STHS baseball coach speaks out
Matt Tillson
By Kathryn Reed
Matt Tillson doesn’t understand why he won’t be coaching the South Tahoe High School baseball team in the spring.
After five years as the varsity coach and another five with the junior varsity team, he was let go at the end of last May.
He went before the Lake Tahoe Unified School District board Tuesday night asking for answers, but unable to receive any because the board is not allowed to comment on items not on the agenda.
“I feel I was unjustly relieved of my job. I feel I was fired,” Tillson told the board. “I want to talk about the condition of the sports programs at the high school.”
Tillson asked the board to have an agenda item at a future meeting relating to his specific situation as well as sports in general.
Board President Wendy David suggested Tillson speak with Human Resources Director Jim Watson.
That evening the board hired Don Amaral to be the Viking baseball coach.
After the meeting, Watson said when a coach receives an evaluation that is not proficient or better, the job is opened up. Tillson applied, but was not rehired. Watson would not say how many people applied for the position or how many were interviewed.
Several parents and some players filled the board room Tuesday night in support of Tillson, though none spoke.
Some parents have voiced concerns about Athletic Director Donny Borges, and question his job performance.
Watson would not comment on Borges.
I’m concerned for the STHS Baseball program, although Don Amaral is a well-qualified coach, Matt Tillson taught stronger fundamentals in life and on the field. I don’t believe he was fired, after all the benefits the program had received under him and Doug Russel prior to this, it’s undermining the system to hire a coach from the same town.
Hopefully Don Amaral can go undefeated and win games under the circumstances. This fan believes Matt was unjustly fired and hopes the school board would do a SWOT analysis on their own department.