|
|
Post by SoccerMom on Sept 10, 2014 13:46:41 GMT -5
what if he had a record for child molestation?? shouldn't they check records before they allow him to be near kids? makes you wonder if its rec? rec parents are the coaches and are volunteers, do they run a check on them? www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/parents-outraged-learn-coach-has-prison-record/nhJzf/WALTON COUNTY, Ga. — A youth soccer team practiced Tuesday with a new head coach after parents found out the former coach had a prison record. There is no indication the former volunteer coach had any ill intent, but given the fact he’s only three months out of an eight-year stint for aggravated assault, parents say he should never have been near their kids in the first place. Former volunteer coach Derrik Wiggins is on parole for his aggravated assault conviction; he spent eight years in prison. Online records show he was released from Dooly State Prison last May. Upset parents told league organizers, who then released Wiggins from his duties. “We’ve told our kids they are going to have a new coach and part of the reason is mistakes were made,” said a mother who did not want to be identified. She told Channel 2’s Tony Thomas it was a fellow parent who found Wiggins’ history. Thomas was unable to reach Wiggins for a comment on the story. Parents said he had a son who played on the team. His son has since been withdrawn from the team. Several parents said they worry they included their personal information in packets given to the coaches. But Blue Springs youth soccer director David Bird said otherwise. “I don’t think he has any Social Security numbers and information like that,” said David Bird. Bird said Wiggins returned his coaching packet this week. Bird admits Wiggins slipped through the cracks but insisted the league does background checks and would have flagged Wiggins once his paperwork was turned in. A new coach is now in place as the league takes another look at how it handles background checks. |
|
|
|
Post by soccerfan30 on Sept 10, 2014 14:26:01 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by Soccerhouse on Sept 10, 2014 14:47:22 GMT -5
i guess its not only the question of doing background checks, but actually reviewing the documents that are received from the background checks!
|
|
|
|
Post by dreaddy on Sept 10, 2014 14:54:42 GMT -5
For an early season practice this is not really surprising. Apparently, the coach was appointed only a couple of days before the practice. The paperwork had probably not been processed yet.
Where I coach, the County insists on doing background checks on all coaches and board members. We all dutifully fill out the paperwork and turn it in. It usually takes a couple of weeks before we hear back from them. During that time we could easily have a situation like this one. The club would no doubt have found out eventually.
|
|
|
|
Post by SoccerMom on Sept 10, 2014 20:16:31 GMT -5
Seems to me they need to do better about their checks, it really doesnt take that long to do a background check, when ga soccer did mine it was back the same day. Anyone can go get a sealed copy of their criminal background from the police dept for a small fee to turn in. Seems like a small price to pay for our children
|
|
|
|
Post by rifle on Sept 11, 2014 5:38:31 GMT -5
A club could spend an hour and Google the names, also.
|
|
|
|
Post by spectator on Sept 11, 2014 11:43:01 GMT -5
Wow - talk about completely missing the point . .
Personal information would include their childrens' names, addresses, birthdays, etc. Anything to make it very easy for someone to get connected with the kids. The dude was in jail for assault not credit card fraud - Social Security Numbers are the least of their worries.
Background Checks aren't always complete or accurate enough - you have to make sure you have the right company running the check and you have to be very very precise in the inquiry - if someone has a common name, include their social or current address in order to get the right information. Still, boneheaded mistake and even more boneheaded comment by the director.
|
|
|
|
Post by SoccerMom on Sept 11, 2014 11:47:56 GMT -5
no excuse whatsoever, it apparently didn't take long for the parents to figure out this guys record (anyone with a smartphone) yet the club is now making lame excuses
|
|
|
|
Post by TheMadOx on Sept 12, 2014 10:05:51 GMT -5
Every club, job, school, church, etc has someone with a past within their organization. I find it funny that people are willing to pass judgement on people without knowing the facts.
First, yes this guy was jailed for assault for 7 years. Was released, the man did his time....maybe he shouldn't be coaching as a volunteer...but he did have a child on the team, maybe he just wanted to coach his son? I think I would want to be involved with my son after 7 years of separation.
As a parent, I would have concerns and would have addressed the club. As a club, I would be ashamed that I missed it. But as I stand back and look at it, should this have been turned in to a news story? I think embarrassing the man and his child after he did his time on the news is a little extreme. They simply should have gone to the club and expressed the concern, I'm sure the club would have responded the same way without the public drama.
If people with criminal records want your information, they don't have to be volunteer soccer coaches to get it...names, phones, addresses are the least of your worries...this dude would have gotten the information by simply joining this same team as a parent watching is son. They just need to use that same googler you are using to find his past...
|
|
|
|
Post by special1 on Sept 12, 2014 19:09:54 GMT -5
Every club, job, school, church, etc has someone with a past within their organization. I find it funny that people are willing to pass judgement on people without knowing the facts. First, yes this guy was jailed for assault for 7 years. Was released, the man did his time....maybe he shouldn't be coaching as a volunteer...but he did have a child on the team, maybe he just wanted to coach his son? I think I would want to be involved with my son after 7 years of separation. As a parent, I would have concerns and would have addressed the club. As a club, I would be ashamed that I missed it. But as I stand back and look at it, should this have been turned in to a news story? I think embarrassing the man and his child after he did his time on the news is a little extreme. They simply should have gone to the club and expressed the concern, I'm sure the club would have responded the same way without the public drama. If people with criminal records want your information, they don't have to be volunteer soccer coaches to get it...names, phones, addresses are the least of your worries...this dude would have gotten the information by simply joining this same team as a parent watching is son. They just need to use that same googler you are using to find his past... You couldn't have said it better |
|
|
|
Post by zizou on Sept 15, 2014 13:07:39 GMT -5
Every club, job, school, church, etc has someone with a past within their organization. I find it funny that people are willing to pass judgement on people without knowing the facts. First, yes this guy was jailed for assault for 7 years. Was released, the man did his time....maybe he shouldn't be coaching as a volunteer...but he did have a child on the team, maybe he just wanted to coach his son? I think I would want to be involved with my son after 7 years of separation. As a parent, I would have concerns and would have addressed the club. As a club, I would be ashamed that I missed it. But as I stand back and look at it, should this have been turned in to a news story? I think embarrassing the man and his child after he did his time on the news is a little extreme. They simply should have gone to the club and expressed the concern, I'm sure the club would have responded the same way without the public drama. If people with criminal records want your information, they don't have to be volunteer soccer coaches to get it...names, phones, addresses are the least of your worries...this dude would have gotten the information by simply joining this same team as a parent watching is son. They just need to use that same googler you are using to find his past... The child on the team is the really sad part. I am sure I would be initially concerned if this was my child's team, but I also would be open to hearing the circumstances. Aggravated assault could mean a lot of things from beating someone up to using a variety of different types of "weapons" to cause serious bodily injury to someone. If it was pedophelia, then ok. He should not be out there. But if that was the case it would have been reported. Maybe I am just a liberal pinko commie. Almost every parent would have been at every training session. What could have happened? On the one hand, maybe he had an anger management issue, which would be very very bad in the youth soccer environment! On the other hand, this could have turned into one of the best feel-good stories of the entire year ("Man and Son Re-engage Through Youth Soccer, and an Entire Team Learns That You Really Can Have a Second Chance in Life") if things would have been handled well by the club, the parents, and the media. Very disappointing story overall. One could see this as kind of an unfortunate commentary on the current state of our society. But, like I said, I would need to know the full circumstances before I could really make a firm judgement on this matter. |
|
|
|
Post by SoccerMom on Sept 15, 2014 13:31:17 GMT -5
Im not judging him because I don't really know exactly what he did, my only concern is that they need to be better about the background checks. If this would have been handled correctly by the club, then it would have never made it out to the media. Im pretty sure the same parent that reported the coach also called the news.
|
|
|
|
Post by soccergator on Sept 15, 2014 21:33:28 GMT -5
Funny, when I browse this thread, the ads are for background checks and public searches!!
|
|
|
|
Post by SoccerMom on Sept 16, 2014 5:27:14 GMT -5
Funny, when I browse this thread, the ads are for background checks and public searches!! We're being watched lol |
|
|
|
Post by coffeedude on Sept 16, 2014 7:56:22 GMT -5
Good points from everyone, just a quick note from a club admin perpsective, i think most of us come from the Academy/ Select side of the program where things are usually pretty well planned out due to Tryouts/ Signing day, etc. I can tell you having helped on the rec side as well it is not uncommon to still be looking for 1 or 2 volunteer coaches a week or two out from games. Locally for us when someone volunteers, paperwork is filled out, turned into Parks and Rec who then turns it in to local Sheriffs dept for background check. In that case the team might start practicing before all the checks come back.
Guess it might be something for clubs to start considering, no practice or contact until all clear is given?
|
|
|
|
Post by Soccerhouse on Sept 16, 2014 8:00:42 GMT -5
as coffeedude mentions, i could see how this could slip through easily. not passing judgement on the guy etc. rec teams often struggle to find volunteer coaches, happened the first week of rec practice at our club. Our rec director coaches one of my kids teams. first week of rec practices, numerous teams volunteer coaches backed out last minute, hence there were teams with no coaches. you could get in a situation, where someone unofficially volunteers who is in fact not the same coach the "club" thinks is coaching the team. |
|
|
|
Post by SoccerMom on Sept 16, 2014 8:19:11 GMT -5
Good points from everyone, just a quick note from a club admin perpsective, i think most of us come from the Academy/ Select side of the program where things are usually pretty well planned out due to Tryouts/ Signing day, etc. I can tell you having helped on the rec side as well it is not uncommon to still be looking for 1 or 2 volunteer coaches a week or two out from games. Locally for us when someone volunteers, paperwork is filled out, turned into Parks and Rec who then turns it in to local Sheriffs dept for background check. In that case the team might start practicing before all the checks come back. Guess it might be something for clubs to start considering, no practice or contact until all clear is given? I know that on the rec side its not as smooth as on the academy/select side. But it would only take 10 minutes for the volunteer to go to their police dept and get a sealed copy of their criminal record to turn in while the club requests it on their own. It may seem like overkill but we have no way of knowing who is a good and a bad guy unless its tattooed on their forehead. And yes there's also lots of bad people with no records also, but I don't want to read news about a crime that could have been prevented. |
|
