Palo Alto coach on SCVAL’s no playoff stance: ‘All of us administrators, coaches and teachers have failed you’

Palo Alto High School swim coach Danny Dye did not mince words in a letter sent this week to local media outlets, including the Bay Area News Group.

Dye slammed the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League’s unanimous decision to opt out of a spring postseason and scolded administrators, coaches and teachers for failing student-athletes.

“I am not alone, all of us, administrators, coaches and teachers have failed you,” Dye wrote in a letter he emailed Wednesday. “You deserved better, you deserved leaders who recognized what you went through from last year to this year, and they should have fought for you, they didn’t.”

In the letter, Dye chides SCVAL leadership for depriving students, particularly seniors who’ve already so much, an opportunity to compete in the Central Coast Section playoffs.

“Every school asks their athletes to live up to a code, to represent themselves the best they can as a representative of that school,” Dye wrote. “Each of you had lived up to that code, and yet we as leaders have not.

“This, what you are going through, is not the definition of ‘life isn’t fair.’ What is happening to you was a coordinated effort to take away what you deserved. It wasn’t life that took it away from you, it was those very people who were hired to watch out for your well being and make sure that you were taken care of.”

Before the long-delayed sports season began in late winter, CCS officials made playoffs optional for its schools and leagues. SCVAL commissioner Brad Metheany told the Bay Area News Group that the decision by his league’s Board of Managers came down to three factors: scheduling conflicts between the league and CCS in some sports, potential Title IX issues and a mid-June finish that conflicts with administrators’ scheduled vacation.

Dye isn’t the only one angry.

Hundreds of parents and coaches have voiced their outrage at SCVAL officials for their decision.

Many parents have taken issue with a decision-making process they say violates the Brown Act, a California law that requires public bodies to post advance notice of meetings. They say no link for the meeting last week had been posted on the SCVAL agenda at least 24 hours prior, which is the legal requirement.

Metheany said he posted the link on the website two days before the meeting, adding there was no intent to hide the meeting. The SCVAL isn’t the only league not to participate in playoffs this year. The North Coast Section, which includes about half the schools in the Bay Area, decided in January that it wouldn’t hold playoffs this school year.

Dye has been a swim coach in the SCVAL for 25 years, eight at Los Altos and the last 17 at Palo Alto. He said the heartbroken looks on students’ faces inspired him to write the letter, adding that he has no explanation for spring sports athletes wondering why they won’t have playoffs for two seasons in a row.

“It was heartbreaking,” Dye said in a text message. “I still remember the pain and anguish from last year for our seniors. Then spent all Summer, and all Fall trying to give the athletes hope. Let them know that we have the ability to overcome this pandemic, that we will make the effort to let them have what they were denied last year. To see the pain and anguish in their faces again, for a second year in a row, I’ve never felt so helpless in my life.”

The students and coaches were the voices missing in the decision-making process, according to Dye.

“Had they talked to the coaches, then it would have been solved,” he added in a text. “Coaches have the passion for their teams and athletes, they will find a way. Amazing, isn’t it? You have people making a few thousand on a stipend willing to do more than those making over $200K.

“Not to mention coaches are a fraternity. If it came down to it, they would have reached out and helped each other, given the opportunity.”

While Dye points a finger at SCVAL leadership, he claims responsibility on behalf of all school leaders for the lost opportunity. In the letter, he asks students to challenge authority and speak on behalf of those who can’t.

“Please hear my plea, don’t be us,” Dye wrote. “Strive to be better than us. Strive to recognize our mistakes, and use your own experience to make this world a better place.”