# HS track coach fired for allowing runners to train topless.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [May 9, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289 "2011-05-09T16:28:01Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/1 "2011-05-09T16:28:01Z")
It was a _male_ student who took his top [off](http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/daily-take/201105/no-shirt-no-service-high-school-coach-jobless-after-his-boys-track-team-goes-). :dubious: The coach was fired on the spot (in front of his team) by the athletic director. What the hell? I’m only 25 and male athletes frequently practiced without shirts on on hot days in high school. Granted we never did shirts vs. skins in gym class (even when it wasn’t a coed activity), but some boys did take their shirts off when we had to run a mile around the track for the fitness tests. The girls never seemed all the upset about that (nor did the occasional teacher or secretary who “just happened” to decide to eat her lunch outside that day). I’m going to go out on a limb and assume this school doesn’t have a swimming or diving team.
So was his firing justified? Or is the whole policy asinine? Something else?
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### Author:  [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2011, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/2 "2011-05-09T16:41:29Z")
Per the article - the coach had been warned earlier. Assuming that is true, the firing was probably justified (but handled poorly), although the policy seems asinine.
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### Author:  [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2011, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/3 "2011-05-09T16:43:32Z")
I think the proper spelling is ‘insane’ rather than ‘asinine’.
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### Author:  [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/4 "2011-05-09T16:52:11Z")
What the fuck has happened to America?
Joe
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### Author:  [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/5 "2011-05-09T17:00:24Z")
I think the student who took off his shirt should have some consequences. They had been talked to about leaving their shirts on and the one had to be obnoxious and take his off. Did the coach tell him to? Did the coach immediately tell him to put his shirt back on? I can’t tell if it was justified or not because it depends on the attitudes of the people involved. We also don’t know what other incidents have occurred.
I can understand some young girls being uncomfortable around half naked boys; heck, I’m a middle aged married woman and I’m uncomfortable around the neighbor if he comes over only wearing his shorts. For some reason in a swimming situation it doesn’t bother me but everywhere else, yes. Without a shirt and how low some shorts get when a person runs it could get pretty racy.
It sounds like there was a “quien es mas macho” thing going on between the coach and the athletic director.
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### Author:  [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/6 "2011-05-09T17:06:27Z")
> [@wheresgeorge04](#):
>
> What the fuck has happened to America?
>
> Joe
A me first, I don’t have to do anything anyone tells me to attitude?
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/7 "2011-05-09T17:19:18Z")
I coach high school track and shirtless guys are common here.
Never have had a word of complaint from the girls some of whom work out without a shirt just a sport bra. (We’re getting into the 80s/90s here.)
If the policy was made then that’s the policy but the firing was very badly handled.
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### Author:  [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/8 "2011-05-09T17:30:53Z")
Let’s make sure none of those people ever go to the beach, they might get the vapors.
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### Author:  [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/9 "2011-05-09T17:45:25Z")
> [@wheresgeorge04](#):
>
> What the fuck has happened to America?
Agreed.
A girl _complained_? Tell her to STFU and grow up already.
In the Universe where Chimera is God-Emperor of Earth, someone would be paid good money to bitchslap both her and the guy who did the firing.
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### Author:  [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/10 "2011-05-09T17:58:53Z")
Utterly ridiculous. I assumed it was going to be girl runners. It didn’t cross my mind this would be an issue if it a male runner.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/11 "2011-05-09T18:01:16Z")
Total insanity all around.
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/12 "2011-05-09T18:10:20Z")
Not as goofy as it sounds initially, but still kinda goofy.
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### Author:  [@El\_Nene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Nene)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2011, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/13 "2011-05-09T18:11:06Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#):
>
> Utterly ridiculous. I assumed it was going to be girl runners. It didn’t cross my mind this would be an issue if it a male runner.
Same here. My first thought was to wonder why a girl would want to train topless.
I find Zulema’s first response even more bizarre. No shirt in backyard pool is OK, just don’t walk to the front lawn.
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### Author:  [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/14 "2011-05-09T18:20:25Z")
This is incredibly stupid. When I was on the track team, the boys frequently ran with shirts off and quite a few of the girls (the ones without boobs at least) ran in sports bras. No one cared. Well, that’s not true. We girls really liked to watch the boys run with their shirts off. I don’t know how they felt about the girls in sports bras since those of us who actually had boobs never took our shirts off.
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### Author:  [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/15 "2011-05-09T18:20:40Z")
> [@El\_Nene](#):
>
> Same here. My first thought was to wonder why a girl would want to train topless.
>
> I find Zulema’s first response even more bizarre. No shirt in backyard pool is OK, just don’t walk to the front lawn.
I sort of understand. At the pool, you expect to see shirtless men. You don’t expect to see shirtless men wandering around anywhere else.
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### Author:  [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/16 "2011-05-09T18:26:18Z")
I agree it’s dumb but I can see it happening. When I was in school in the 70s we played shirts and skins. We also had green gym uniforms with gold on the flip side, so if it was too cold you could change to gold.
But if you look at the article you can see it was justified under today’s “rules.”
> [@](#):
>
> But there was an undercurrent of tension at the school as Fogel told Davis that some members of the girls team felt uncomfortable when the boys ran without shirts. Davis even warned his team about possible punishment for not wearing a shirt.
OK as a person who’s dealt with sexual harassment in the workplace, I can see it spilling over to schools and this is clearly a case where if someone is uncomfortable, and you CAN make a reasonable change you must do it.
But the school is at fault too, for example:
> [@](#):
>
> That wasn’t the end of it. Davis was let go on the spot, in front of his team, and eventually escorted off school property
That he was fired, was perhaps justified but you don’t fire someone like that. Anyone with an ounce of brains and decency knows when you let people go you make sure you allow them to keep, at least some dignity
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### Author:  [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/17 "2011-05-09T18:45:43Z")
I was all prepared to think what kind of an idiot track coach would let his/her girls train topless. Silly, stupid me.
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### Author:  [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/18 "2011-05-09T18:51:00Z")
> [@Markxxx](#):
>
> OK as a person who’s dealt with sexual harassment in the workplace, I can see it spilling over to schools and this is clearly a case where if someone is uncomfortable, and you CAN make a reasonable change you must do it.
Bullshit. One person should not be allowed to control any and all discussion and behavior.
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### Author:  [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/19 "2011-05-09T18:51:58Z")
Our swim team coach better watch her back.
Girls who think boys shouldn’t be allowed to take their shirts off can solve the problem by staying at home, in a burka.
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### Author:  [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/20 "2011-05-09T18:52:01Z")
Textbook examples of how not to question a seemingly stupid policy in the workplace and of how not to handle insubordination.
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