Silver Bluff soccer players, boosters rally for former coach
Mar. 24—NEW ELLENTON — Soccer season is underway at local high schools, but at least one school has hit major turbulence off the field and is adapting to a major shift in leadership. Pat Casper, a Jackson resident, was terminated from his job as head coach of Silver Bluff High School's boys soccer program, in the wake of a Feb.
26 hands-on confrontation with a school employee, involving a workout that took place indoors due to weather. Dozens of Casper boosters were part of a March 23 gathering at JDubbz restaurant, on the northern edge of New Ellenton, with the evening's activities including distribution of "Stand With Coach Pat" T-shirts. A portion of the Feb.
26 clash, which reportedly involved a school custodian's complaints of students leaving a door unlocked, was captured on video. "I don't regret any of that," Casper said. "I told him...
'I'm not going to hit you, but if you put your hands on these kids again, you're going to have to deal with me,' and I meant it," Casper said. "I'm not looking for trouble, but I'm not going to let a grown man touch a kid. " Among students at the JDubbz event was J.
J. Brittain, a senior in the soccer program. The main reason for the gathering was "to show the community that we care for Coach Pat, because he's an important part of our lives," he said.