# HS track coach fired for allowing runners to train topless. **URL:** \ **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:** 2
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/21 "2011-05-09T18:58:17Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > Girls who think boys shouldn’t be allowed to take their shirts off can solve the problem by staying at home, in a burka. I came back to say that the ‘victim of sexual harassment’ here is the boy. This is little different than suggesting that women need to wear burkas because some men feel uncomfortable about the way they dress. Fuck it. Burkas for everyone. We don’t want that one single person to feel uncomfortable by having to look at a human body. Hell, Dalek suits for everyone. We don’t want people to feel uncomfortable by having to look at anything vaguely human in shape. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/22 "2011-05-09T19:03:36Z")
Was anyone else amused by this sentence in the article, “He was replaced by the school’s throwing coach.” Seriously? A throwing coach? Is this a full-time position, or is he also the physics teacher? As for the firing the coach, I can see being concerned about the student-athlete getting sunburned, although in this case, it sounds like there was a sexual harassment concern on the part of the girls’ teams. ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/23 "2011-05-09T19:04:23Z")
> [@El\_Nene](#): > > I find Zulema’s first response even more bizarre. No shirt in backyard pool is OK, just don’t walk to the front lawn. He can go in the front yard, he cannot stand 1/2 foot from me talking. It’s too familiar. And for high school we should remember that it’s children mixed with adults. There are 14 year old girls and 18 year old MEN, with all their junk showing through their nylon shorts, then without a shirt there’s just too much going on. I don’t think girls should be able to run in just their sports bras either. I’ve seen some so thin it’s like they’re naked. Track practice is not the place. At the beach and pool we all expect semi-nudity and it loses a lot of it’s sexual overtones. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Nene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/da6949/32.png) [@El\_Nene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Nene)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/24 "2011-05-09T19:06:30Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#): > > You don’t expect to see shirtless men wandering around anywhere else. In a public building I understand but outside? I see men running shirtless in the neighborhood and at the park all the time. Hell, if I were less flabby and hairy I would be one of them. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/25 "2011-05-09T19:06:19Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > I was all prepared to think what kind of an idiot track coach would let his/her girls train topless. Silly, stupid me. Same here. Although, after reading the story, it sounds to me like there was a bit more of a backstory here. The vibe I get (OK, not so much a “vibe” as what is directly quoted in the story) is the coach and the school had it in for each other and it finally came to a head with this incident. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/26 "2011-05-09T19:08:24Z")
> [@Zulema](#): > > He can go in the front yard, he cannot stand 1/2 foot from me talking. It’s too familiar. > > And for high school we should remember that it’s children mixed with adults. There are 14 year old girls and 18 year old MEN, with all their junk showing through their nylon shorts, then without a shirt there’s just too much going on. > > I don’t think girls should be able to run in just their sports bras either. I’ve seen some so thin it’s like they’re naked. Track practice is not the place. > > At the beach and pool we all expect semi-nudity and it loses a lot of it’s sexual overtones. That is a pretty puritanical attitude in my opinion. If a male runner’s junk is showing, I think it’s the coach’s responsibility to remind the young man to wear appropriate underwear for modesty and health reasons. But I don’t think the sight of a guy flopping around in his shorts is going to scar a high school girl for life. She’d find it funny! ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/27 "2011-05-09T19:10:34Z")
I actually can see both sides of the argument. I don’t have a problem with shirtless but I can see how it could be uncomfortable depending on the person and the shorts he’s wearing. But if the school says they have to wear shirts then they have to wear shirts. There are plenty of mesh shirts people can wear to catch a breeze. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/28 "2011-05-09T19:13:33Z")
It is clear that the school administration had it in for the coach, and were just waiting for an excuse to fire him. I’ve seen this happen before. If not, the kid who took his shirt off would be disciplined if there was a problem, not the coach. Did they expect him to run after the kid and staple his shirt to his shorts or something? Appropriate dress depends on context. Women in the Olympics run in things that would be inappropriate in the workplace. Hell, even with shirts I suspect the shorts the kids wear would be inappropriate in the school hallways. If I were on the team, I’d organize a protest where, in a relay, all members would walk around the track. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/29 "2011-05-09T19:16:22Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > I came back to say that the ‘victim of sexual harassment’ here is the boy. This is little different than suggesting that women need to wear burkas because some men feel uncomfortable about the way they dress. > > Fuck it. Burkas for everyone. We don’t want that one single person to feel uncomfortable by having to look at a human body. > > Hell, Dalek suits for everyone. We don’t want people to feel uncomfortable by having to look at anything vaguely human in shape. I agree with this. > [@Zulema](#): > > He can go in the front yard, he cannot stand 1/2 foot from me talking. It’s too familiar. > > And for high school we should remember that it’s children mixed with adults. There are 14 year old girls and 18 year old MEN, with all their junk showing through their nylon shorts, then without a shirt there’s just too much going on. > > I don’t think girls should be able to run in just their sports bras either. I’ve seen some so thin it’s like they’re naked. Track practice is not the place. > > At the beach and pool we all expect semi-nudity and it loses a lot of it’s sexual overtones. By catering to these kinds of Victorian sensibilities, we’re imbuing “semi-nudity” with sexual overtones. Human bodies are something people should just get used to. ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/30 "2011-05-09T19:16:52Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#): > > That is a pretty puritanical attitude in my opinion. If a male runner’s junk is showing, I think it’s the coach’s responsibility to remind the young man to wear appropriate underwear for modesty and health reasons. But I don’t think the sight of a guy flopping around in his shorts is going to scar a high school girl for life. She’d find it funny! It’s not puritanical to try to understand how a really young girls might feel being around a grown man who is mostly naked. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/31 "2011-05-09T19:18:59Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#): > > That is a pretty puritanical attitude in my opinion. If a male runner’s junk is showing, I think it’s the coach’s responsibility to reminder the runner to wear appropriate underwear for modesty and health reasons. But I don’t think the sight of a guy flopping around in his shorts is going to scar a high school girl for life. She’d find it funny! That’s another thing, if a male’s bulge is showing he’s expected to cover up, but what about a female’s breasts? I agree it’s one thing if his dick or balls are literely hanging out of his shorts, if male students are required to wear shorts baggy enought that their bulge is invisible that surely female students should be required to wear tops baggy enough so that no one can tell wether or not they actually have breasts by looking at them. Agree or disagree? Not only would that rule out sports bras; it’d also rule out ever single top of girls’ sports uniforms I’ve ever seen, including cheerleading uniforms. Also track suits the girls’ PE teacher wore, the regular clothes most of the girls wore, and even regular clothes the women teachers & secretaries wore. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/32 "2011-05-09T19:22:52Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Was anyone else amused by this sentence in the article, “He was replaced by the school’s throwing coach.” Seriously? A throwing coach? Is this a full-time position, or is he also the physics teacher? No more full time than any school coach. Where I coach it happens the head coach is the only teacher, all the others are “off campus” volunteers. And really, if possible, every event group needs their own coach. > [@Voyager](#): > > Appropriate dress depends on context. Women in the Olympics run in things that would be inappropriate in the workplace. Hell, even with shirts I suspect the shorts the kids wear would be inappropriate in the school hallways. Around here, the boys tend to prefer the knee-length shorts and actually have complained about the school uniform shorts as being too short. I counter by telling them to look up running or basketball shorts from the 1970s and get back to me. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/33 "2011-05-09T19:25:21Z")
> [@Zulema](#): > > It’s not puritanical to try to understand how a really young girls might feel being around a grown man who is mostly naked. Well, too bad, she needs to grow a thicker skin or hide in the basement. Or just _not look_. What about the feelings of the males, being required to cover up while exercising in hot weather just so Little Miss Prude isn’t horrified by how half the human race look? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/34 "2011-05-09T19:27:54Z")
I voted that the firing was justified because, well, that was the policy and this was at least the second time the coach was talked to about it and them’s the breaks when you work for Da Man. …that being said, it’s a stupid policy. The (high school aged, remember) girl(s) who were “offended” need to be told to get over themselves, as long as the shirtless boy(s) were doing nothing but running (that is, they weren’t harassing the girls). And I’d say the same thing if the girls wanted to run without their shirts on. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/35 "2011-05-09T19:28:06Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > If I were on the team, I’d organize a protest where, in a relay, all members would walk around the track. Without shirts. And I would do my best to get not the just the team but the entire school (and maybe the entire town) to join the protest. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/36 "2011-05-09T19:30:04Z")
> [@Zulema](#): > > It’s not puritanical to try to understand how a really young girls might feel being around a grown man who is mostly naked. Humans of all ages should be expected to get used to humans of all ages in their proximity. If these “grown men” were actually engaging in inappropriate behaviour towards these “really young girls” that might be one thing. But merely existing as a “grown man” in the proximity of “really young girls” shouldn’t require a mandatory level of coveredupness. ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/37 "2011-05-09T19:31:44Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > Around here, the boys tend to prefer the knee-length shorts and actually have complained about the school uniform shorts as being too short. I counter by telling them to look up running or basketball shorts from the 1970s and get back to me. 😃 Some of the girl’s uniforms around here are getting ridiculous and the girls hate them, they’re like swim suit bottoms and tight tops. They spend the whole race picking their pants out of their cracks. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/38 "2011-05-09T19:34:46Z")
> [@Zulema](#): > > It’s not puritanical to try to understand how a really young girls might feel being around a grown man who is mostly naked. I would have thought most high school girls would enjoy watching males athletes train shirtless. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Nene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/da6949/32.png) [@El\_Nene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Nene)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/39 "2011-05-09T19:36:58Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Humans of all ages should be expected to get used to humans of all ages in their proximity. If these “grown men” were actually engaging in inappropriate behaviour towards these “really young girls” that might be one thing. But merely existing as a “grown man” in the proximity of “really young girls” shouldn’t require a mandatory level of coveredupness. I was with you till the end. They should definitely cover their junk. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289/40 "2011-05-09T19:42:57Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > Around here, the boys tend to prefer the knee-length shorts and actually have complained about the school uniform shorts as being too short. I counter by telling them to look up running or basketball shorts from the 1970s and get back to me. 😃 Shows my geezerdom. When I was in high school we weren’t even allowed to wear jeans. Not even the class radicals would even have thought about wearing shorts to school. I don’t get wearing shorts to work, though lots of people do it. I’m not offended, I’d just never do it even if my legs looked better. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-track-coach-fired-for-allowing-runners-to-train-topless/581289.md?page=3)