Jessica Brown: A shame Sheridan has to retreat

At first I thought it was a joke.

But then I remembered last year, while covering the Mead and Lewis and Clark District 8 4A championship volleyball match at Mead, when a parent in the stands stood up and razzed Hall of Fame coach Linda Sheridan.

She screamed at Sheridan to get off the gym floor, that she was retired, and shouldn’t be helping the LC Tigers in any capacity.

I remember I was embarrassed for the woman screaming loudly enough to silence the packed gym, but who I really felt bad for was Sheridan, one of the finest coaches we have seen.

She was stunned, along with most everyone else watching the spectacle.

Sheridan was on the sideline, talking with LC coach Julie Yearout. No harm, no foul – it’s still the six players on the court who make it happen. By the way, Mead won. So it really didn’t matter. At that point, it became an issue of principle.

I eventually forgot about the woman who made the scene, but the memory is back, because it’s happened again.

Sheridan coached Yearout, Mead coach Judy Kight, Shadle Park coach Brooke Cooper and Ferris coach Stacey Ward at Shadle. She’s still available to the coaches for advice, but has told the LC players that she can’t come to practices to help out anymore.

It was at the North Central versus LC match earlier this season that resulted in a major loss to the game.

The match went five games, all close, with LC eventually coming out on top.

An NC parent, who graduated from Shadle, approached Sheridan after that game and had some not-so-kind words about the situation. She couldn’t believe Sheridan, who has a gym named after her at Shadle, would help a South Side school.

Her loyalty called into question, Sheridan felt she had no choice. She didn’t want the Shadle community feeling disrespected, and she didn’t want to draw anymore negative attention and make it a distraction for the kids.

The kids – I almost forgot – are what GSL athletics are all about. Why is it so easy for some people to forget that?

For Sheridan, it’s always been about the kids – specifically, her kids. Yearout, Kight, Cooper, Ward – those are her kids. Called upon by any of them, she would come and help the teams during practice, and if called upon further, at matches.

“Any of us, we could always call her for advice,” said Yearout. “I think that’s what people don’t understand – she’s mentoring the coaches, and we are her Shadle kids. She was so successful and has a different view on the game and still knows how to relate to kids. She has a lot to offer.

“This is a disservice to coaches and kids, to take that away from them.”

So if the GSL coaches don’t mind, and the players don’t mind, why on earth do the parents mind?

Cooper doesn’t understand it, either.

“I just think that it’s a shame that she can’t be involved in some way,” said Cooper, who took over at Shadle when Sheridan retired. “That’s been her passion since I’ve known her and she’s always been there for all of us.”

It is what it is. Sheridan, a class act, was reluctant to talk about what happened.

I’m not. It needs to be said. This is a loss for fans, coaches, players and Sheridan, who loves the game and cares deeply about those who played it for her, all because a couple of parents weren’t able to see the bigger picture.