A disagreement with administration has prompted one of thecountry's top high school volleyball coaches to resign.
Sally Kus, who built Sweet Home's girls program into a nationalpowerhouse, stepped down recently because of what she called'athletic inequities' at the school.
For the past two years, Kus has been seeking to add a modifiedgirls volleyball team (grades seven through nine) in the fall. Herrequest has been denied each time.
An extramural team at the middle school level exists during thewinter, but Kus believes the program would be better served by amodified squad. The school added modified programs in basketballand softball this year. The school already has two for football andanother in boys soccer.
'This is an issue of fairness,' said Kus, who ranks fifthnationally on the all-time wins list with 661 victories spanning 20years. 'I know if I took it to court I'd win, but I also know itwould take two years. I am firm about standing behind the rights ofour modified athletes. I had just hoped that it wouldn't come tothis.'
With her resignation, Sweet Home will be without the coach wholed the Lady Panthers to the first four Class A state championshipsever awarded in the sport. The 1991 squad finished 47-1 and rankedNo. 1 in the nation in the Mizuno Top 25 Poll. Before the statetournament, the farthest a team could go was the Far West Regionalsand Sweet Home has won that every year since 1982.
The Lady Panthers also own the national scholastic record forconsecutive match wins with 292 from 1978-87 and were named thepremier high school program in the country by Volleyball Magazinein 1992.
It is ironic, too, that Kus' departure would come at this time.In two weeks, she will be honored by the Women's Sports Foundationat an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. The U.S. VolleyballAssociation nominated Kus because of her contributions to the sportat all levels.
'I've put a lot of heart and soul into this program for yearsand felt it was sort of a direct slap in the face to a program thathad brought Sweet Home so much national notoriety, pride and over50 (college) scholarships,' Kus said. 'But I guess I overestimatedour value to the district and my coaching position.'
Coach Drake Francescone, who has built a Buffalo dynasty atCity Honors, said Kus' departure is a great loss to volleyball.
'It is always disappointing when someone of her caliberleaves,' he said. 'She has meant a lot to a whole lot of people.She has always been there for me and my kids with an encouragingword and suggestion. If it is true that she's leaving, I'm going tomiss her as a colleague, and always, a friend.'
Sweet Home athletic director Joe Shifflet was surprised by Kus'decision, but felt the school had no other choice but to declineher request.
'This has to do with what's best for the entire athleticprogram,' he said. 'What's best right now is getting more winterand spring sports because we don't have enough of them for girls toparticipate in.'
There are five fall sports for girls (volleyball, field hockey,tennis, soccer and swimming) compared to two each in the winter(basketball and indoor track) and spring (softball and outdoortrack).
'There is no room for another fall sport,' Shifflet said.'There's plenty of things for them to do other than volleyball.'
Kus doesn't see it that way.
'A lot of these seventh, eighth and ninth graders can't makethese varsity teams in the fall, so what happens to them?' sheasked. 'I'm not asking to add a sport, I'm asking to add a level toa fall sport that already exists.
'I just keep getting a lot of excuses instead of answers.There's a serious equity problem here. There's nothing for theseventh, eighth and ninth grade girls to do at the modified levelin the fall and the boys are allowed three opportunities. They arenot responding to that need.'
Kus added that the lack of a modified program will make itdifficult to maintain the current level of success on the varsitylevel.
Kus said she would have been willing to start a modifiedprogram on a voluntary basis, even if it meant giving up her headcoaching job.
'I don't want to come off as a spoiled brat at all. I don'twant these girls to lose this wonderful program,' she said. 'We'vehad 75 kids just from the middle school to sign up to playvolleyball so the interest and the numbers are there.'
News of her resignation began to leak out last week whenShifflet posted the head coaching job.
Although she filed a formal letter two weeks ago, the jobposting took her by surprise. She had talked to board members lastTuesday and thought the matter was still up for discussion.
'I felt positive after talking to them and I didn't expect thejob to be posted so soon,' she said. 'I knew it would happen, butif I had known I would have told the kids first. I didn't want togo out like this.'
Gary Cooper, superintendent of the Sweet Home School District,has a policy of not commenting publicly on personnel matters, butdid confirm that, 'the board has received her letter of resignationand we are contemplating the next step.'
Shifflet hopes to fill the position as soon as possible and iscertain the program will not suffer through a decline.
'We have the best volleyball program in the state,' he said.'As long as the girls continue to come out, the program shouldremain strong.'
Kus' future is unclear. She runs the Williamsville-basedCheetah Volleyball Club, where many of the area's top players havebeen developed.
'I guess I'm more hurt by the fact that I always thought SweetHome was so special because they stood behind the needs of theirkids and their athletes,' she said. 'A modified volleyball programis such a big need and some people just don't see it.'