As a long time sports fan and a head coach for 30 years, I feel compelled to respond to the letter to the editor from Richard Engstrom on "poor coaching" in the Dec. 23 edition of the Star Herald. I believe the issue is, "Did the Luverne coach get out-coached or was his team poorly prepared, or both." Like Mr. Engstrom, I watched with disappointment as the Luverne squad lost the game. However, a big factor in the outcome of the game was the way in which Redwood Valley responded after Luverne had a considerable lead. Redwood Valley became very aggressive and played with an attitude that demonstrated that they had nothing to lose. Luverne, on the other hand, played with an attitude of trying not to lose — rather than playing to retain their lead and win the game. Luverne should be criticized for not responding to the challenge. Redwood Valley, however, should be given a lot of credit for their effort and should be congratulated on their hard-fought victory.Based on my own experiences with tough losses, I know there was a lot of "soul searching" after the game and I am sure there are a number of people willing to accept the responsibility for what went wrong. This was a tremendous learning experience and something our team should benefit from. As for the forum in which Mr. Engstrom chose to criticize Coach Rops, I believe it is very inappropriate and is very destructive to the program. I acknowledge that Mr. Engstrom has a right to his comments. However, if he feels a change is necessary, his opinions and comments should go through the proper channels (i.e. direct communication with the coach, athletic director, superintendent and finally to the School Board members). Further, it seems somewhat disingenuous for Mr. Engstrom to call for the replacement of Coach Rops simply because of one unfortunate loss. Remember, Coach Rops and the team won their first six games (as well as one subsequent game). Based on my observations, Coach Rops did not suddenly change his coaching demeanor in the Redwood Valley game so as to warrant such harsh criticism. Laurin CarrollLuverne
