San Antonio Classic's Volleyball - Ms Donna Goodwyn San Antonio Classic's Volleyball - Lone Star Volleyball Association Refusal of refund. Non response to mail or complaint. Disrespect to children and parents. San Antonio Texas

To Whom It May Concern:
My daughter, tried out for and was selected as a member of the San Antonio Classics club volleyball team in August of 2008. Following this, she participated in all of the required practices and meetings as requested. All required monthly payments were made according to the payment schedule agreed upon at the time we signed a contract with San Antonio Classics. The club fee was $1850.00.

At the time of the first scheduled tournament, Sunday Fun #1, on January 11, 2009, she received very little playing time which was a surprise to us because we had heard nothing but good comments from her coaches.
I sent Donna Goodwyn an email asking her if she would allow our daughter to work with the special coaches that were working with the setters and the hitters. Even though our daughter wasn't playing those positions, I thought it might be helpful for her to build skills in those areas.

On January 16, 2009, Team Director, Donna Goodwyn, contacted my husband, by telephone at our residence with tournament and uniform instructions. Donna went on to explain that the girls would need to step up their play. Donna continued to say that the girls would have to be taken out of the game even if one mistake was made.

Hearing this and knowing that our daughter would be pulled if she was not on her A game, I took my daughter to two clinics to work on her back row skills. She worked really hard and she even improved her serving ability. She mentioned this to one of the coaches, Coach Tammy.

However, on the first day of the MLK tournament, our daughter was never even given the chance to play in the first games, even though several other girls on the team continually made mistake after mistake and the team lost points and sets. By this time, my daughter was really frustrated, angry and upset that she was the only one who hadn't had a chance to play. Not only was she upset but we were upset too because we had been sitting there all day and she hadn't touched the floor once.
Before the last game of the day, I went up to Donna and asked her why she hadn't played. Was it because she was punishing her for something? At that point, my daughter walked up and told her she had improved that she had gone to two extra practices outside of the club and she wasn't even given a chance to show her what she had accomplished. I said, if you don't have any intentions of playing her, then just say so, because we're sitting here wasting the whole day. We will just leave. Seeing our daughter in tears, she turned to me and said, See you're making her cry. Of course, you're going to get a chance to play. We're gonna put you in the next game.

At that point, our daughter and I walked away to decide whether or not she wanted to stay and play. She decided to stick it out, and as we suspected, she put our daughter in at the very last moment. Our daughter had been going in for the coach's daughter, and when it came time for our daughter to go in, her daughter called out to her mom asking if she could stay in longer to which her mother agreed and kept our daughter out another rotation. By the time she got a chance to play, she had been standing on the sidelines ALL day long. She was terrified that if she didn't do well she would be pulled out.

After the loss, the coach spoke to them in the huddle. She said, and our daughter, if your mom wants to talk to me, she can talk to me after the tournament! When the huddle broke, she pulled our daughter aside and told her she did really good and that it wasn't her fault that they lost.

At the second day of the MLK tournament, we had invited family to come watch our daughter play. We thought that maybe, just maybe, she played well enough to get a few minutes at the next game.

As the day progressed it was looking as though Donna was not going to put her in. I could see the disappointment and anger in our daughter's eyes. From the sidelines we began to cheer for her to lift her spirits and to give her something to smile for. We and our friends began cheering for the benchwarmers. I told her how good she looked in that uniform.

After the game, we were ready to quit the team. I walked up to the coach and asked her why she wasn't given a chance to play. She told me, I told you people not to talk to me after the games. She continued with packing her things away. My husband then spoke up and said, Well, you've made it clear, you're not going to play Kelsey, so we will send you a letter stating what we feel we owe for the practice time and coaches, games played, and what we are due. You have our mailing address. Put the sweat suit in the mail to us. She walked up to my husband and said, If you don't pay, I'll sue your a*s! She said this in front of me, my husband, Coach Tammy and everyone else including players that were standing within ear shot. She even said, You know it doesn't help when you all are cheering for the benchwarmers from the stands! She turned her back on us and walked away.

I wanted answers. I asked Coach Tammy was our daughter really so bad that she deserved to be the only one on the team that did not get a chance to play. She said, Another player didn't get a chance to play. I said, another player got injured and left. She said, Another player wasn't that hurt. She could have played. If you ask me, she was more upset about her playing time. She asked me if she thought that our daughter could have played against the teams they played that day. I told her I thought she should have at least been given a chance. She said, No, our daughter isn't a bad player, she just needs to continue going to practice and get better. I asked her if that was even possible because I didn't want to spend all that money to go to Houston and Dallas and have her stand on the sidelines for 2 days. It's not fair to her and it's not fair to us.

I truly believe that the team is playing as individuals. The more that they continue not to play everyone, the worse it gets. Standing on the side lines, our daughter is losing confidence and it is crushing her spirit. The other girls don't talk to her and don't want to practice with her because the coaches have created an atmosphere of only the best play. How do you think this makes her feel? Any one of our daughter's teachers, coaches and friends can tell you what a hardworking, fun and great young girl she is. Our daughter is the one that befriends the girl that gets left out.

Coach Tammy even admitted to me that she had told Donna that the girls need to spend time together.
On the morning of January 19, 2009, we received a phone call from Coach Tammy giving us information on where and when the day's tournament would be played. We did not attend.

On January 22, 2009, we received an email from Janell Peterson requesting final payment of $175.00. Other than those two communications, we did not receive a telephone call or communications from the coaches, director, or anyone related to the team.
On January 26th we sent a certified letter to the San Antonio Classics to request a copy of our contract with the team.
The United States Postal Service confirmed they received our request for a copy of all contracts pertaining to San Antonio Classics 15's.
This is the receipt I have received from the Postal Service:
Label/Receipt Number: 7008 1300 0000 3741 5391
Status: Delivered

Your item was delivered at 3:52 PM on January 26, 2009 in SAN ANTONIO, TX 78224.
On March 3, 2009 we received an email from Janell Peterson with information about practice and bringing gift treats for the recreation center as well as an announcement regarding a mandatory parent meeting on March 8th. We did not attend.
On March 5, 2009, I sent a second request by email to Janelle Peterson of the San Antonio Classics requesting a copy of the contract. Her response was, When you signed the contract at tryouts you were given a copy of the contract agreement in your packet. Please disregard the statement I sent you for the $175.
This is not true. I responded by asking her to please send me a copy as we did not get a signed copy of the actual contract. As of this day, March 10, 2009, we have not received a copy of the contract nor have we received the sweat suit that was promised at the time we joined the club.

I have also been told that Donna and the San Antonio Classics have picked up another player, by the name of name omitted. I believe that this person is taking the place left vacant by my daughter on the team. If that is the case, then I believe we are rightfully due a refund of the fees we paid to the Classics. It would be unfair for them to take money from us to allow another girl to play for free.

It is my opinion that Donna will do what she wants with this team regardless of whether or not it is in the best interest of the girls or the team. The girls that come to practice every time are not rewarded for their hard work. She continues to play girls that are performing poorly, who don't show up for practices and who don't take practices seriously and refuses to give Kelsey a chance. I was not going to allow Donna to continue to treat my daughter like she had been. It is not healthy for her to feel like she is insignificant. I am outraged that this incident has left my daughter with no desire to continue playing volleyball either within the club program or outside in other leagues.

This is not what we paid for. We paid a lot of money for her to play for this team. Not only did she not benefit from this experience, she came out of it in a worse emotional state than when she began. The way Donna and Tammy treat these girls is unacceptable.

I urge you to, please, keep this from happening to other girls.

Buckinsa
San Antonio, Texas
U.S.A.