To the 2019 SAHS Golfers and to Your Parents,
There is some information that I think you ought to be made aware of, and I’m afraid that I’m the only person who can, or will, inform you. So here goes…
I regret to inform you that there has been rampant cheating taking place on this team this year. Cheating, or attempts at cheating, are present on many golf teams, and unfortunately isn’t noteworthy. What makes this team unique is that this cheating has been not only been ignored by our Head Coach, but that he has intentionally covered it up and even participated in it himself. This is noteworthy and abhorrent.
I became aware of this after other parents and golfers informed me that they had told Coach Soli about their strong suspicions of cheating. So, I started auditing our boys’ scores myself. Most of you boys know I was doing this, but it might be news to your parents. What I found was multiple boys reporting incorrect scores on multiple holes (and sometimes multiple strokes per hole) across multiple tournaments. It was rampant for a few players, amounting to a 5–15 stroke advantage per tournament, and seemed beyond the scope of what could be honest miscounting.
FYI: By Rule 6-6d, if a player reports on a signed scorecard a score lower than correct, it is an automatic disqualification. It doesn’t matter if it was dishonesty or an honest miscount of the strokes.
Coach Soli was informed of all of this from the moment I first discovered it. I was dismayed that he didn’t care and took no steps to ensure honesty from his players. This disregard went so far that at one event he instructed the Team Captain and I to “Do nothing. I’m sure other kids are doing it.” At another event he elected to illegally alter scores himself. By these actions he was electing to ignore the rules, and was, himself, cheating.
Some of you may have heard Coach Soli talk to the boys about honesty; he may have even sounded adamant about it. However, while he talked about integrity with his mouth, his actions were contradicting every word that escaped his lips. While his public speech extolled the importance of fair play—his private speech instructed his subordinates to cover up foul play.
While he spoke of the importance of honesty, at no point did he take any actions to ensure honest play from his players. No player was ever disciplined, no penalty was affixed, no play time altered. I never saw any sign that he thought honest play was his responsibility, nor even his desire.
He had verbalized an intention to “do nothing,” and then did exactly that.
What do I offer as proof that this was intentional disregard of cheating by Coach Soli? When I expressed to him my dismay at this apparent lack of care about honesty, and his total neglect by not disciplining players caught cheating, he responded by telling me that he didn’t feel it was his job to judge the kids’ actions, implying he felt punishment for wrong-doing would “destroy a young man’s mindset” and/or would be “tearing down a child.” Further declaring his philosophy that integrity shouldn’t be enforced by him, he said, “I coach them in golf. Their families/homes are where they are taught. I can’t change much of that” and “I’m not to judge them in their choice, I only hope they become better adults.” I can provide you the text messages.
Perhaps some of you think this approach is okay, but I think it is abhorrent: utterly and entirely without moral value, and quite likely detrimental and injurious to the kids involved. I would be furious at any teacher who didn’t care if my kid cheated on his tests, and I think it repugnant that a Head Coach would think it isn’t his place to ensure his athletes play honestly.
After learning these truths, if you are as disgusted as I am that our Head Coach doesn’t care about dishonesty on this team, encourages/demands dishonesty from his Team Captain, and even cheats himself on their behalf, then please call either Principle Call or Athletic Director Hamilton at the high school, or Executive Director of the School Board, Tyler Whittle. I have been in contact with each of them and been told (by Mr. Whittle) that they wouldn’t mind hearing from others.
Let me be clear, I don’t have any surety whether any particular boy was actively cheating or was simply making repeated counting errors on their scorecards. I, like most people, would hope they have been honest mistakes, though that seems highly unlikely. For that to be the case it would mean that his Varsity players don’t know the rules of counting strokes, even at the end of the season. Could it be that he hasn’t even coached them well enough to know how to count strokes? Perhaps.
It is irrelevant though, because on Coach Soli’s part it was not simply a mistake: it was a choice to cover up those scoring discrepancies and to intentionally ignore the rules. He, himself, was actively cheating on their behalf, and that is repugnant to me, and I hope it is repugnant to you as well.
I think our boys deserve a much better example than a man who will tell them to show integrity, but when it really mattered would show none himself—even to the point of instructing his Team Captain to simply ignore the rules of the game. It begs the question of what dishonesty he will encourage, exemplify, or demand from YOUR son at some future date?
I understand if some of you are dismayed by this account. Many of you like Coach Soli, as do I: he is friendly, personal, funny, engaging, and shows genuine concern for the boys. You might discount what I’ve said because of your friendship with him. It could be hard to assume this is an accurate account from me, given how much you probably like him. And many of you have known him for years, and only just met me recently. Yet what I share with you is true.
I would ask, if you didn’t know Coach Soli personally, would it be okay with you to have a Head Coach covering up cheating on his team, and actively cheating himself? What would your thoughts/reactions be if it was a coach on an opposing team?
Whether it be golf, math tests, tax returns, or relationships, it is an axiomatic principle that most people abhor cheating and think it should be rooted out. Dishonesty of any kind is frowned upon, and it is expected that people in authority will not tolerate it. Dishonesty happens in golf however, just as it happens in other areas of life. And it is expected, when encountered, that the people in charge will address and eliminate it, especially when it is adults supervising children.
I write this to you in an attempt to do my part, as the assistant coach (and personal witness to the events), to do what I can to address the issues I have seen, and to ensure a better environment for the boys next year. Both the boys on our team, and the boys we compete against, all deserve a fair and honest competition. I would want someone to tell me about such issues if I were not “in the know” about them and thought you would want to know as well. I have done my best.
My best regards to each of you, especially to ALL of you players. It has been a great joy with you this year,
Assistant Coach Richard “Jax” Jensen
You can contact people at the follow email addresses:
natalie.call@summitacademyschools.org
les.hamilton@summitacademyschools.org
tyler.whittle@summitacademyschools.org
P.S. I have documented many more of the details of this entire affair on my blog site and will share the links with you all if desired. I have the screen shots of text messages, emails, etc, along with much more detailed accounts of the conversations that have taken place with the admin, other coaches, etc. If you want more information about this, or feel you don’t have enough to form an opinion, then I have more information for you.
Links to more information, more detailed accounts, screenshots, etc.
The links are all password protected for now. If you’d like access, please contact me. Thanks!
Part 1 – My initial letter to parents detailing the first part of this affair (much longer and never delivered)
Part 2 – Coach actively cheats himself and the retaliates against a player
Part 3 – Screen shots of Coach’s response defending his behavior; and other
Part 4 – More of my efforts to have the issues dealt with
Part 5 – Just more documentation that hopefully won’t be necessary. More retaliation by Coach Soli, the admin doesn’t seem to care.