BOE: Eric Hinds May Resume Volunteering with the HS Soccer Team

Eric Hinds accepted an invitation today by the Board of Education to return to the soccer field and resume his role as a volunteer, under the supervision of the team's head coach, to help the boys Holmdel High School Varsity Soccer team.

The offer came by way of a phone call from Holmdel Superintendent of Schools Barbara Duncan today, said Hinds. "I was shocked, and very appreciative she would call me in person," he said. "I told her right away I’m there for the kids and I’ll be out there as soon as I can."

The turn of events came after Hinds was prevented from continuing to help out the high school soccer team because he had never submitted an application -- required of any volunteer who works with school youth. But when he did submit one, it was tabled by the board and was not acted upon.

A story about Hinds' predicament in Holmdel Patch entitled "Should Holmdel Parents Be Allowed to Volunteer as School Sports Coaches?" drew over 30 comments. Most of the posts were in favor of the community making the best use of its qualified volunteers, and quite a few endorsed Hinds personally. Some questioned whether parental involvement was a good thing in school sports.

Eric Hinds is a father of three, a Township Committeeman, a youth travel soccer coach, the co-founder of the Hope for Children charity and the winner of the Holmdel Journal's Public Servant of the Year award.

Board of Education President Barbara Garrity released a written statement Thursday, Sept. 29 regarding the board's decision.

The statement, in its entirety, follows below:

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Yesterday, the Holmdel BOE met to discuss the soccer volunteer position at HHS. 

While the Board will be reviewing and revising its volunteer policy beginning at its October 12 meeting, the Board decided in the interim to approve Mr. Hinds to serve as a volunteer under the supervision of the team coach, if he was still interested. 

Mr. Hinds will be volunteering starting today and the Board will be putting the motion back on the agenda on 10/12 and will vote on his assignment as a volunteer (retroactively). 

The Board will not appoint any more interscholastic sports team parent volunteers until the review process is complete.

The Board wants to reiterate that the soccer volunteer item was tabled due to policy concerns which will be addressed beginning at our next meeting. 

Interscholastic sports teams are an avenue to potential college scholarships, and parents are very sensitive to perceived fairness in assigning playing positions and playing time. 

The Board has received numerous complaints over a period of years about real or perceived favoritism by interscholastic sports team parent volunteers. 

We believe it is very important that our current policy and regulation review process clarify both the criteria for approving such volunteers, and their appropriate role with the teams.