Falcons, fans rally for support
Winchester basketball players, community unite at Fieldhouse hoping to bring team together
By RICK REED
News-Gazette Sports Editor
Something had to give.
For the past few days, the rumor mill has churned in high gear through the Winchester community. According to gossip, Falcon basketball coach Chip Mehaffey - along with his coaching staff - had all resigned.
The exact reason for their sudden, supposed departures were unclear, unconfirmed and totally speculative.
There were also tales of players not playing, or transferring to another school. In a small community, what is heard on the streets can be far from reality.
School administrators repeated again Monday morning what they said on both Saturday and Sunday. There has been no "official" indication that any coach was resigning.
On Sunday evening, the scene at the Winchester Fieldhouse did not paint a picture of players not wanting to play - but a picture of them wanting to play only with Chip Mehaffey and his coaches guiding the way.
Earlier in the day, several Winchester basketball players began distributing flyers at some local businesses and went door-to-door to encourage people to attend a community meeting to support the basketball program. The meeting was scheduled for 7:45 p.m. Sunday evening at the Fieldhouse .
Whether the Winchester basketball coaches intended to resign or not, Sunday's call to rally the troops made it clear there was unrest in the Falcons Nest.
Mike Koch, a parent of one of the players, made the first, somewhat surprising move to address a crowd of about 300 concerned citizens, hoping to diffuse a bomb that threatened to blow up the Winchester basketball team.
"Nobody in this world thinks more of Coach Mehaffey than I do. Emotions come into effect and you say and do a lot of things in the heat of the moment," Koch said. "I say things to my wife that I don't mean all the time."
"The bottom line," Koch said, pointing to two players, is that "these two young men screwed up and they have to pay the consequences."
If a player is found to have violated specific rules in the student handbook policy, he or she faces being ineligible for 25 percent of the season - in this case, possibly five regular season basketball games.
"I asked for a pass (for my son) and I was told I couldn't have a pass," Koch said. "We have good, genuine people on the school board and I ask people of this community to forgive me and forgive them (the players). They are good kids, and they aren't perfect. If I have caused any grief, I apologize.
"When I close my eyes, all I can see is Conseco Fieldhouse and that's all I want to focus on."
Mark Haney, a parent of two players in the program, said the meeting was intended to show support for Coach Mehaffey and the coaching staff.
Sandy Dodd stood from the crowd and voiced her support for the players and coaches, thanking them for the pride they have given to the community. Liz Wynn said the two boys broke the rules, must pay the price, and "it's over, that's the main thing."
With the players huddled near midcourt, Falcon point guard Andrew Haney emerged, fighting through emotions to say "We just want Coach Mehaffey back. We don't want him to resign. I'm not playing if he doesn't coach."
Another player, Levi Cross, said the same: "I'm not playing if Coach Mehaffey isn't our coach."
Other players nodded in agreement.
Mark Haney followed with an abrupt announcement that the meeting was over.
Mehaffey nor any of the coaching staff was present at the meeting and as of Monday afternoon there has been no public announcement regarding resignations. The Falcon coach has guided Winchester to back-to-back state runner-up finishes in 2007 and 2008, and the team also was state runner-up in 2000. He has 284 career wins with a 220-65 mark in 13 years at Winchester.
"To my knowledge, no one has resigned from the Winchester coaching staff," Athletic Director Steve Howell said Saturday evening at an alumni game held at the Fieldhouse.
On Saturday night, members of the 2007-08 Winchester basketball team were presented their state runner-up rings. Mehaffey and assistant coaches were present for the ceremony, but left immediately following.
