Deer Valley High suspends eight players for protest against head coach

Deer Valley girls basketball team members remove their jerseys in protest before the game on Thursday, February 11, 2016. photo by Michael Pohl

Deer Valley girls basketball team members remove their jerseys in protest before the game on Thursday, February 11, 2016. photo by Michael Pohl

Parents allege their students were victims of bullying

By Luke Johnson

Minutes before a home game against Heritage High School last Thursday, players from Deer Valley’s varsity girls’ basketball team threatened to go on strike by taking off their white-home uniforms with their black-away uniforms underneath. This was in an effort to get head coach Linsey Bailey to resign or fired from his job.

DVHS girls varsity basketball coach Lindsey Bailey leaves the court before the game. photo by Michael Pohl

DVHS girls varsity basketball coach Linsey Bailey leaves the court before the game. photo by Michael Pohl

Moments later, he proceeded to exit the gym, ending the protest, so that the game could resume under assistant coaches.

Immediately following the final whistle, DVHS administration conducted an investigation that resulted in 8 out of 12 players on the roster receiving suspensions for the remaining two games of the season with Bailey continuing at the helm the program. This course of action was announced Monday.

Principal Kenneth Gardner said every player was talked to during the investigation and that nothing was found leading to “impropriety or unprofessional behavior becoming the coach,” and only two or three of the players’ concerns were related to playing time. He added that two sets of parents voiced their distress prior to the protest, only regarding playing time.

“Playing time is based on merit and skill, and is at the sole judgment of the coach,” Gardner said. “We did what we felt like we had to do.”

On the contrary, parents claim that the protest had little to do with playing time, and that their kids were victims of bullying by intimidation and verbal abuse from Bailey. One parent, Melvin Davis, said that the “principal was lying through his teeth” after hearing his comments about the investigation.

In a 454-word email sent on Jan. 4 to Vice Principals Tim Cooper and Reggie March, Davis wrote:

“The coach informed the team he has no fear of putting his hands on a player, and offered proof by saying he was currently under investigation at Antioch Middle School for placing a child in a choke hold… The coach was witnessed punching walls on several occasions, visibly cries in front of team on several occasions. I view these as inappropriate.”

Cooper replied the next day, and told Davis he would look into his concerns and talk to players as witnesses.

According to Davis, this followed up with a meeting among himself, Cooper, Bailey and Athletic Director Dan Peters. He said Bailey denied all the allegations, and players were never questioned.

“After that meeting, his treatment of the girls became progressively worse. Myself and other parents continued to complain and were told administration wasn’t going to do anything until after the season was over,” Davis said.

Some parents chose to speak anonymously, while others declined to comment in fear of their children being punished even further.

“They were out of line, and it was very unfair,” an anonymous parent said about the suspensions handed out by DVHS administration. “They just care about protecting the name of the school.”

Numerous parents claim that Bailey, who is a first-year head coach at Deer Valley, was fired from his previous coaching job at Alhambra High School (Martinez). Gardner, nor Alhambra Athletic Director Pat Ertola, could neither confirm nor deny those allegations.

A December 3rd article in the Martinez Tribune states the Alhambra High School “Bulldogs dismissed Linsey Bailey” as head coach last Spring. No additional details on why that occurred are known at this time.


the attachments to this post:


DVHS coach leaves the game


DVHS girls basketball team protests


DVHS girls basketball team1 Michael Pohl


27 Comments to “Deer Valley High suspends eight players for protest against head coach”

  1. Deer Valley Cover up says:

    This dude looks guilty and I think he is a pervert. There has been allegations made to the school about Bailey inappropriately touching these girls but these f***s at Deer Valley are just turning there head to it.

  2. The Truth says:

    In regards to the DV Basketball incidents, the allegations by the parents about MR. Bailey are not true. Most of the parents were upset their children were not getting the playing time they thought the players deserved. A small handful of these PARENTS planned this protest down to the shirts worn that said, ” You Gotta Go” to the media that was present. Come on these are serious allegations against a person and could have ruined his life. If the parents felt so strongly about this then they should have taken this to the proper school administration and police. Also, why were these players allowed by the parents to continue to be in the coach’s presence. No way would I have made my child protest to something that the parents should have taken care of.
    Mr. Bailey is not perfect. Is he brutally honest with the girls sometimes? Yes he is. Can he be a bit sensitive at times? Yes he can.
    Do he hit the walls? No he don’t. Is he bulling the girls? No he is not. Do he touch the girls inappropriately? No he do not.
    Again, this is only coming from 2 or 3 parents who complain about everything. Most of these girls participated reluctantly and were bullied into participating in the protest.

    • Deer Valley Cover up says:

      First of all Mr.School Administrator you sound stupid because your not at practice with this dude, so you don’t know what he does to these girls. And none of these parents told these girls to protest. Your just as stupid as the principal and Mr.Cooper if you think they protest over playing time. 3 of 5 starters protested dummy that played the whole game so why the hell would they protest. You guys are good covering things up at Deer Valley I must tip cap to you. I hope this cover up don’t bite you guys in the ass, covering for a dude you know nothing about.

    • Deer Valley Cover up says:

      Oh yeah by the way the girls were bullied to protest by the Thugs on the team ok.

  3. Anonymous Student says:

    My mom and I were very anxious to watch the DV varsity girls play on their first home game against Pit. During the middle of the game, both of us were shocked on how rough he pushed the girls and how wild his attitude was towards the players. One of the players in the game had made Coach Bailey really upset and so he yanked a player from the bench and pushed the player really hard to a point that she stumbled. It shocked me and my mom a lot considering he did that where hundreds of students and parents could see. It is not only inappropriate, but obviously the players went on strike out of fear and hate.

    • Deer Valley Cover up says:

      Let’s see if the school Administrator responds to this.

    • DV Girls Varsity Fan says:

      I have attended every 2016 game and have never seen the coach act inappropriate toward any of the girls. In fact just the Tuesday prior to the protest I mentioned to another parent how I thought he was a good coach, that he doesn’t yell and scream during the games, like I have seen other coaches do. As far as I am concerned, the protestors deserved to be suspended. And they can thank their parents for the bad judgement of encouraging them, instead of showing them the correct way to handle problems. Read the article, they spoke with every player. So please stop accusing the coach of things that never happened.

      • DV parent says:

        The article says they questioned every child on the team but that is not true, my child is on the team and she never got questioned. Someone is not being truthful. As a parent I will be happy when the truth comes out. My child is leaving DV. I pray for the young ladies who had to endure this entire mess.

  4. Railway says:

    First of all as a parent on the inside of this incident the girls protested because they were left with no other options as their complaints fell on deaf ears. Complaints of bullying, sexual misconduct, and intimidation. They were left unprotected by the administration and left with no other choice. Anyone who thinks an ENTIRE team would protest, including starters, because TWO, players weren’t getting playing time is on crack. That is a foolish and uninformed statement. It had everything to do with the coaches unacceptable behavior and the administration did everything in it’s power to protect the coach and disregard those young girls. I applaud their bravery and the school should be ashamed. Every Deer Valley parent should be disgusted. I know I am.

  5. Green says:

    As a parent I also recieved a confidential statement from a teacher who is present at every game and has over heard the abusive coach. Said teacher replied “That coach is an a** and an awful person the way he treats those girls is shameful” Coach Bailey was also abruptly fired from Alhambra High after 1 year under suspicious circumstances. He should be terminated immediately. The Deer Valley administration is covering for him and they need to be exposed.

  6. The truth buster says:

    “The Truth” is a liar and obviously the principal. No matter how hard you try to cover this up the truth will come out. By the way, how did 2 or 3 bench players plan this when you know for a fact that 2 starters came up with the idea? Busted.

  7. Disappointed says:

    I am very disappointed in the manner the school is handling this situation. It has little to do with playing time. The coach misrepresented himself from the beginning, stating he left a great position at Alhambra to come and coach our girls, when the truth it he was dismissed from a winning season. Why??? They won’t comment, but this is the problem, schools are so worried about the grown adults instead of the children. Most of the girls on the team are honor roll students with plans to go onto college, they felt threatened, bullied and abandoned by the coaches both Coach Bailey and Coach Barns. Most incidents were not even shared between parents so they were not allowed to make educated choices as the practices were closed and the 30-45 mins after each game where not where parents were allowed either. It is very difficult for young girls to be brave enough to stand up for themselves for the exact reason of how this has played out. The administration is not supporting them, they have been punished and even given evidence that some starting player conceived the whole plan. They are still playing, so much to the point where the girls who where moved up to replace the 8 that were suspended aren’t even give a chance to touch the ball. What kid of coach allows one person to score 40points in a game that was won by 30 to stay in the entire game??? Steph Curry don’t even play 4th.

    When a child comes to you and says that they feel uncomfortable with action on a male coach. And four others have similar stories of concern you have to see a pattern of behavior. You have to protect the children. When you see a coach favors certain players and those are the very players that feel uncomfortable, as an adult you have to see that it’s not about play time. You have to see that players who have been there for 3 years and never made those kind of accusations would just make it up. They all wanted to protect each other, so they came together to take care of each other. That’s what happened here and they need to be heard, respected and made to feel proud of themselves for standing up for each other in a system that is designed to protect the adults. For some of these children transferring is an option, even though the coach repeatedly to them if they didn’t like they should transfer because he wasn’t going nowhere. The girls feel he is the problem and he has to go. Though parents are supporting their children, the girls came up with the protest on there own.

  8. The Truth says:

    You are a disappointment.

    Truth be told:
    God see all and knows all. You disappointing parents be prepared for what’s coming your way. God please have mercy on their souls….
    Your children are watching and mimicking what you do. Lord bless their souls.
    If my child had a problem with anyone especially involving sexual misconduct you better believe I would have been down at the school district, at the police station and placed a call with the child protective hotline.
    I would not be sitting around complaining and definitely would not be criticizing another DV team mate who had nothing to do with the protest. Are you upset because she was not a part of the protest or because she scored 40pts or both? Why attack a minor? Just another prime example of those DV parents of the girls who were suspended but not all them just a select few.

  9. The Truth says:

    You are a disappointment.

    Truth be told:
    God see all and knows all. You disappointing parents be prepared for what’s coming your way. God please have mercy on their souls….
    Your children are watching and mimicking what you do. Lord bless their souls.
    If my child had a problem with anyone especially involving sexual or physical misconduct you better believe I would have been down at the school district, at the police station and placed a call with the child protective hotline.
    I would not be sitting around complaining and definitely would not be criticizing another DV team mate who had nothing to do with the protest. Are you upset because she was not a part of the protest or because she scored 40pts or both? Why attack a minor? Just another prime example of those DV parents of the girls who were suspended but not all them just a select few.

  10. The truth buster says:

    Shame and disgrace caused Coach Bailey to skip the final game. The perfect way for a coward to end the season. You tried to break these young ladies but in the end they became stronger and broke you. Bravo to a brave group of young ladies…as for Bailey, may shame and disgrace follow you everywhere you go.

  11. Deer Valley Cover up says:

    Hey Gardner, oops I’m sorry “Truth Says” why don’t you ask your coach Bailey whose feelings you deeply care about if he ever showed one of your non African American girls a move with his arms around her whispering in her ear I bet you never had a Black man arms around you. Oh yeah by the WY I probably made this up huh. Get the F**k out of here.

  12. The Truth says:

    You are a disappointment.

    Truth be told:
    God see all and knows all. You disappointing parents be prepared for what’s coming your way. God please have mercy on their souls….
    Your children are watching and mimicking what you do. Lord bless their souls.
    If my child had a problem with anyone especially involving sexual or physical misconduct you better believe I would have been down at the school district, at the police station and placed a call with the child protective hotline.
    I would not be sitting around complaining and definitely would not be criticizing another DV team mate who had nothing to do with the protest. Are you upset because she was not a part of the protest or because she scored 40pts or both? Why attack a minor? Just another prime example of those DV parents of the girls who were suspended but not all them just a select few.

  13. The truth buster says:

    Once again the “truth teller” is caught in a lie. As a former LA cop you should know better…or maybe not. You know for a fact the only remaining starter on the team helped plan and came up with the ideas for the protest because you were shown her texts. I don’t blame her though because as a child she never should have to resort to that. I’m stating this to show the blatant lies the administration tells. The best thing for this school would be for all the administration involved in the cover up to resign and go infect some other school district. Get the hell out of mine.

  14. Your full of it buddy says:

    Da*n Gardner is a former LA cop well that explains all the lies and cover up, he’s use to it. That what LA cops are known for thanks for bringing that to our school job well done Ken. Makes you feel like your back in the field lying and covering things up. Darryl Gates is smiling down from heaven right now because you were trained well.

  15. Peace says:

    Reading all of the posts, It seems as though the DV parents are really disappointed in both the coach and principal. We as parents look to the professionals to be responsible for our children and yes they should be but when they are not responsible the parents have to take matters in their own hands. Parents I hope you are handling the situation appropriately. I honestly hope the DV students would not falsely accuse their coach or anyone else. If the coach did do this, believe me, he won’t have any peace but same for the students if they aren’t being truthful. DV Parents fight for your girls appropriately by contacting law enforcement and Social Services.
    The coach have rights and can take the proper steps necessary to defend himself. Good luck both sides!

  16. Concerned Parent says:

    Mr Bailey is now working in the Travis USD and displaying similar inappropriate behavior. In what manner did he leave Deer Valley USD?

  17. Tyaka Nykemia Mills says:

    I don’t think he should have been fired from Armijo high School. I never seen him mistreat ant of the team.

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