Dear Editor,

As a parent involved in both, I am not going to sit here and let anyone slam the girls or boys basketball programs at Pitt Meadows Secondary [Boys given all the attention, Jan. 24 Letters, TIMES]. I don't know what happened in anyone else's lifetime, but the experience I have is completely different.

First of all, with an enrollment around 1100, PMSS is a AA school. In the past, the boys have played AA as well. A and AA schools can play up at AAA, check in with B.C. School Sports for more information on how this works.

Don't even get me started on whether a statue of Coach Goulet should be erected! People actually do come looking for one! He is a phenomenon in the world of basketball, and nothing shows that more than the response to his illness and 1,000 wins. He doesn't need the respect of naysayers, he has plenty from the rest of the world.

It is up to the media to publish or not publish articles on sports teams, not Mr. Goulet. Any team, parent, or coach can submit their stories or story ideas to the press.

Administrators do the hiring in schools. From my questions in the past (I attend all PAC meetings), teachers and staff are hired for the job, not coaching. If they choose to coach or not coach after they are hired, the administration works with that.

If parents or community members are interested in coaching, administrators make the decision. PMSS currently has several teacher coaches, community coaches, and one who just came from coaching university boys basketball in China.

For the past several years, our girls program has been coached by a man who grew up in the Pitt Meadows community and high school basketball programs. He was one of M. Merrick's vilified Air Force Marauders. As an adult, along with his wife, and sometimes his daughter, he coaches two girls teams.

In fact, the vilified Air Force Marauder boys teams have produced several male coaches who coach girls basketball and do a great job of it.

Of the many lessons learned from Coach Goulet, one is that everything is cyclical and comes in waves in basketball, whether it is players, coaches, talent, or so forth.

Sounds like the nature of sport and life in general.

I have a girl and a boy who both came through the Steve Nash program and play on the school teams. There are many lessons to learn on playing time: who parents think are great players, compared to the coaches' vision; the nature of competitive sport; your time will come; the effect of negative parents on the program; and many, many more.

I have learned to bring up concerns when they happen, talk to the people who have the answers, maintain a positive outlook, and to contribute positively to the program.

I have heard all the rumours, past and present, and am quite happy to say I can't prove a single one to be true... and I am a person who digs for the truth. I can confidently say that my daughter has received virtually the same opportunities my son has, in the entirety of the basketball program, community- and school-based, all under Rich Goulet's massive volunteer umbrella.

If anyone is looking for world-class coaches, schools and community sports programs are full of them.

Anyone who would give up their private time to volunteer with children and teens, providing them with opportunities to learn, develop, and become hard working citizens in our society is world-class to me. Not only do they give of their personal and family time, they accept the financial cost and the burden of negative perceptions.

Instead of vilifying them, honour them and their commitment to our kids.

Lisa F. Wild, Pitt Meadows