Will Coaches Get Fired for Using Nicknames?

[Perspective]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/ronald-desantis-whose-nickname-ron-183514654.html

According to this article, a new law went into effect in July here in Florida that requires Florida educators to call students by their legal name unless permission is given by the parents to use a nickname.  Certainly, according to the article, that's the way the Orange County School Board is interpreting the new law.  

So, here's my question.   I've been around football fields, baseball fields and basketball courts over half a century.  Nicknames are commonplace and coaches pick up on them and use them routinely.   Some nicknames are given by the parents early in life and stick with the kids all through school.  But oftentimes the coaches are the ones who come up with the nicknames.  Sometimes the nicknames are the result of physical traits (or limitations); sometimes geography comes into play (one of my son's teammates was dubbed "Cali" because he moved to Florida from, yep, you guessed it, California).  If you've ever seen "Remember the Titans," you'll recall that the QB, Ronnie Bass, was nicknamed "Sunshine." 

Since Coaches are part of the education system, will they now face punishment, discipline or termination if, without a written permission slip from the kid's parents, they call sports-playing kids anything other than their formal legal name?  

[Ray Icaza]

46 minutes ago, Perspective said:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/ronald-desantis-whose-nickname-ron-183514654.html

According to this article, a new law went into effect in July here in Florida that requires Florida educators to call students by their legal name unless permission is given by the parents to use a nickname.  Certainly, according to the article, that's the way the Orange County School Board is interpreting the new law.  

So, here's my question.   I've been around football fields, baseball fields and basketball courts over half a century.  Nicknames are commonplace and coaches pick up on them and use them routinely.   Some nicknames are given by the parents early in life and stick with the kids all through school.  But oftentimes the coaches are the ones who come up with the nicknames.  Sometimes the nicknames are the result of physical traits (or limitations); sometimes geography comes into play (one of my son's teammates was dubbed "Cali" because he moved to Florida from, yep, you guessed it, California).  If you've ever seen "Remember the Titans," you'll recall that the QB, Ronnie Bass, was nicknamed "Sunshine." 

Since Coaches are part of the education system, will they now face punishment, discipline or termination if, without a written permission slip from the kid's parents, they call sports-playing kids anything other than their formal legal name?  

Pretty simple, most years they have to adapt to a new rule.   Follow the procedure which seems straight forward and no one will have an issue. 

[Perspective]

15 minutes ago, Ray Icaza said:

Pretty simple, most years they have to adapt to a new rule.   Follow the procedure which seems straight forward and no one will have an issue. 

Ray, just so we're on the same page, you would agree that if a football coach at say, Osceola, starts calling a new WR "Flash," because the kid is really fast, or a lineman "IHOP" because of his ability to deliver pancake blocks, and the parents of those kids have not provided written permission for their kids to be called "Flash" or "IHOP,"  the coach is in violation of Florida law and can be disciplined, terminated and/or prosecuted, correct?   

[Ray Icaza]

7 minutes ago, Perspective said:

Ray, just so we're on the same page, you would agree that if a football coach at say, Osceola, starts calling a new WR "Flash," because the kid is really fast, or a lineman "IHOP" because of his ability to deliver pancake blocks, and the parents of those kids have not provided written permission for their kids to be called "Flash" or "IHOP,"  the coach is in violation of Florida law and can be disciplined, terminated and/or prosecuted, correct?   

When it comes to these issues, I would have thought by now you would know we most likely are not on the same page.  I would be hesitant to use a "Reliable Source" which our locals affectionately call the ORLANDO SLANTINEL to prop up a point of view.  Exhibit "A".... this "Reliable Source" supports WDW free speech for "Publicly" taking a political stance yet yesterday has one of their lead sports reporters attack the DeVos Family political views for "Privately" donating to a hated public official.  We would all be best served by avoiding these stealth attacks that have little merit. 

 

[Perspective]

1 hour ago, Ray Icaza said:

When it comes to these issues, I would have thought by now you would know we most likely are not on the same page.  I would be hesitant to use a "Reliable Source" which our locals affectionately call the ORLANDO SLANTINEL to prop up a point of view.  Exhibit "A".... this "Reliable Source" supports WDW free speech for "Publicly" taking a political stance yet yesterday has one of their lead sports reporters attack the DeVos Family political views for "Privately" donating to a hated public official.  We would all be best served by avoiding these stealth attacks that have little merit. 

 

Now I'm confused.   I don't know how the Orlando Sentinel got brought into this discussion or what WDW and the DeVos family have to do with the topic I raised.   I referenced an article that I ran across on Yahoo's website, that originally appeared on Insider (formerly, Business Insider), a multi-national financial and business news website. 

I made it a point not to get political or even offer my opinion on the new law.  However, I know we have a few coaches who visit this site from time-to-time (Beck, for example) and I was simply looking for clarification or consensus whether this new law was something that they needed to be aware of.   

Personally, I would hate to see a good coach get in trouble simply for calling a kid something other than his legal name. 

[DarterBlue2]

In the memorable words of one Rodney King: "Can't we all get along." 

[Perspective]

3 minutes ago, DarterBlue2 said:

In the memorable words of one Rodney King: "Can't we all get along." 

I'm trying, Darter.  I really am. 

[nolebull813]

This is to stop all the transgender nonsense. No fake names. And an old school coach won’t have any problem with this. And a new school coach who is concerned can literally ask the question one time and get all the parents permission in one day. There is an app called BAND that allows the coach to communicate with the parents and players all at once. It’s where we get all the info every step of the way. (My middle son is entering high school and plays JV)

So he can can simply ask with one question for every parent to consent if they choose to allow nicknames. It would be easy as ever. 
 

also, the publications bringing this up are on the opposite end of the ideology spectrum as our governor so I highly doubt they are giving you the info in an unbiased and objective way. You might have to peel the onion back alot more to formulate a credible opinion  

[Ray Icaza]

2 hours ago, Perspective said:

Now I'm confused.   I don't know how the Orlando Sentinel got brought into this discussion or what WDW and the DeVos family have to do with the topic I raised.   I referenced an article that I ran across on Yahoo's website, that originally appeared on Insider (formerly, Business Insider), a multi-national financial and business news website. 

I made it a point not to get political or even offer my opinion on the new law.  However, I know we have a few coaches who visit this site from time-to-time (Beck, for example) and I was simply looking for clarification or consensus whether this new law was something that they needed to be aware of.   

Personally, I would hate to see a good coach get in trouble simply for calling a kid something other than his legal name. 

My bad, I thought your link was from a local Sentinel article which did appear here on Aug. 7th.   Just having a hard time understanding your perspective on this issue of a "Potential" problem in the future when the shoe on the other foot has already happened.  Teachers have been suspended and fired for simply using a child's legal name as opposed to their preferred Pronoun.  My guess is this legislation was designed to protect both teacher and students going forward by laying out a policy with no other agenda.   To put it another way in light of the fact our team as many others provides our players with a pre-game meal every Friday, what if the headline to a thread I create was "Can our coaches be arrested for preparing said meal on a gas stove?"   Seems pretty trivial to me.  In any event, we do have a rising sophomore slot receiver that does go by the nickname of "FLASH".

[Perspective]

1 hour ago, nolebull813 said:

This is to stop all the transgender nonsense. No fake names. And an old school coach won’t have any problem with this. And a new school coach who is concerned can literally ask the question one time and get all the parents permission in one day. There is an app called BAND that allows the coach to communicate with the parents and players all at once. It’s where we get all the info every step of the way. (My middle son is entering high school and plays JV)

So he can can simply ask with one question for every parent to consent if they choose to allow nicknames. It would be easy as ever. 
 

also, the publications bringing this up are on the opposite end of the ideology spectrum as our governor so I highly doubt they are giving you the info in an unbiased and objective way. You might have to peel the onion back alot more to formulate a credible opinion  

Nolebull, I try to be as transparent (wow, I just realized that's a pretty interesting word in light of some of the issues we've been reading about . . . ) as possible with my sources.   In this case, I saw an article on Yahoo that came from Insider.  I have absolutely no idea in the world which side of the ideology spectrum Insider is on.  As for Yahoo, they link articles and videos from CNN and FOX on a regular basis, so they seem to be fairly neutral.   But, unless the article was wrong, Orange County School Board was already being proactive and requiring parents to fill out a form if their child could/wanted to be called by a name other than their given legal name.  But, neither the article nor the link to the Orange County action mentioned anything at all about athletics and/or coaches.  So, I just wanted to put the issue out there to see if and how it might impact high school coaches. 

All that said, the most interesting thing that I learned from your post is that the football team is using an app called "BAND" to communicate.   I guess that's a better name than "DramaClub." 

[Nulli Secundus]

11 hours ago, Perspective said:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/ronald-desantis-whose-nickname-ron-183514654.html

According to this article, a new law went into effect in July here in Florida that requires Florida educators to call students by their legal name unless permission is given by the parents to use a nickname.  Certainly, according to the article, that's the way the Orange County School Board is interpreting the new law.  

So, here's my question.   I've been around football fields, baseball fields and basketball courts over half a century.  Nicknames are commonplace and coaches pick up on them and use them routinely.   Some nicknames are given by the parents early in life and stick with the kids all through school.  But oftentimes the coaches are the ones who come up with the nicknames.  Sometimes the nicknames are the result of physical traits (or limitations); sometimes geography comes into play (one of my son's teammates was dubbed "Cali" because he moved to Florida from, yep, you guessed it, California).  If you've ever seen "Remember the Titans," you'll recall that the QB, Ronnie Bass, was nicknamed "Sunshine." 

Since Coaches are part of the education system, will they now face punishment, discipline or termination if, without a written permission slip from the kid's parents, they call sports-playing kids anything other than their formal legal name?  

The rate in which the world is going to hell is accelerating quickly.

[Perspective]

14 minutes ago, Ray Icaza said:

My bad, I thought your link was from a local Sentinel article which did appear here on Aug. 7th.   Just having a hard time understanding your perspective on this issue of a "Potential" problem in the future when the shoe on the other foot has already happened.  Teachers have been suspended and fired for simply using a child's legal name as opposed to their preferred Pronoun.  My guess is this legislation was designed to protect both teacher and students going forward by laying out a policy with no other agenda.   To put it another way in light of the fact our team as many others provides our players with a pre-game meal every Friday, what if the headline to a thread I create was "Can our coaches be arrested for preparing said meal on a gas stove?"   Seems pretty trivial to me.  In any event, we do have a rising sophomore slot receiver that does go by the nickname of "FLASH".

All good Ray.  I won't even hold you responsible for the amount of time I spent going back and double- and triple-checking to make sure Insider wasn't a separate, online publication of the Sentinel. 

Admittedly, I like to try to think of scenarios that might play out in the future to determine if something needs to be changed now.  Occupational hazard.  And so long as no kids (or, to be more precise, no parents) get upset about a coach calling a kid by their nickname, this won't be an issue.  However, when the one overweight kid comes home all depressed because his coach started called him "Porky" and his mom goes all Momma Bear on the school principal, well, then it won't be so trivial -- at least not for some coach and his family. 

Last, I'm going to go out on a limb here and make a prediction that that the slot receiver you mentioned is pretty fast. 

[Ray Icaza]

1 minute ago, Perspective said:

All good Ray.  I won't even hold you responsible for the amount of time I spent going back and double- and triple-checking to make sure Insider wasn't a separate, online publication of the Sentinel. 

Admittedly, I like to try to think of scenarios that might play out in the future to determine if something needs to be changed now.  Occupational hazard.  And so long as no kids (or, to be more precise, no parents) get upset about a coach calling a kid by their nickname, this won't be an issue.  However, when the one overweight kid comes home all depressed because his coach started called him "Porky" and his mom goes all Momma Bear on the school principal, well, then it won't be so trivial -- at least not for some coach and his family. 

Last, I'm going to go out on a limb here and make a prediction that that the slot receiver you mentioned is pretty fast. 

NP as we all rely on our news from somewhere and as you can probably figure out I lean more on the WSJ than those you mentioned. As far as the Alijah Jenkins kid, hopefully he lives up to his "Handle".

[Jambun82]

7 hours ago, Perspective said:

Now I'm confused.   I don't know how the Orlando Sentinel got brought into this discussion or what WDW and the DeVos family have to do with the topic I raised.   I referenced an article that I ran across on Yahoo's website, that originally appeared on Insider (formerly, Business Insider), a multi-national financial and business news website. 

I made it a point not to get political or even offer my opinion on the new law.  However, I know we have a few coaches who visit this site from time-to-time (Beck, for example) and I was simply looking for clarification or consensus whether this new law was something that they needed to be aware of.   

Personally, I would hate to see a good coach get in trouble simply for calling a kid something other than his legal name. 

You're confused Pinstripes, what else is new. 

[Jambun82]

7 hours ago, Perspective said:

I'm trying, Darter.  I really am. 

No, you are not Pinstripes. You are trying to stir trouble, like you always do, Pinstripes. 

[VeniceIndianFan]

Keeping my hands off of the political undertones in this thread, I will say that anyone who would fire a football coach or harshly punish them in some way for giving a silly nickname to a football player needs to grow a damn spine and leave their bed at some point to encounter the world we live in. Goodness. 

[Perspective]

10 hours ago, VeniceIndianFan said:

Keeping my hands off of the political undertones in this thread, I will say that anyone who would fire a football coach or harshly punish them in some way for giving a silly nickname to a football player needs to grow a damn spine and leave their bed at some point to encounter the world we live in. Goodness. 

VIF, just curious, do you feel the same way about teachers being punished for calling a kid by a nickname? 

[VeniceIndianFan]

25 minutes ago, Perspective said:

VIF, just curious, do you feel the same way about teachers being punished for calling a kid by a nickname? 

Intentions matter. If the nickname in question pokes fun at a student’s weight, height, race, creed, religion, ethnicity, and such. This is wrong and the ringleader must be stopped. Whatever consequences are appropriate for something like this are debatable, but I don’t believe an endearing nickname like “Flash,” “brain,” or “bulldozer” that some kids wear as a badge of honor for excellence in some ability, ought to be punished or viewed as inherently damaging. 

[Ray Icaza]

2 hours ago, Perspective said:

VIF, just curious, do you feel the same way about teachers being punished for calling a kid by a nickname? 

Isn't the better question, do you think a teacher should be punished or fired for calling a kid by his "LEGAL" name.   As I pointed out to you earlier, that has happened around our country but you never addressed that.  And I completely agree with VIF argument regarding intent. 

[gatorman-uf]

"Provisions for parents to specify the use of any deviation from their child’s legal name in school. School districts will develop a form to obtain parental consent along with any required documentation, as appropriate."
 

Is the actual phrasing from the Florida Board of Education, so just asking a parent in a text message most likely doesn't count.
Calling a student Tommy instead of their legal name of Thomas, violates this law if the parents have not filled out the required form. So yes, an earned nickname would still be in violation of this. It is the result of the unintended (but totally forseeable) consequences of this educational rule passed by the Florida Board of Education.

[VeniceIndianFan]

This is ludicrous. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a teacher calling a student named “Thomas,” “Tommy,” as long as the student is ok with it. But now paperwork has to be filed in order for a non-offensive nickname to be used? It is unbelievable that this is where our priorities lay in the year 2023. 

[Nulli Secundus]

Law or not, I guess I'm confused as to why this is a "thing" now.  I remember filling out paperwork for my children every school year and under name, there was a field for preferred name or nickname.  I damn sure remember when I was a student and those same options were present.  Yes, my parents made me fill out my own paperwork starting in junior high, lol.  I know I'm not the only one.