‘Conflict with parents’ drives girls' basketball coach Tony Vis out at Kennedy

CEDAR RAPIDS — For Tony Vis, the last straw came Jan. 20, after a loss to Dike-New Hartford.

'One of the parents got nose-to-nose with me,' he recalled Wednesday, confirming his resignation as girls' basketball coach at Cedar Rapids Kennedy. 'I'm getting to that point, I've been at it long enough, it's not something I'm going to deal with.'

At that point, Vis submitted his resignation, effective the end of the season. That came Tuesday night, when the Cougars lost to Johnston in a Class 5A regional final.

Vis, 47, exits after a six-year run at Kennedy that netted an 82-57 record. He led the Cougars to the state tournament in 2014.

'Just a lot of stuff, conflict with parents,' he said. 'I'm too old, been in the business too long.'

Vis came to Kennedy after coaching stints at Walnut Ridge Baptist, Hudson, Audubon and Harlan. His career mark is 341-170.

'I'd call it an up-and-down six years here,' he said. 'There were some good moments. I enjoyed coaching a lot of kids. But as I got to the last couple years, there was less and less enjoyment.'

Kennedy was 11-12 this season and will lose two starters (Hailey Dolphin and Olivia Hellweg) to graduation. Dolphin is the 2018 all-Metro player of the year.

Returners for 2018-19 include current juniors Auddie Alepra and Madison Friauf and sophomore Sadie Powell.

Vis' daughter, Ashley, also is a junior. Tony said he intends to continue as a social-studies teacher, 'but maybe not here.'

As for coaching ...

'I wouldn't be surprised if I'm on a bench somewhere next year,' he said. 'But it also wouldn't be a shock if I'm in the crowd as a fan.'

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