Counts Proud of Players for Speaking Their Minds

When Jean Counts was told her services as the Oakton High girls lacrosse head coach would , she was stunned.

Counts, of Oakton, had spent 14 years as the coach, and led her team to the AAA championship game five times, winning the title in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

"After the shock wore off, I thought, 'Something positive has to come out of this,'" Counts said.

And something positive did come. Not her job, , but a bonding and growth experience for her players as they defended their coach.

Immediately after Counts told her team at its banquet she would not be returning as head coach next season, the girls huddled together.

"We all canceled our plans and stayed there to come up with a plan," said Carly Palmucci, a co-captain and rising senior.

They knew they would try to meet with John Banbury, the Oakton High principal, and Pat Full, the director of student activities. But with the weekend and a day off for graduation blocking them from a possible meeting for four days, they had to do something in the meantime.  So they wrote up a petition.

With about 50 spaces for signatures on each page, and more than half the team filling up at least one page with signatures, Palmucci estimates the petition received nearly 1,000 signatures.

"We knew that was the only way to show how many people really care about Coach Counts," Palmucci said.

Then came the meeting.

The plan was for the varsity captains and a couple other of the girls who spoke well to meet with Banbury. When they were ready to meet, they had members of the varsity and junior varsity teams, along with a couple other students who wanted to help show support for Counts.

But they had no appointment and Banbury was not in his office. Instead, Full pulled them all into a classroom to have a dialogue that lasted about 90 minutes, said Jackie Rupp, a co-captain and rising senior.

Full laid out his concerns about keeping Counts on as head coach, players said. He questioned her dedication, pointing to earlier in the season when she had expressed a desire to resign but then took it back. Full also said he worried Counts' committment has gone downhill now that her six children are getting older, Palmucci said.

"That's probably the exact opposite of what she is. She's the most committed person I've ever met," Rupp said. "We'll have like three-hour practices, and she's thinking about our team day and night."

He also said he received parental complaints questioning her coaching techniques, specifically her reluctance to coaching on the field and instead relying on assistant coaches.

Then he asked the girls to respond to his concerns.

"Right when he opened up the discussion for us to talk, every single person raised their hand to say something," Palmucci said. "We just defended her on just about everything. I don't think anyone can really understand how much we learn in practices from Coach Counts until you've gone through one of our practices."

The girls felt not only good about the meeting, but also felt like they were heard, Rupp said. She said Full pulled the captains aside after the meeting to ask if they felt Counts would be good for the program in the long run.

"We told him, 'Without a doubt, she'd help the program,'" Rupp said. "We explained how she was such a great coach. He agreed with us and then said he'd talk to Banbury for us."

Full did not respond to an interview request for this article.

"You have these girls come together and make the decision to talk to adults about serious issues. There's a risk involved, uncertainty," Counts said. "They were speaking their mind and doing so in such an effective manner, from what I'm told. They grew up right then and there. They probably had no idea the kind of personal development they just went through."

But for the girls, it was a no-brainer.

"She's done so much for us, it's the least we could do for her," Rupp said.

The outpouring of support from parents, current and former players, and members of the community overwhelmed Counts, she said.

"The thing that was the most surprising and flattering were the people I didn't really know who supported me," Counts said. "Maybe they had a friend on the team and I was introduced to them, or other students at Oakton who knew of me or maybe I met them briefly. There were opposing coaches at the other schools who I received such kind emails from. It was a 'This Is Your Life' experience that I never would've expected. I guess it goes to show that you never know how one little extra kindness you show somebody will come back to you down the road."

Those supporters wrote emails to school officials, set up meetings with school officials, signed a petition, wrote on message boards and used social networking sites to draw more support.

"I'm not typically an emotional person, but when it got out I wouldn't be coaching anymore, I couldn't read a text or an email without tearing up because of the amazing support I received," Counts said.

Paul Regnier, a spokesperson for Fairfax County Public Schools, said copies of or information from emails sent to school officials about this issue would not be released without the filing of a Freedom of Information Act request. Oakton Patch is awaiting a response to the request.

Though just four days passed between Counts losing and regaining her job as the girls lacrosse head coach, the team formed a bond that will last much longer.

"It just brought us closer together," Palmucci said. "I just think we're going to come out stronger next season because of this and we're just going to prove to everyone that she's the right coach."