Ex-Meadowdale hoops coach a polarizing figure

Published 9:00 pm Saturday, July 2, 2005

EDMONDS – The numbers assert that Karen Blair succeeded magnificently at what she was hired to do.

In 11 seasons as head coach of the Meadowdale High School girls basketball program, Blair took the Mavericks to 10 straight state tournaments, winning titles in 2000 and 2004. Under Blair, Meadowdale built a record of 255 wins and 39 losses.

On the outside, it was a wildly successful reign.

The success, however, came at a price. The cost included players bewildered by Blair’s motivational style, parents outraged at what they perceived as Blair’s shoddy treatment of their children, several warnings from the Edmonds School District, a two-year probation of the girls basketball program for a state rules violation and, ultimately, Blair’s job.

Blair, 40, of Edmonds resigned May 25, citing parental pressure and lack of support from the district. She since has accepted a position as girls coach at Ballard High School in Seattle.

In the weeks following Blair’s sudden resignation, The Herald contacted more than two dozen parents, former players, administrators, coaches and others. Some were Blair supporters, some were detractors.

The Herald also obtained documents through the state’s public records law.

The picture painted is one of two deeply divided but equally adamant factions that supported the highly decorated program.

Those loyal to Blair describe her as a stern but open and caring coach dedicated to molding her student athletes into not only great basketball players but also great citizens.

Her critics say she is a manipulative, vengeful taskmaster who ruled by fear and punished those who questioned her by cutting their playing time and ruining their chances of playing college basketball.

Largely unknown outside a circle of friends and family are former Blair players who say they quietly left the team, or who turned away from basketball altogether because of a program they say crushed young spirits as easily as it flattened the opposition.

“The thing about Karen Blair that bothered me more than anything, because it was so obviously wrong, was the way that Blair would belittle players behind their backs,” said Lucy Spiro, a two-time Most Inspirational Award winner who quit the team after her junior year in 1998. “I refused to respect and be coached by someone who treated her players with such disrespect.”

On the other end of the spectrum is Kristen O’Neill, a 2001 Meadowdale grad, member of the 2000 state championship team and currently a starting guard for the University of Washington.

“She’s the hardest-working coach I’ve ever had,” O’Neill said. “She teaches more than just basketball. She teaches about life, and there are times when people are going to push you and challenge you in ways that force you out of your comfort zone. There are people who can’t handle that.”

Blair refused repeated requests for comment.

Documents show that, although the school district received complaints about Blair’s treatment of her players as early as 1995, a more organized, consistent effort to unseat Blair arose in the last two years.

Among those involved was Steve Martin, an Edmonds dentist whose daughter Anne was a former standout player, and Jeff Johnson, a former assistant to Blair.

Martin said Blair undermined his daughter’s hopes for an athletic scholarship by expressing negative evaluations of her attitude to college scouts. As a result, Steve Martin said, she received no scholarship offers.

Blair and some school district officials in documents characterized Martin as a parent who was upset over his daughter’s basketball career. He insisted that he acted out of distress over what he saw as Blair’s mistreatment of players, including what he called “head games” and efforts to control players’ lives off the court, including repeated calls from the coach at home – in his daughter’s case, sometimes four or five a day.

“This shouldn’t happen to kids again,” Martin said. “What happened to my daughter shouldn’t happen to a kid at Meadowdale or anywhere.”

Basketball came first

Spiro, who went on to earn a degree in Christian theology from Seattle Pacific University in 2003 and is now a missionary in Honduras, said she wanted a varied high school experience. That was at odds with Blair’s insistence on a total focus on basketball, she said.

What Blair termed “optional” shooting practices on days the team didn’t have formal practices were anything but optional, Spiro said. A one-time starter, Spiro saw her playing time gradually dwindle.

“I mostly didn’t participate in optional shooting practices or summer tournaments, and I rarely went out of my way to talk individually with Karen,” Spiro said.

“I think it was because I wanted a balanced life. I took honors classes at Meadowdale. I was involved at my church. Sundays were reserved for spending time with my family. Summers, I spent serving and volunteering at summer camps for youths. Because I made these things priorities over basketball, I always felt Blair’s cold disapproval.”

After Spiro left the team, her mother shared her concerns about Blair with school officials. The letter she wrote more than six years ago was among the documents The Herald retrieved using public disclosure laws. Blair’s school district personnel file and other documents show no hint until late 2004 that the coach received direction on how to improve her interaction with players.

Former Maverick player Marissa Trias, a 1998 grad, is quick to call Blair “a great coach.” When she went on to play at Seattle University, Trias said, she realized she knew the game better than her teammates did.

“It was because of Karen Blair,” said Trias, who graduated from SU in civil engineering and now works for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. She also is coach of the Blaze, a select basketball team based in Snohomish County.

Trias transferred from Lynnwood High School after her freshman year. A point guard, she was a Maverick co-captain as a junior and thrived in the system. Blair proudly referred to Trias as her “defensive stopper.”

The tide turned in Trias’ senior year.

Trias called a preseason meeting for players to set goals. She thought she was showing initiative and leadership. Blair disagreed and complained that Trias was trying to take charge, Trias said. Blair said the problem was some players invited to the meeting likely were going to be cut from the team. Trias apologized.

Trias sprained her ankle during the summer, and although she pushed herself through the injury, she lost her starting spot to O’Neill, then a freshman, and saw her playing time gradually diminish. Trias said Blair later benched her for being late for a boys basketball game, which the entire team was required to attend.

Trias said she rarely played. She felt so beaten down and maligned that she wanted to quit. By the end of the year, she said, she was talking to just two or three of her teammates.

“After every practice, I would cry,” she said. “My sister felt so bad for me that she would cry, too.”

Meadowdale junior varsity coach Bryan Howisey said Blair’s strength is in positive motivation. Each player has her own board that she can decorate with stickers she earns for rebounding, playing with great effort and playing great defense.

“They get so excited about getting those stickers,” Howisey said.

The team also would get grilled-cheese sandwiches if they held an opposing team below 25 points, Howisey said.

“A team could have 23 points, and the girls are still busting their tails because they want grilled cheese,” he said. “That’s one thing I’ve gotten from Karen Blair, all those little things that are great motivators.”

Nick Greenwell said Blair is a superb coach who was a victim of overreactive parents and an unsupportive school district.

Greenwell, current head coach at Tumwater High School and a former assistant to Blair, says he aspires to be the coach Blair is, but simply doesn’t have the time.

“She spoils her players by giving them so much of her time,” Greenwell said, “but she also has high expectations of her players for the off-season and summer. She does little things that I would never think of. She writes a card to every varsity player before every game – little things that inspire and motivate.”

When Blair hired him, Greenwell said, the first thing she told him was that when he was supervising open gyms, he was to turn on the lights, put down the baskets, unlock the door and get out – to avoid violating Washington Interscholastic Activities Association rules that prohibit coaching during such sessions.

“She is so above-board it’s not even funny,” Greenwell said.

Outside the rules

Still, under Blair’s command, Meadowdale was slapped with a two-year probation for including 18 advertisements in the 2004-05 annual team guide that showed players wearing team uniforms. The program also made references thanking car dealerships that “generously supported” a Maverick player when she traveled with an elite basketball club.

The guide violated association rules that prohibit students from appearing in commercial endorsements. Blair has said she was unfamiliar with the rule and that a parent put together the program. Still, Blair took full responsibility.

The district also reprimanded Blair for taking two players to an NCAA tournament game in Eugene, Ore., in 2003 without prior district approval.

Had Blair not resigned, she would have received a letter of reprimand for violating school district policies about truthfulness and out-of-state travel, documents show.

School district athletic director Terri McMahan wrote that the punishment was appropriate after Blair gave what she characterized as misleading statements about the coach’s involvement in a trip that players made last summer to participate in a basketball tournament in Tempe, Ariz.

Blair planned the trip in early 2004, but was told it would violate school district policy, which restricts out-of-state travel to the Northwest, and then only with school board permission.

McMahan learned that the trip had occurred anyway after she met with Patti Skocilich, mother of a Meadowdale player, who said the coach had asked her to take care of travel arrangements and supervise the players.

Blair denied playing any role in the trip. McMahan did not believe her, and told the former coach her story didn’t hold up under scrutiny, documents show.

Blair said one reason she resigned was a lack of support from the district and a lack of specific policy to adequately address complaints. She said parents didn’t talk to her before contacting the district.

School board member Doug Fair disagreed, noting that both district superintendent Nick Brossoit and assistant superintendent Ken Limon investigated complaints appropriately and fairly.

“It’s easier just to say, ‘Oh, come on, you’re just a disgruntled parent’ and move on,” Fair said. “I think our coaches are adequately protected. If you’ve got a problem with coaches, take it up with them. If you’re not satisfied, move up.”

In fact, the district debated whether to rehire Blair, documents show, although she would have had to reapply for the job. Still, the feeling was that changes were needed if that happened.

“If she were selected, there would need to be some clear direction to her about treatment of students as people and not just players,” Brossoit wrote in a June 9 e-mail to McMahan and Limon.

So Blair moved on to Ballard, putting the Meadowdale successes and controversy behind her. The district has yet to name a successor.

Despite the questions of Blair’s treatment of her former players, Ballard athletic director Doug Bruketta said he has no reservations about hiring or working with her.

“I’m sticking by her,” Bruketta said. “We’ll be able to communicate with her to make sure we’re on the same page with rules.”

Reporter John Sleeper: 425-339-3478, or jsleeper@heraldnet.com