Commissioner Adam LoweCLEVELAND, Tenn. -- Coaches should not be cursing around young Bradley County athletes, County Commissioner J. Adam Lowe said Monday.
"I have had more than a dozen phone calls from parents," Lowe told fellow commissioners, "specifically about coaches who coach children on our football teams. One call is hearsay. Two calls are suspect. Twelve calls are evidentiary."
Callers have complained about coaches in county recreation leagues, not school coaches, he said.
Lowe said he will ask the county's recreation board to consider some kind of anti-profanity policy.
"Within that policy I would like for us to have a system of dismissal in place for violating that policy a number of times," Lowe said.
A former high school athlete himself, Lowe said the coaches who became his own role models were those who avoided such language.
"I understand it's football, and it's sports," Lowe said. "But 7- and 8-year-old football is too early for that."
Commissioner Terry Caywood, a former school principal and coach, agreed.
Children are sent to the principal's office for that kind of language, he said. Adults should not be using profanity around children, he said.
"It is a contradiction when a role model uses that kind of language," Caywood said. "There are ways to express yourself without using language we would punish the kids for using."
Contact staff writer Randall Higgins at rhiggins@timesfreepress.com or 423-314-1029.