Jason O'Toole has been an employee of Cowley College for years, a member of the Arkansas City community, raised his children in Ark City, also attended Cowley as a Tiger Baseball player, has a wife employed at Cowley and one (1) of his sons playing on the 2022 National Runner-Up Baseball Team.
Jason has worked tirelessly on behalf of Cowley and in support of our many NJCAA Nationally Ranked Athletic Programs. In fact, he was recently tapped by NJCAA Region VI Executives to take on the NJCAA Region VI Assistant Women’s Director Role where he will also assist with NJCAA Division I softball, volleyball, and track and field committees."
However, Jason O'Toole was forced to resign (or he would be fired) by this former terminated Cowley President Randy Smith less than four (4) days after the post of his Region VI role (where Smith even praised O'Tool's success). Jason was instrumental in taking on the rath of Smith, putting his own job on the line to protect the Cowley Athletic Programs, staff, coaches and student athletes that were put into a very hostile and toxic work environment by Smith (confirmed by an email to the Cowley Board of Trustees recently by a group of employees).
Jason O'Toole's role as AD was to ensure he followed protocol when some student athlete's were upset (and their parents) of issues with coaches under his helm. These complaints were fielded by AD O'Toole and he did his due diligence, talking with players, coaches, staff, etc. When these players didn't like the review process and results, they went to Smith (and he completely ignored the findings and recommendations of AD O'Toole)
Student athletes, including those at Cowley competing at the elite NJCAA level have to be dedicated to their sport, sacrificing many extracurricular activities, put in unbelievable physical efforts into hours of daily practice while keeping up their academic eligibility and also, if not as importantly as the physical aspect of the sport, be mentored on the mental aspects needed in their sport to move to the next level of athletic prowess. Some of these players arrive at Cowley as "Big Fish" in a "Little Pond" where the entire success of their High School and sport centered almost soley around their abilities. Now they are competing with teammates comprised often of 10-30 or more student athletes, equally talented and sometimes even more skilled athletes than they are upon arrival at Cowley. Some rise to the challenge, others don't. Every coach has a player or two (2) that feels the need to complain while the majority of the other players performing the exact same drills, sacrifices, etc., know this is what it takes to be an elite athlete and while yes, very tough, they embrace the challenges. Sadly, Smith (not a coach or athlete to our knowledge) acted upon the complaints of a few upset student athletes/parents and as seems to be his style, made a "knee-jerk", emotion reaction. Smith has zero understanding of how the elite athelic programs run, work and yes, while it is mentally and physically challenging, these athletes were not being abused as they alluded they experienced.
Jason O'Toole was force to resign when he went to bat for his coaches and staff that report to him (and would have been fired otherwise). He listened to the complaints, did his investigative efforts, engaging the coaches, staff, other players, etc. and found no validation to these complaints (again, you want to win, you sacrifice so much at this level and you want to play at the next level, if you thought Cowley athletics was tough, OMG, the next NCAA/NAIA divisions are at another level).
Please reinstate Jason O'Toole IMMEDIATELY before we have mass exodus of incredibly stellar, dedicated Cowley coaches who give everything for their athletes and do so much more in support of the college and entire Ark City community, not to mention the continued development of their programs. They always go above and beyond for their student athletes. It has taken years of blood, sweat and tears by so many incredibly talented coaches, staff and student athletes to build up the winning programs that Cowley is now recognized nationally fjor, culminating in numerous decades of Cowley Athletic Programs at the top of the KJCCC, Region VI and often, not only making it to many NJCAA National Tournaments, but a large number of National Championship Titles (and placements in the top 10 so many other years) across both the Men and Women's Programs are proudly showcased in the Halls and at the William S. Scott Gymnasium.
Why is this important?
To ensure Cowley has an Athletic Director that will protect the coaches, student athletes and programs that Cowley has created that produce winning teams and enable our student athletes to be recruited by both top NCAA, NAIA and even professionals teams across the United States and Internationally, allowing their success athletically and academically.
How it will be delivered
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