After Richmond (Ind.) High School's volleyball team complained about gym usage while its sport is in season, the school district placed head coach Darrell Morken on paid administrative leave pending results of an ongoing investigation.
As reported by The Palladium-Item, at 6:16 p.m. on Sept. 24, junior volleyball player Katie Mathena posted on Facebook that her team was denied access to the main gym by the boys' basketball team, which is not in season but had recently begun limited contact activities.
Mathena said that when the team stood its ground in the main gym, athletic director Robert Lee turned off the lights until the volleyball players left, and they were told by "many" people in the athletic department that the basketball team was staying in the gym. Mathena and senior player Emma Stites said it was not the first time during the season it had happened.
"It's been three or four Tuesdays ago when this whole thing started," Stites said at a practice last week. "It's been Tuesdays and Thursdays that they do it. They've done it once on a game night and it was our senior night. They were supposed to be out of the gym by 4:45 and they weren't out until 5:30, so it made us late setting up for our senior night."
According to Eventlink, the scheduling service Richmond athletics uses, the volleyball team's senior night against Lincoln on Sept. 17 was scheduled to start at 6 p.m., with the boys basketball junior varsity and varsity teams having access to the main gym and the freshmen having access to the Tiernan Center's East Deck from 3 to 5 p.m.
Sports reporter Evan Weaver of The Palladium-Item broke down the recent Eventlink scheduling:
- Eventlink shows that on the first day the volleyball team began using the auxiliary gym, Sept. 10, the boys' basketball teams had their first day of limited contact sessions, which follows Indiana High School Athletic Association bylaws for when winter sports teams can begin to practice.
- When the volleyball team had a scheduled away game on Sept. 12 at Centerville, Eventlink shows that the boys' basketball teams had access to the main gyms again.
- On Sept. 19 and 26, both Thursdays, Eventlink showed that the volleyball team had access to the main gym, while the boys' basketball JV and varsity teams had access to the auxiliary gym.
- On Sept. 24 and Oct. 1, both Tuesdays, the volleyball team was given the auxiliary gym for practice while the varsity and JV teams for boys' basketball were given the main gym, according to Eventlink. Sept. 24 was the same day Mathena made her Facebook post.
Mathena said that although both teams have access to the auxiliary gym, the volleyball team could not practice there because of the taped court lines being torn up. "Volleyball court lines aren’t even put on the court because 'it looks bad,'" Mathena wrote in her post. "We are in season and needed the main gym with our court lines."
Stites said because of the lines being torn up, assistant athletic director Rachel Etherington had "tried to tell" the volleyball team they "just had to cancel practice," Weaver reported.
"Our assistant coach told us to just sit along the lines and just wait for our main coach, who was in the AD's office the entire time that this all was going on just trying to get everything figured out," Stites said. "That was when our JV coach walked up to Billy (Wright) and said, 'Hey, our lines are torn up. Is there any way you could go to any of the five other courts that have everything you need?' He told her no, that this is his time and to get out and went back to practicing."
At that point, Stites said, the team's captain, Madison Spradling, walked over to Wright and told him the volleyball team had nowhere else to practice.
"He started screaming at her and put his hand in her face, and so then we just kind of sat there," Stites said. "All of our coaches went into the AD's office to talk to them, and then two of them came back, our assistant and JV coaches, so we started warming up because our assistant coach told us to.
"We started warming up, not in their way, but back there and on the side, we were just warming up our arms. That made Billy really mad and so he went and complained. And then our assistant AD, Miss Etherington, came in and told us to get out of the gym."
After Stites said the team went back and forth with Etherington about why the team had to leave, she said Wright had called a water break for his team and "made it seem like practice was ending because he and players started to walk out," the volleyball team began setting up its net in the main gym, before basketball players came back and started playing again.
"The AD came in with our coach, turned off the lights and told the volleyball team they had to leave and were not having practice," she said, as reported by Weaver. "That was the first time Morken would actually come into the gym. As soon as they said that, we tore down, we left and that was that."
"The AD came in with our coach, turned off the lights and told the volleyball team they had to leave and were not having practice," she said. "That was the first time Morken would actually come into the gym. As soon as they said that, we tore down, we left and that was that."
The Palladium-Item reproduced a Facebook post attributed to Richmond Community Schools, announcing its own investigation late Friday:
On Friday, September 27, 2024, the Richmond High School head volleyball coach was placed on administrative leave, pending an investigation into an incident that occurred on Tuesday, September 24, 2024, involving the volleyball program. RCS encourages our entire community to remain objective and not arrive at conclusions until our investigation is complete. Our goal is to diligently review the incident and limit further disruptions for the remainder of the volleyball season.
The incident in question centers around a rule found within the 2024-2025 Indiana High School Athletic Association Member School By-Laws & Articles. RHS Athletic Director Robert Lee states that IHSAA Rule 15-2.3 specifies that “throughout the year particular athletic programs can partake in limited contact sport-specific activities three days a week (IHSAA 15-2.4). Beginning Sept. 2, 2024, our winter sports programs entered into their limited contact period. Prior to this period, our athletic department reviewed, reflected, and revised our facility usage calendar so as to continue with the scheduled accommodations of our in-season sports while also considering facility usage for our sports moving into their respective limited contact period.”
“Our goal is always to serve as many student-athletes as possible with the gym space we have. When it comes to facility usage, my philosophy is and has always been that in-season sports have priority unless timing and capacity dictate otherwise,” says Lee. “When it comes to timing, we prefer that gym space not sit unused. Therefore, when in-season programs are not scheduled to use particular gym space, we will accommodate additional programs so as to maximize the space and the available timing of the space. The other exception is capacity. We want to put the larger groups in the larger space. Our goal is to try and do what is best for all-student athletes.”
It was recently rumored that a Title IX complaint had been issued to RCS administration. At this time, RCS has not received any official Title IX complaints internally or externally. It was also rumored that another athletic program attempted to displace our volleyball program from the Tiernan Center main floor and that rumor is also untrue. At this time, speculation, innuendo, rhetoric, and propaganda will only serve as a deterrent to our entire athletic community. Furthermore, it does harm to our students, our coaches/sponsors, and our school community at-large. RHS remains in compliance with IHSAA mandates and in compliance with RCS policy. Utilizing this incident as a teachable moment for all involved is what our profession is all about and we will continue to work to that end.
In related news, several months ago our corporation proactively began discussions centered around equity and Title IX. From such conversations, it was determined that we would partner with an external vendor to conduct a review of curricular/extracurricular offerings. Over the past two months our administration has been working with Church, Church, Hittle, and Antrim Law (CCHA) to outline the scope of such an audit. Weeks ago it was decided that at our Oct. 9, 2024, school board meeting administration would be recommending for approval an agreement with CCHA to conduct a Title IX audit. Again, the preemptive audit will provide our corporation with data that we will use to further improve the overall RCS experience for all students.
We sincerely appreciate our community’s objectivity, patience and support as we address this matter accordingly. It is encouraged that you refrain from drawing conclusions regarding this matter until our investigation is complete.
