By Staci DaSilva
sdasilva@kcautv.com
To get that coveted 'W' on the football fields on Friday nights, it takes discipline. But how far is too far when it comes to a coach's punishment? We talked to one local team to find out.
For the Remsen Union High School football players, it's a clear-cut system when it comes to what happens to them if they break the rules.
For most mistakes, like being late to practice, it's sit ups and push ups.
Remsen Union Quarterback Cam Kuchel said, "It's in front of your teammates. You're embarrassing yourself by showing up late and then having to do the push ups and sit ups is doing extra work for yourself after having a hard practice already."
An extra workout, yes, but nothing too exhausting or degrading. You see, conditioning as punishment is common practice on the gridiron.
But some think it went too far when a Des Moines High School football player says his coach, Tom Mihalovich forced him to run an entire practice and then dismissed him from the team when he couldn't run any farther. All because the athlete wrote something derogatory about the varsity team on Twitter.
The student has since transferred schools.
Remsen Union Head Football Coach Colin Youde said, "For me personally and for our kids, I don't think that's the right way to handle it. I believe as a coach, it's not my job to take care of social media."
Remsen Union Linebacker Austin Felts said, "There's a difference between actually making him run to a point where he's actually learning a lesson than to the point where it's actually hurting him."
But in Des Moines, supporters are speaking out in defense of Coach Mihalovich, who's been suspended.
Mihalovich's former player Casey Linn said, "He's a great coach. He had the drive and he pushed us hard but I never saw him do anything unfair."
Even so, this case could change how teams operate all over the state.
The Iowa Department of Education is now saying that running or extra conditioning could be considered "corporal punishment" under state law.
