My son plays basketball on a Magic team. It's AAU, so as expected, there is a steep payment to pay when joining the team. I mention this to say, we are essentially paying consumers.
On Wed., Sept. 21, 22, the practice was at a middle school in Reading after a location change & two time changes. Upon arrival, the janitor said the door had to be held open for others to enter, so that's exactly what I was doing when Assist. Director Larry Hurley arrived and walked in.
I didn't know who he was and thought maybe he was another coach with Magic. He informed me and another parent that he was Larry, the one she and I had been corresponding with about the practice time changes. Last week's practice start time of 7pm became delayed to 7:35pm due to a double-booking of the high school gym, and I shared how the late practices pose a challenge to the young players as 30 minutes is a big deal when it's at night time. I made a request that the team stay true to the original 7pm start time.
I then said, "it was frustrating when there was no acknowledgement or apology from Magic about the inconvenience caused by the delay last week." Larry then began yelling, and his anger became loud & threatening. He yelled in our faces, stormed away screaming, yelled at us as he neared the gym only to charge back to us with his arms flaring in our faces yelling, "Are you kidding me?! Oh we know who you two are now..." amongst many other insulting things. The other parent and I felt threatened, traumatized, and verbally assaulted, esp. as he charged toward us with his large build, fuming at the mouth. I had a moment of panic as physical danger felt imminent.
We're relieved our sons were already hidden away in the gym and didn't witness their mothers being treated with such impertinence by a man who is at least twice their size and in his leadership position. A father of another player sincerely apologized about not intervening in the moment, but he, too, had been stunned to silence, because this is not behavior you expect from a professional, let alone a grown adult. We're still reeling from the toxic experience. read more
