at what point was she going to take responsiblity for her actions and put the gear on, or just say NO!!

W8nc- Are only girls made to play larger males on the opposing team? Are smaller boys not made to participate in the same drills? Was she truly prevented from wearing gear when the boys were protected? These need to be answered to determine if there was sex discrimination.
To answer your questions, I don't believe this lawsuit is fighting for equal rights. It appears she was allowed to play and practice. She sustained an injury that is very common to football players. Her treatment, based on what other team members are saying, appears to be on par with the rest of the team.
I would like to wait and see if the other female football players are going to testify about their experiences on the team.

Also- based on a prior story, they were alleging that every other player was wearing gear, but other players testified that they were not wearing gear. There was also an allegation of snacks being served only in the boy's locker room, apparently some parent brought a bag of pretzels into the locker room but was not aware there was a girl on the team.
She apparently was not given a copy of the schedule, nor was given a team T-shirt.
It looks like there is going to be an uphill battle on this one- I think they are going to have a tough time proving discrimination when there is such care being given to protecting girl's privacy these days. For instance, it would have been an invasion of privacy to send a boy or man in to post a schedule in the girl's locker room.

Evansvillehousewife --- This was probably not an unfortunate accident. If you knew anything about femal football players at Evansville you would know this. This IS NOT the first female football player that Evansville has had. There were two girls who played football when I was in school and they too faced the same ridiculous treatment. I know one girl who was a freshman and about 120 pounds when she was forced to block agains the biggest senior lineman. How is that fair? If she were a lineman it would be. However, she was a safety. While I know she was bound to take hits from someone much bigger, the chances she would have to go toe-to-toe on the line with someone who outweighted her by 200 pounds was so slim. If a girl wants to play football she should be allowed to play on the all-boy team if the school district cannot offer a comparable sport. However, if she does play, she deserves the same treatment as the other players. I don't disagree that female and male players alike should be held to the same standards. EHW, why don't you explain to me how fighting for equal rights would "set us back"? Also, can you clarify exactly how SPECIAL you thought this girls treatment was?

No happygolucky- based on prior stories, other team members weren't wearing gear for this drill either. I've also heard other versions- the gear didn't fit so she opted not to wear it, the mother didn't want to buy her daughter gear because she felt it was the school district's responsibility to provide it, etc.

There is also the very real fact that the family needs to prove that his injury would not have happened were the girl wearing proper gear. Put a 120 pound girl up against a 300+ linebacker, I don't care what type of gear she is wearing, she is going to get hurt. I don't care what sex a child is- boy or girl- if they are skinny with relatively weak body strength, parents need to evaluate their child's needs in a sport.

It's not as if the girl was told not to wear gear and then go up against a squad of guys that were wearing gear. If that were the case, she would be justified in sueing, because she would have been targeted. But from everything about this case I have been reading, she was treated like one of the guys, and now is upset that she got hurt like one of the guys. You can't have it both ways.

This is ridiculous! The original article, from last fall, stated that she wasn't wearing the pads--not that she wasn't issued the pads. And, "huh", is right--mom is a teacher in the district--I think she's an administrator if I remember correctly. I also thought this suit was filed long ago.
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One cannot possibly expect a girl playing a predominantly male sport to be treated 100% equal. They could put all the pads they wanted on me, and I bet I'd still break my clavicle!

I don't get why someone would want to be the only female on a male football team? Some sports just shouldn't be played by women, UNLESS it is an all female team.

"Special treatment NEVER creates an egalitarian atmosphere."
So when she didn't have the same equipment that the REST of the team had to practice with - is that the special treatment you are referring to?

Ms Elbourough's parents are performing a great disservice to female atheletes. I wish they would consider what effect this would have on policies in Evansville sports. This will not benefit females in male- dominated sports, it's only going to set us back.
I think this is motivated by money, not principle. If the well-being of their daughter was truly their ideal, they wouldn't be using her to make a "federal case" out of this unfortunate ACCIDENT.
If they were truly concerned about building character, they'd discuss with their daughter about how to deal with the issues of being a female football player, encourage her to try the sport again, and send her back out. As it is, they're just creating another "oh poor me' little girl victim. Special treatment NEVER creates an egalitarian atmosphere.

An important part of this story is that the mother is a teacher in the district.

A question...I thought the lawsuit was already filed a year or two ago. What happened there?