LIVONIA -- Hopefully we've heard the last in the civil war between Detroit Renaissance Coach Diane Jones and her basketball team.

Eleven of 15 players refused to show up for Saturday's Operation Friendship game against Livonia Ladywood because they claimed they did not like playing for Jones. The parents and students made an ultimatum. If Jones was not fired then they were quitting.

The school did the right thing by suspending the players for Monday nights 76-24 victory over Highland Park at Clarenceville High School. And the students did the right thing by showing up and supporting the six players who did play.

So maybe some lessons have been learned.

However, this brings up the issue of how involved should parents be in their children's sporting programs? I believe the Renaissance parents took it too far and embarrassed the school and the Detroit Public School League. Jones is demanding and sometimes unfair. But should she be fired for this?

You can read more about that in my Terry's Tour column in today's Detroit News. I did ask some area coaches how they handle parents.

One of the main issues parents said is that if they questioned their daughter's playing time, Jones would reduce it. The coaches I spoke with said they didn't necessarily reduce playing time but they sure would not increase it. If they did that the line outside the coaches office would be around the block. "We won't talk to the parents until we talk to the kids first," said Rochester girls basketball coach Jeff Haney. "If someone complains I either play them the same or sometimes less. Everybody knows when somebody comes to talk to you. If I gave them more playing time parents would be coming to see me all the time."

Matt Joseph of Utica Ford agrees to meet with parents but that does not mean he will change his mind on playing time. "I tell them that playing time is really up to the coach and we try to do what is best for the team," Joseph said. "As a parent you want your kid to play but when you get to this level everybody can't play. Everybody who plays on varsity has played as a high level."

Many of you are parents with athletic school children. You don't always get along with the coach. How should we handle these situations?

I can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 313-222-1494.

Terry's Detroit News Article on this can also be found at : 

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