BREAKING: Lumpkin girls basketball coach David Dowse resigns

Dowse resigns from Lumpkin County as Lady Indians are 2-0 and ranked #1 in the state…

November 21, 2021

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As of Sunday evening, sources indicated that David Dowse, head coach of the Lumpkin County Lady Indians basketball team, has resigned, effective immediately. The shocking news comes after a win yesterday for the #1-ranked Lady Indians, as they moved to 2-0 on the young season.

Dowse led Lumpkin County to a region championship, 25 wins, #1 state ranking, and a Final Four appearance in 2020-21, and over his time since 2017-18, has turned the Lady Indians into a force. Dowse has gone 68-40 in 4-plus seasons over the Lady Indians. That includes state playoff trips in each of the past 2 seasons, and now 4 straight seasons of holding a state ranking.

Dowse’s statement is below, and Lumpkin County principal Billy Kirk told BLITZ that the team, after a meeting with parents and players, had a great practice in preparation for playing Buford on Monday at Jefferson in a heavyweight bout. According to Kirk, the team played hard in practice for an hour and half and had a great practice. Lumpkin County has a plan in place to get through this week, and an announcement of who will handle head coaching duties will come early next week.

COACH DOWSE’S ANNOUNCEMENT

Dowse provided the following statement given to Lumpkin County:

” At 4:30 this afternoon, I officially resigned my position as head coach of the Lumpkin WBB program. The decision came after some soul searching and prayer and was 100% my decision. I was in no way, shape, or form influenced or coerced by anyone affiliated with the Lumpkin County School System.

I’m sure that most will never understand how I could walk away from the #1 ranked team in GA…a young and talented group. For me, the answer lies in the fact that TEAM success is irrelevant and unrewarding if accomplished without the right core values. The things that I hold dear and those which, in my mind, make coaching team sports special have deteriorated to the point where I can no longer justify the time and effort and frustrations of “fighting the good fight.”
For me, the concept of TEAM > me is simply non-negotiable. When that message is met with resistance on multiple levels, effective leadership is no longer feasible. And so I’ve chosen to walk away.”

7 responses to “BREAKING: Lumpkin girls basketball coach David Dowse resigns”

Michele Broadwell

November 21, 2021 at 7:43 pm

You might want to check your records and see that Lumpkin girls were a powerhouse under Scott Hallam in the late 80s and 90s.

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1. blitzsportsga
  
  November 21, 2021 at 7:56 pm
  
  That’s what you get from this??? It is implied, and well-documented that in recent time (25 years or more) that Dowse came in and made this program what it is now. Nowhere did I write that the program never had success before. But no one can deny that for over 2 decades there wasn’t much success for the teams until he came
  
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  1. Michele
    
    November 22, 2021 at 9:27 am
    
    No it wasn’t the only thing I got. Now that you have his comments it’s very frustrating to me to see good coaches hanging things up because of selfishness and mostly that comes from parents. It stinks to lose the good ones. Where have the days of respecting your coaches and working together for one goal gone. Sorry if I sounded rude in my first text. Thanks for keeping us updated.
    
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Ryan Brown

November 22, 2021 at 2:43 pm

This is what lumpkin sports have done over the years, but running off good coaches. It’s sad and it’s why the surrounding schools such as, Dawson, white, ECT kills us in most sports. What counties “ mama and daddy ball“ Has to stop and the administration needs to grow a backbone. I’ve seen this over the last few years and it’s sickening. It’s time for people of Lumpkin County in a ministration county wake up.

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Bill Lehmkuhl

November 22, 2021 at 6:00 pm

Totally agree with Coach. If core principles are not accepted then coach did right with resigning. Trust me, a quality school will pick him up.

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Desmond Lowery

November 23, 2021 at 7:14 am

Lol I find this funny. “
This is what’s wrong with the world athletes now days can’t take hard coaching.
Parents now days want to play momma ball & daddy ball.
Let’s see how this holds up when it’s time for these girls to attend college. Lol lots of parents will be mad then when their kid isn’t playing or getting cursed out.
“ can’t run nothing then 😂.

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Bri Anglin

November 23, 2021 at 3:29 pm

Sad to see a talented coach leave because of players and parents that are so selfish with the “me” over “we” attitude. Kudos to Coach for holding firm in his values and not wavering.

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