# I don't what to think any more



## Norm70 (Aug 26, 2005)

Superintendent keeps coaches
04/24/2008
School Board to meet Monday after letter accuses coaching staff of inappropriate behavio

Hankinson (N.D.) School Superintendent Jess Smith has decided to retain head girls basketball coach Shawn Gravalin and assistant Mike Loll after investigating complaints lodged against both coaches.
"My part is finished. I'm retaining the coaches," Smith said. "I just figure there is nothing that stuck. I believe they are good coaches, and they will continue to be good coaches."

The Hankinson School Board has scheduled a special meeting at 8 p.m. Monday in the school's library to review the coaching situation. That is the only item on the agenda, Smith said.

Smith said he started his investigation in late March after Fritz and Tammy Geffre - whose daughters, Cody, a junior, and Casey, a sophomore, play on the varsity girls basketball team - gave the school a letter that outlined complaints against the coaching staff.

Tammy Geffre said Wednesday she asked for the special board meeting because she doesn't think administrators made the right decision to keep Gravalin and Loll.

RELATED CONTENT
Eric Peterson Archive In the letter, the Geffres accuse the staff of inappropriate touching and behavior around the players, and making sexual comments and verbally abusing players.
Some examples cited in the letter include:

- Gravalin, with Fritz Geffre watching, put his arm around Cody after a game and said, "I love you, Cody."

- On the final night of the state tournament, some players went to one of the rooms where the coaches were and found numerous cases of beer, liquor bottles and a pyramid of empty beer cans.

- After one of the players had her ankle taped, Gravalin said, "That sure looks sexy."

- At the start of the season, Gravalin said to Casey Geffre, "Are you going to lose the district game for us like you did last year?"

Gravalin, who plans to attend Monday's School Board meeting, says the Geffres took things out of context.

"They don't like the way I coach and they don't like the way coach Loll coaches, and they decided to go this route with it," Gravalin said. "I know coach Loll and myself did nothing wrong."

Tammy Geffre disagreed.

"I don't think I'm taking this stuff out of context, otherwise I would have never went in," she said. "I guess I'm hoping the School Board can see that some of the actions of the coaches are inappropriate and not acceptable."

Tammy Geffre said both of her daughters wrote letters to the Hankinson administration after the season to voice their concerns about the coaches.

The Geffres moved into the Hankinson School District before the 2006-07 school year.

Cody and Casey Geffre attended school in the Fargo Catholic Schools Network the year before they went to Hankinson. Both were part of the Fargo Shanley girls basketball program.

Gravalin, 30, was previously an assistant for seven years in the Fargo North boys basketball program. His contract was not renewed after the 2003-04 season.

Gravalin assisted under Brent Offerdahl, who resigned as head North boys coach in June 2004 amid a school investigation into allegations against Offerdahl of "conduct unbecoming of a teacher."

School officials would not say at the time if the decision to not renew Gravalin's contract was related to the case against Offerdahl. The complaint lodged against Offerdahl was eventually dismissed.

Hankinson posted a 21-7 record this winter and finished third place at the North Dakota Class B girls basketball tournament.

Gravalin has been the head coach at Hankinson for the past three seasons. Loll was his assistant this past season.

Gravalin had already signed a contract to coach the team next season.

Geffre had no comment when she was asked what her family would do if the School Board upholds the decision to keep Gravalin and Loll.

Readers can reach Forum reporter Eric Peterson at (701) 241-5513.


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## blhunter3 (May 5, 2007)

I for one think that most high school coaches need to be fired. While in high school (last year). I was a two year starter on the offensive line and all-conference one year and my senior year after we lost our first game the coach told me I wouldn't get anymore playing time except for special teams because "your a loner, and I don't like loners" our basketball coach black balls players every year and both the players and the parents know what he is doing. But since he took us to state he isn't going to get fired. I have along with many other players have taken alot of verbal abuse. Coaches need to understand that sports are not that important. Sports are to teach kids sportsmanship not win at all cost.

We have a team football team NYM and is notoruos for being dirty. We have it on tape kids kicking, punching, twisting ankles, and choking. Yet that coach hasn't been fired because he claims that he doesn't tell his players to do it. But yet he doesn't do anything about it. uke:

As far as I am concerned most high school coaches need to quit and let coach who treat the kids the right way coach.


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## averyghg (Oct 16, 2006)

Do you really expect to find awesome coaches in ND when salary for teachers and coaching is so damn low?

Most coaches you find are the ones that actually grew up in the same town that they are coaching at. Its hard to pull people in when you offer them $10,000 a year.

Im not saying what these guys did was appropriate but it just doesn't surpirse me :roll:


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## Norm70 (Aug 26, 2005)

lol, you think we make 10,000 a yr for coaching??? Wow, that would be about a 500% raise for me.


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## Norm70 (Aug 26, 2005)

sorry avery i wasn't making fun of you. coaches in small town nodak maybe make 3000 for head coach is a well paying school.

My 1st yr i coached legion ball when i was 19 i made 1500 dollars and drove about 45 miles round trip to coach, on my own dime.


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## fishhook (Aug 29, 2002)

Well,

We just had our boy's basketball coach run out of town here. SAD.

Was he the greatest coach...probably not, but he coached high school basketball and with the exception of 3 kids (the high school principals kids), all the kids liked him.

It really dissapointed me.

Rumor was a petition was going around to get the boys high school hockey, football and basketball coach canned.

the football coach also left, but he was offered principal in Kenmare.

It's a mess right now.

Almost refreshing to hear it not only goes on here.


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## rowdie (Jan 19, 2005)

$10,000 a Year, for one sport?????

If you were Head Coach for 3 sports in ND you might not total that much!!


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## blhunter3 (May 5, 2007)

Good coaches are hard to come now days. Its all about winning. I used to love sports until I got to the varisty level. There was so much pressure to win at all cost. The captians practices that are not manditory but if you dont go the coaches hold that agianst you. My boss was gone for a week and his son missed a captians weight lifting before and after school because we work on a dairy farm and the coach told him its going to affect his playing time. uke:


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## southdakbearfan (Oct 11, 2004)

I don't know anything about what these coaches did, but most coaches just quit because of critism because mommy and daddy's little prince or princess's can't take a but chewing for being idiots on the court or field or parents have delusions about their kid's talent.


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## verg (Aug 21, 2006)

southdakbearfan said:


> I don't know anything about what these coaches did, but most coaches just quit because of critism because mommy and daddy's little prince or princess's can't take a but chewing for being idiots on the court or field or parents have delusions about their kid's talent.


Amen!!
I'm a coach and that is the first complaint all coaches have. Parents!!
They refuse to have their kids held accoutable. Remember, coaches are always wrong. IF we have a winning season-its cuz we had talent not good coaching. If we have a bad season, its the coaches fault-not lack of talent. It is a thankless job. 
As a coach, I game plan and for each game and expect my girls to work the plan and work their butts off. That's it. Wins and losses take care of themselves. If I find they don't do one or the other, I let them know. Period


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## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

The only people in sports treated more shabily than coaches are officials.


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## djleye (Nov 14, 2002)

> They refuse to have their kids held accoutable.


If parents made their kids accountable for their own actions, society in general would be a heck of a lot better off!!!!! Not only sports!!


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## dakotashooter2 (Oct 31, 2003)

The truth is in most rural and small town communities coaching is really not much more than volunteer work.

It is common for "stars" to start whining when they are not getting the playing time they think they deserve. There is a lot of pressure on coaches to win but they cannot do that consistently with one or two good players. Often in order to develop the rest of the team the star players are sometimes put on the back burners to some extent. Often star players are trying to build their stats while the coaches are trying to build that players leadership skills which he hopes will reflect on the teammates which will have as much effect on the team as a whole.

Most moms and dads are not coaching for a reason.


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## Triple B (Mar 9, 2004)

dakotashooter2 said:


> The truth is in most rural and small town communities coaching is really not much more than volunteer work.
> 
> It is common for "stars" to start whining when they are not getting the playing time they think they deserve. There is a lot of pressure on coaches to win but they cannot do that consistently with one or two good players. Often in order to develop the rest of the team the star players are sometimes put on the back burners to some extent. Often star players are trying to build their stats while the coaches are trying to build that players leadership skills which he hopes will reflect on the teammates which will have as much effect on the team as a whole.
> 
> Most moms and dads are not coaching for a reason.


most often it is not the "stars" that do the complaining, or their parents for that matter. it is the "delusional" parents, or the kids that really aren't that good. especially when you have parents that are telling their kids that they are better than they really are. thats when rumors start and witch hunts follow. its sad how jelously and greed play a part in ND high school sports.


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## hunt4P&amp;Y (Sep 23, 2004)

The biggest school in ND is FARGO SOUTH. correct? My sister is the head coach for the girls track and Cross Country teams. She gets like 2K for each. Its not only a small town thing...

NORM I love your Avatar!!!!


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## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

hunt4P&Y said:


> The biggest school in ND is FARGO SOUTH. correct? My sister is the head coach for the girls track and Cross Country teams. She gets like 2K for each. Its not only a small town thing...
> 
> NORM I love your Avatar!!!!


I think since Minot has only 1 High School they are the largest.


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## hunt4P&amp;Y (Sep 23, 2004)

I would check the sizes. I am talking per grade... But I know for a fact we have the highest class numbers


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## Norm70 (Aug 26, 2005)

hunt4P&Y is right south is the biggest. Minot is a close 2nd.


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## blhunter3 (May 5, 2007)

The coaching and players and parent issue isn't only in ND, its heavy over here in MN too.

I had to quit sports because of it. I was an average player at best. And there were many other average players, but what I have noticed is the coaches are at fault when the pick and choose certain players to player over others. . I have been on both the good side and bad side of coaches. And I myself coached little kids. But what I am getting at is there are shatty coaches as well. Its not all the players or their parents.


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## njsimonson (Sep 24, 2002)

Save a coach, join the chess team.


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## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

hunt4P&Y said:


> I would check the sizes. I am talking per grade... But I know for a fact we have the highest class numbers


Yes,I checked.Your'e right for now.South is a little bigger.When the new Davies HS is built,Minot will be the biggest.

And that is only because they send their 9-10 to one building and 11-12 to another instead of having 2 HS.I wouldn't want my kids trying to participate in extra-curricular activities in Minot.With only 1 HS only half the kids get a chance.


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## bandman (Feb 13, 2006)

edited: didn't mean to hurt your feelings dingleb. :wink: (For the record, I will steer away from sharing a room with the guy anyway I can and I'm a very tolerable individual.) Maybe you know him on a more professional basis where he didn't act like the most immature 6 year old you've ever met. Although him and professional shouldn't be in the same sentence from what I witnessed over the years. (Oh that dirty/cocky mouth of his drove us all up the wall more than you could ever imagine!) :eyeroll:

Anywho, carry on w/ your very intelligent/laughable assumptions over the internet. Hope it makes you sleep better at night. :roll:

Please pm me if you have anything further to add. :wink:


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## hunt4P&amp;Y (Sep 23, 2004)

KEN W said:


> When the new Davies HS is built,Minot will be the biggest. quote]
> 
> I like to call it Fargo SOuther.. I mean how can one be SOuth, yet the other is further South? :-?


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## danglinfury8 (May 20, 2008)

Bandman,

Before you jump on here and start dropping personal attacks at coaches you might want to step back and take a good look in the mirrior. Maybe you are still heartbroken because you got cut from your JV hoops team or maybe you are just a hateful D-Bag. Either way, I don't think throwing stones at Coach Gravalin is is the best way to solve your problems. The guy is killing himself coaching for 1500 bucks a year. Sounds to me like he is a coach who actually takes an interest in his players and cares about his kids. God forbid!!! For the record, I would let this guy coach my kids any day.


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## SiouxperDave25 (Oct 6, 2002)

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=207618



> Part of Sanstead's report read: "Through this investigation it has become readily apparent that the Geffre family dislikes the girls basketball coaching staff and, in particular, Coach Gravalin. *The source of this dislike appears to be the fact that Coach Gravalin does not treat Casey and Cody Geffre as the stars they and their parents believe them to be*."


 :lol: :lol:


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## djleye (Nov 14, 2002)

Why would an "independant" attorney make a statement like that?? That was very unprofessional and very uncalled for. I don't know the situation and I really don't care. It just was totally inappropriate to use that kind of language in a statement. Makes me think that they were NOT as unbiased as we were led to believe. Food for thought

Fury,Why would you call someone a d-bag???? That too was uncalled for and really lends nothing to your credibility in an open forum! :eyeroll:


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## Savage260 (Oct 21, 2007)

> Coaches need to understand that sports are not that important. Sports are to teach kids sportsmanship not win at all cost


I am not using this quote to attack or put down in any way the person who wrote it, but I think too many people are going to this line of thinking and it is messing up our kids.

The only reason to compete is to win. I was taught at a very early age, "if you don't play to win, don't play at all." This crap with no grades so people don't feel badly and every one getting a ribbon after a race so no one feels badly is BS!!! If sports are not that important don't play, and if you don't like the way things are going, quit. I loved every minute of HS and college sports. Some times I was the star and some times I was the bench warmer. It makes people more well rounded and helps people deal with many different situations. I know I am much better off for having played sports. I have had great coaches, and some that were pretty crappy, but I didn't whine and cry or make up things about them to get them canned. I dealt with it. If I was not the best player available in what ever position I played I never expected to play.

It is very easy to point fingers at coaches, and especially make up things or take things out of context to try to ruin them. If you can't handle a coach yelling at you, maybe sign up for drama.

I know you couldn't pay me enough to put up with what our HS coaches have to put up with today.

that being said we all know there are some dirtballs that do need to be canned for things they do and say, but the stuff in the first post looks pretty much like a setup.


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## rowdie (Jan 19, 2005)

djleye said:


> Why would an "independant" attorney make a statement like that??


Because its the most pithy and accurate statement he could think of.


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## djleye (Nov 14, 2002)

Pithy......NO, Pissy............Yes!!

He tried to rattle some cages and he was way out of bounds in describing what happened. Even if the allegations were false, he didn't need to describe it that way. It makes it sound like he was one of the stooges for the school board and in on the entire "conspiracy". If he wanted to truly appear neutral, he could have described the situation in a much more eloquent manner!!


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## Savage260 (Oct 21, 2007)

Maybe he just told the truth??? Depending on your point of view the truth can look very one sided. Some times people get the "wakeup" slap in the face they deserve, and usually they really don't like it.


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## cgreeny (Apr 21, 2004)

Lets just get back to the fact that a lot if kids these days are soft. They cant handle the yelling and stress and dont want to practice as hard as the next kid but expect to be the starter. High school sports is all based on talent, hard work and politics. I dont care where in ND or MN or anywhere those three things come into play anywhere there is HS sports. Its a shame that these things can happen but they seem to happen alot more in the past few years compared to the last 20 previous. Wonder why that is, because its not fair for everybody! If you suck practice to get better and who knows you might get the starting job, but dont have mommy and daddy tell you your the next Farve or Peyton or Brady and in reality you are average at best. The best are the ones who never complain and never late and just plain work their *** off to get the spot, not the excuses blaming coaches and boo hoo he hurt my feelings. Its sports and you used to have to compete when you played, maybe things have changed. Sorry for blowin the horn so long guys.


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## FLOYD (Oct 3, 2003)

blhunter3 said:


> I for one think that most high school coaches need to be fired. While in high school (last year). I was a two year starter on the offensive line and all-conference one year and my senior year after we lost our first game the coach told me I wouldn't get anymore playing time except for special teams because "your a loner, and I don't like loners" our basketball coach black balls players every year and both the players and the parents know what he is doing. But since he took us to state he isn't going to get fired. I have along with many other players have taken alot of verbal abuse. Coaches need to understand that sports are not that important. Sports are to teach kids sportsmanship not win at all cost.
> 
> We have a team football team NYM and is notoruos for being dirty. We have it on tape kids kicking, punching, twisting ankles, and choking. Yet that coach hasn't been fired because he claims that he doesn't tell his players to do it. But yet he doesn't do anything about it. uke:
> 
> As far as I am concerned most high school coaches need to quit and let coach who treat the kids the right way coach.


15 years from now you'll realize how stupid this sounds. Delusion is probably the largest problem with kids and sports today. Period.

I remember when I was in high school, all the guys from all the other schools were dicks.......then you go to college and realize 1.) they're cool guys,and 2.) you better not whine about stuff because mommy and daddy aren't there to ***** at the coach or tell you you should be starting. Its all about how bad you want it.

Most high school coaches are so far underpaid for the crap they put up with from kids who have no business complaining and their parents, its rediculous.

When you walk into a high school basketball gym and there isn't one kid there who can dunk a volleyball, its pretty sad. Bottom line is there isn't that much talent there. I know there is more to basketball than jumping, but there isn't much athleticism in general.


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## R y a n (Apr 4, 2005)

SiouxperDave25 said:


> http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=207618
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Are you serious? This was an actual quote? :lol: You've got to be kidding me!

:eyeroll:


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## djleye (Nov 14, 2002)

That is what I am saying.....SOunds like a real "unbiased" source doesn't it??? :eyeroll:


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## Savage260 (Oct 21, 2007)

If the guy really was "unbiased" and that is the conclusion he came up with then it is a true and fair statement.


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## djleye (Nov 14, 2002)

My point being, tell the public that the coach was found innocent of all charges, don't dump on others as you tell of your findings because it makes you appear to be unbiased. If you truly are unbiased be able to project what happened without sounding like a three year old, nah, nah nah!!!!


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## woodpecker (Mar 2, 2005)

Well said Dan!!!!!!!!!


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## Savage260 (Oct 21, 2007)

Hey, I didn't say he didn't sound like a jack a$$, just that he might very well be "unbiased". It is one of those situations where he needed to make sure his brain was engaged before putting his mouth into gear.


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## djleye (Nov 14, 2002)

I think we are on the same page!! It just could have been said better is all.


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