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Bastrop / Girls Soccer / Sports / Top Stories
Mansfield suspended indefinitely from team
Friday, February 5, 2010
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Bastrop soccer star Gracy Mansfield was suspended indefinitely from the girls soccer team following Tuesday’s 4-1 loss at Westlake.
Junior Heather Greene was also suspended indefinitely.
No details about why Mansfield and Greene were suspended were available and head coach Angelia Watson and athletic director Gerald Perry declined comment on the situation.
Jeanie Mansfield, Gracy Mansfield’s mother, was in attendance Tuesday in Westlake and said she didn’t feel her daughter did anything wrong.
She said, her daughter simply walked off the field after the game was over and sat on the bench. She said she didn’t see or hear her daughter say anything.
“Gracy was doing everything a varsity player, I felt, should do for her team,” she said. “She’s been there for four years and has made a lot of changes in her attitude this season. She has been a team player.”
Gracy Mansfield was the Central Texas scoring champion in 2009 with 38 goals and was an All-Central Texas and All-Region IV selection and the All-Bastrop County Player of the Year.
She was also the reigning District 25-5A Offensive MVP and a 2010 Central Texas Player of the Year Candidate.
Mansfield is regarded by some Austin soccer pundits as one of the Top 10 girls soccer players in Central Texas.
After Tuesday’s game with Westlake, Mansfield was the third leading scorer in Central Texas and led the Lady Bears with 11 goals.
This is just flat out injustice. I was in attendance Tuesday night in Westlake and I didn’t see anything that caused for an indefinite suspension, let alone any form of suspension. If a player walking off the field frustrated causes for suspension, no one would be playing sports. It seems a bit much for a player in her senior season. Why would a coach do something like this that could potentially ruin her future?
I have been around Bastrop soccer for many years and Gracy Mansfield is one of the best players I have seen come through here in years. I hope this injustice is made right and Gracy can return to the team. A player like Gracy Mansfield doesn’t come around that often. You don’t suspend a player like Gracy, you embrace it!!!!!!!
the public never really knows what happens between players and coaches except for the people involved. this suspension, imho, is possibly a result of a history of problems. no one player comes before the team. what ever may have happened, the player probably deserved it. good players or not.. if they don’t follow team rules they get the boot! plain and simple.. sometimes its better to get rid of the bad apple before they ruin the bunch…
This is what I don’t understand, Bastrop was a winner with Gracy. She was a big part of that winning. BIG PART. What made her a “bad apple?” Does she have an attitude problem? If she does, then make her run or sit her on the bench for A GAME, not the season. That’s extremely harsh, especially to a senior who has given her coach four years. And if there is a history of problems, who is really to blame? A teenager who will act on emotions before thinking or a coach who allowed it to continue?
i was really stunned to hear about Gracy being suspended….the fact that the ad and girls coach both refused to comment looks suspicious to me….i realize there are usually at least two sides to every story (sometimes more) but i would really like to hear the coach’s justification for these suspensions and also what her background (if any) is in the soccer world….playing, coaching schools attended, etc.
Looks SUSPICIOUS to say the least. You all tell me…? Take Gracy, one of the team’s star players, who by the way happens to have received a full soccer (sports) scholarship and indefinitely suspend them from play their senior year……….???? Certainly leaves room for speculation as to the real reason behind this calamity!! Definition of calamity: An event that brings terrible loss, lasting distress or severe affliction; a disaster.
This is completely wrong to kick Gracy off of the team. The AD and/or Watson need to support their decision in some way. To say that team rules were broken is ludicrous and insane because when an action is taken like this, REAL reasons need to be given. Why? What happened and why was it allowed to get to a point that a GREAT player needs to be kicked off a team falls more back to the adults in-charge….. Your action has had an effect on not just a STAR player, but a team. You have now created a ‘black cloud’ which looms over Bastrop Soccer. Congrats! You really need to apologize to Gracy and re-instate her back on the team. Now!
It doesn’t matter why Watson doesn’t want to reveal why she removed Gracy from the team. Gracy is a great player, but she isn’t the best player on the team! She’s a great girl and a talented player, but really and truely, there is no I in team. The Lady Bears Soccer team plays together, wins together, and loses together, and not one player come before the team. Many people think that just because one player is great means they can’t be punished for numerous accounts of issues. That game was a train wreck. Words were said that shouldn’t have been. If you attended the game you would have heard yelling and fighting on the field, on thing that Watson does not tolerate. The attitude issue was an ongoing issue and it had been readjusted for the whole team, not just her. I am apart of the Lady Bear soccer program, and during practices and meetings and class times, we have tried over and over again to fix the team’s problems, and most have been fixed and readjusted. And look at how the team is doing now. Not tooo bad! You can tell just by the great scores and great games how the team has adjusted. She wasn’t THE player. Of course she was a very talented player, but she didn’t make up the team. And that’s where the public and Mr. Adams made their opinion. She couldn’t have done anything she accomplished without her team. Her and Heather will more than likely go further in their soccer career, no doubt about it. People make choices that they have to own up to, it’s life. And its only high school soccer.
BHS Soccer:
You are maybe right, Coach Watson does not have to tell anyone why she removed Gracy and Heather from the team, but who ever you are, you are saying it is for their attitude, and their behavior on the field at Westlake February 3rd was the final straw. So lets look at that game, in your words it was a “train wreck”. Where was the coach while the train wreck was happening ? You say she has tried to put all of your attitudes in check, but as I was there I did not see anyone that was yelling at each other sit the bench or sit the bench the next game: granted Gracy and Heather did not go to the next game but in your own words : “words were said that should not have”. The train wreck as you call it, was in Midfield and Defense, why could the coach not stop this at half time ? There were players on the bench that could have replaced any player on the field . But they continued to sit the bench, So was that not saying possibly and if not then why were only two players kicked off and NO ONE else punished for their behavior that night, seems someone was not going with your ” “The Lady Bear Soccer team plays together,wins together, and loses together” slogan.
And then you ask which is better 4-1 or 1-1, well maybe you should really ask your self what happened in the first game, you ALL fell apart, not one of you , but all of you. The second game, you played together. But you can not blame the first game on one or two players because you keep saying there is no “I” in team and that you all win and lose as a team. I find all this rather funny really. I have sat in the stands as a spectator with no child of my own on the team. And have been there all four years.
I have heard parents complain that Gracy was getting all the press. The parent’s called the Advertiser to tell them if there was a mistake written and their child was not recognized. I have heard them say why doesn’t gracy score when they were down a point. If she is so great why can’t she score. I’ve heard parents trash talk other players on the field for not performing the way they thought they should. I have heard parent’s call obscenities out and racial slurs to the refs and opposing team players. Parent’s calling other parent’s telling them things about other players on the team. I’ve heard from parent’s how there child was not invited to a “team dinner” or a “team” sleep over. I have heard over and over each game night the parents complaining about Coach Watson, , why is my child sitting on the bench, if she doesn’t play tonight I’m not letting her play on this team. Why does she not change the formation ? so many why, why, why ?
I believe Jacob Freeman hits it on the nail : It is the green eyed monster that is fueling this banter back and forth. And it is not just of the other team mates but their parent’s.
One of the team mates writes: ” ;lkadsdf;alsdfkj “: So Michael Adams, maybe in the future you can learn to give every player on the team recognition because without each player on this team, nothing would be accomplished. Well, could Gracy score those goals on her own? Not at all. She got assists from almost every player on the team. I’m pretty sure that if Coach Watson had placed someone else in that position all season long, that person could have gotten a high amount of goals as well : BUT AS YOU SAY SHE WAS NOT ALONE UP THERE AND SHE ASSISTED MANY A GOAL FOR HER TEAM MATES.
If anyone follows Twitter the parent’s were on there too.
What did Michael Adams say about Gracy when he interviewed her last year:
“I never felt Mansfield was arrogant about her accomplishments when talking to her about them.
Maybe proud, but not arrogant. People have a tendency to confuse pride and arrogance.
As a matter of fact, when I interviewed her for the Bastrop County Player of the Year story I did on her last year, the first thing she said was, “I couldn’t have done it without my teammates.”
Seems to me that this team is trying real hard to save face and be this win as a team lose as a team . And in reality the green eyed monster is really lurking close by.
1.) I never said we didn’t fall apart on the field that night, I know we did. I was there, I was in the game, I know.
2.) Of course parents are going to complain about their kids not being in the paper, but you have to notice that Mr. Adams does play the favorite card when he writes his articles. He may put other teammates’ names in the paper, but he has one main focus for each sport.
3.) When I talk about the attitude situation, I’m talking about the attitude situation for the WHOLE year. Pre season and during season. At the beginning of the year we were snotty to each other and just plain rude. It has improved and punishments were made for a more than a few players who failed to improve their’s. That game really was the last straw.
4.) I’m positive that everyone on the team is invited to team dinners and meetings and get togethers. For one, the captain makes an announcement in the locker room about them. Then there is a text message or a phone call sent to every player reminding them. Then its talked about for the whole week because everyone is so excited about them because we love having them. So no one was left out by choice.
5.) Coach was there during the ‘train wreck’. She instructed us during the game, at halftime, and after the game. Coach Watson is a woman who you don’t have to hear instruction, you just have to look at her face. Her face or the way she is standing or sitting says it all. We know our coach very well to know what and what not to do. Coach Watson isn’t the kind to just sit around and let everything happen. She leads it all, nobody else.
6.) Gracy Mansfield and Heather Greene are very talented players. They have great skill and are much more advanced than a lot of other players in our district, so I’m not at all saying that they aren’t good players, they’re great players.
7.) The public just needs to get over with it all. The only people that really know anything about the team at all, are the players on it and the coach. Once you spend a season on our field, in our locker room, or in our classroom, you’ll know how the team really is. But until then, nobody can really make accusations about the team or the coach, because nobody really knows us.
Has anyone that reads these post been able to connect the dots in regards to BHS soccer and BHS parent? It sounds like they might be using the same computer. Now this is a real stretch, but it ALMOST sounds like there may be some unresolved jealousy,hate, envy,etc. Did that Mansfield kid steal some limelight? Did she steal some playing time? Did she gain too many accolades/awards? She was, by your own admission, in the Advertiser way too much for your taste. That is a downright pathetic for you write about a former teammate in such a manner. You should really be ashamed of yourself , but that word may not be in your vocabulary.
BHS soccer says:
March 2, 2010 at 6:03 pm-’Gracy is a great player, but she isn’t the best player on the team! She’s a great girl and a talented player, but really and truely, there is no I in team.’
You never should have come onto this public format and imply that there is no “I” in team and that (Mansfield) was somehow above the team. Those are hurtful comments that should never come from a teammate.
Your last line,#7 states that” The public just needs to get over with it all.” That is comical beyond words! Why are YOU still writing about it a month later?
1.) There is no jealousy, hate, or envy coming from me.
2.) I am also in no relation what so ever to BHS parent. My parents could give two cents less about this.
3.) I came here to put my opinion on here and people respond to my comments, so why not respond to their’s.
4.) I don’t think any player should be in the paper more than any other. One, its not fair. Two, its ridiculous to have to repeat the same things about a player over and over again.
5.) I don’t see me writing in any bad manner towards her. I haven’t said one bad thing about her. I agreed that rules were broken and attitudes were bad. I said she couldn’t have done anything without her team and if she didn’t have the people she had behind her, she couldn’t have done half the things she has. If you read in ALL of my comments I say that she is a great player and a good person.