Players, parents urge board to retain Lakeville North girls hockey coach ahead of season

Dozens of Lakeville North girls hockey players, parents and supporters told the Lakeville Area Schools Board of Education on Oct. 14 they want the district to keep longtime head coach Buck Kacheever in place as the program prepares for the season.

Supporters, several of them students and captains, said the coach has built a stable team culture over decades and that removing him weeks before tryouts would disrupt players’ preparation. “These players deserve to not have their season disrupted by a last minute coaching change,” said Steve Nolander, who spoke on behalf of supporters. Several speakers described emotional impacts on players since the coaching controversy became public.

Why it matters: Lakeville North’s varsity girls hockey program is days from tryouts and weeks from the first game. Players and parents argued a coaching change at this point would affect competitive preparation and team morale. The matter was raised during the public-comment portion of the board’s Oct. 14 meeting; the board did not take action on the coaching personnel question that night.

What speakers said and who spoke: Parents and students delivered sequential statements and requested the board consider the team’s perspective. Mike Pedersen, a parent of two Lakeville North players, described the emotional toll on his daughters after news of the removal emerged and said, “To remove a coach right before the season starts is ridiculous unless there is something really egregious.” Jeff Sinclair, identifying himself as a parent and longtime program supporter, told the board varsity coaches must make hard personnel decisions but asked leaders not to lose coaches who have committed decades to the program. Several student captains spoke directly: Carla Hanson said, “If our coach was removed, it won’t just be a change in leadership — it’ll break the bond that made this team what it is.” Sydney Pedersen described the removal as “devastating” and said the coach had become a mentor.

District response and board role: The public-comment period is explicitly not a time for board deliberation; the board did not announce any personnel action or timeline for a decision during the meeting. Board members listened to public statements and later continued with agenda business. The transcript shows no board vote or staff report on the coach’s personnel status during the Oct. 14 meeting.

Background details: Speakers repeatedly said tryouts and the season were imminent: the board transcript records the district’s season timeline with tryouts scheduled in late October and the first game in early November. Speakers identified the head coach as having coached the program for more than 20 years; one student said he had been head coach since the 2005–06 season and has coached “for over 30 years.” Those tenure claims reflect speakers’ statements in public comment; the board did not confirm employment status at the meeting.

What’s next: The board did not take formal action on this item during the Oct. 14 meeting. Any personnel decision about a coach would be part of the district’s personnel and human-resources process and, if made, would typically be communicated by the superintendent’s office or in a subsequent meeting.