Tam High Tennis

As parents of current or former Tamalpais High School tennis team members, and as Tam tennis team athletes, we present this Petition regarding the recent dismissal of Head Coach William Washauer. We begin by noting Coach Washauer’s 14 years of dedicated service to Tam and specifically to the Tam tennis athletes and community. Over that period, Coach Washauer’s teams have obtained winning records that rival the best teams in Northern California, with numerous MCAL and North Coast Section Championships, most recently with the girls team that just finished its season on November 22, 2019 in the quarterfinals of CIF Norcals. Off the court, Tam’s tennis players have earned academic honors such as NCS Scholar Athlete certificates and admissions to top colleges (Harvard, Cornell, Dartmouth, UC Berkeley, UCLA, etc.). The 2019 girls team had a cumulative unweighted GPA of 3.62. With those records of achievement, we do not understand how the Tamalpais Union High School District could decide to proceed in a different direction at all, let alone without receiving any input whatsoever from those most affected by the decision, and without any opportunity for Coach Washauer to address any possible bases for dismissal.

For this reason, we respectfully request that the Tam District afford a chance for the parent and athlete community to provide more information regarding Coach Washauer. We anticipate that some parents and athletes may have criticisms of Coach Washauer, and those views should also be received. We believe, however, that the District will far more predominantly hear confirmations of Coach Washauer’s strong player support and technique development skills, his team-bonding methods, and his character building processes that have led to so much team and individual success.

With the understanding that the District representatives would truly consider such information, we submit that the District and the Tam community in general would profit from a more inclusive decision-making process. Even if the District does not reconsider its decision regarding Coach Washauer, the District and the community will benefit from receiving more highly qualified coach applications, when applicants know that they will not be terminated after 14 championship-level seasons without any stated reason and absent feedback from the parents, athletes or the coach.

Current and potential coaches willing to dedicate countless hours to the Tam athletes and programs deserve at least that much respect. Students willing to commit their time and hard work to a program should know that the program’s success will not be interrupted without their involvement.

We understand that the District has said that it will not comment on personnel matters. However, our request for a more inclusive decision method is about ensuring a fair and effective process for coach retention or termination that serves all constituents. We ask that you allow the Tam community to express its views about Coach Washauer and the program that he developed, and that you agree to listen to those voices. We look forward to learning that the District is open to learning of our views, and we can then mutually determine the best method for the District to receive them.