Youth Sport: Parent druged kid's opponents (tennis)

[Mr Epee]

Father convicted of drugging kids' tennis foes

MONT-DE-MARSAN, France -- A father who drugged his children's tennis opponents, leading to a player's death, was sentenced to eight years in prison after being convicted Thursday.

Christophe Fauviau had confessed to the crime during his trial in Mont-de-Marsan in southwestern France.

The former military pilot was accused of spiking the water bottles of his children's opponents 27 times in tournaments across France from 2000 to 2003, using the anti-anxiety drug Temesta, which can cause drowsiness.

Prosecutor Serge Mackowiack had asked for a sentence of eight to 10 years in prison -- below the 20-year maximum for the charge of unintentionally causing death by administering toxic substances.

In asking for the lighter sentence, Mackowiack said Fauviau had been a good soldier and said he did not seek to kill or injure the players.

Still, the prosecutor described Fauviau as "an adult who turned his children into objects of his own fantasies of success" and whose actions were premeditated.

"Nothing stopped you: Players collapsing on the court, the sight of gurneys, of an 11-year-old girl, a young woman who collapses against a fence. Nothing stopped you," Mackowiack said.

Fauviau's 16-year-old daughter, Valentine, is a rising star in French tennis.

In tearful earlier testimony, Fauviau asked the parents of the victim, 25-year-old Alexandre Lagardere, for forgiveness.

"It's something that completely took me over, and I couldn't imagine that I could be responsible for the death of your son," he told the court last week. "I never wanted things to come out like this."

Opponents of Fauviau's daughter and son, Maxime, complained to investigators of suffering weakness, dizziness, nausea or fainting. Several were hospitalized.

In July 2003, Maxime Fauviau defeated Lagardere, who complained of fatigue after the match and slept for two hours. While driving home, Lagardere crashed his car and died, and police believe he fell asleep at the wheel.

Toxicology tests showed traces of Temesta in his system.

Fauviau, a former helicopter pilot instructor for the French army, has been in custody since his arrest in August 2003.

[D'Art]

I read about that earlier today, actually (you gotta love the "study time" you get at Uni), and it struck me how sad things can be when someone feels that they have to do this sort of thing to help their off-spring acheive success.

The parents of the poor kid who got killed must still be seething at such a seemingly light sentence.

[RITFencing]

Wow, little league/gymnastics parents, eat your hearts out. That's just sad. Was there ever a time when the kids could just go out and play their freaking games?

[Purple Fencer]

Originally Posted by RITFencing

Wow, little league/gymnastics parents, eat your hearts out. That's just sad. Was there ever a time when the kids could just go out and play their freaking games?

Not since big money got involved....Wasn't it Steffi Graf who had to get arestraining order against her own father for behavior along these lines??

[RITFencing]

I didn't hear about that. However, even without big money, this sort of thing continues to happen. Don't believe me? Go to a little league game. Or to JOs or a cadet/junior NAC, or any other sort of competition where kids are involved. Some of those parents just get vicious.

[darius]

Or to JOs or a cadet/junior NAC, or any other sort of competition where kids are involved. Some of those parents just get vicious.

Fencing parents are downright civil compared to soccer parents. Especially in the last few years, where refs have been encouraged to actively shape up their behavior.

darius

[Epee Scherma]

Holy crap. That despicable bastard. If I saw that father, I would tear him a new a**hole. I am so angered by that! His daughter must feel the ultimate of disgraces, and she sadly had no part of his actions.

[mlr2fence]

Unfortunately fencing also has its share of 'soccer moms and dads'. Just go to youth tournaments, and especially NAC/Nationals where points can be earned. Its a real eye-opener to see some parents yelling at kids because they lost, kids crying because they don't get the 'prize' their parents bribe them with to encourage winning; bragging how many hours/days per week their 10 year old trains, etc. Its sickening to see what lengths parents with visions of gold will go to! Fortunately, these parents seem to be in the minority. Funny tho, its seems in many cases, the parents that push the hardest seem to be low achievers themselves.

[Captain Hook]

yeah it's quite a bit of news

It raises a lot of issues from modern parenting to child abuse and the social influence of success and failure in sport and life etc ect

Parents are entitled to be involved in recreational aspects of their childrens lives and many are in a very encouraging manner.

however some parents for psychological reasons of their own are nothing but emotional hazards to their children and seem to have no awareness of this

In the shortish period i've fenced i've seen many 'pushy parents' and they never fail to scare the hell out of me

As a ref at a tournament last week I witnessed a father moving up close to his son during his DE bout and distracting him by taking photo's.

I quickly stopped the bout and had a quiet word with him but being well under half this guys age I found it an unpleasant experience

i've seen parents get sulky at waist height kids for 'not performing'

i've heard parents openly brag about how easily their child will win the bout they are watching with no respect for the opposite fencer or relations of them.

i've even had a teenager crying as she told me how she never really wanted to fence even though her parents drove her to 4 clubs a week for 3 years which was pretty upsetting

Parents have massive influence over young people involved in the sport, but with younger fencers being in a vulnerable positon, this influence can be very damaging no matter how well meant it is.

I think fencers, coaches and organisers (especially) at a local level in all nations should keep a protective eye on younger fencers, as some parents simply cannot be trusted to do so themselves.

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

Theres a lot of money/time wasted on kids who don't want to fence/win all that bad. If only the ones who really wanted it would get that kind of attention. So it goes.

[RebelFencer]

Now we know how DFP manages to win!

[Spike327]

This is, in a word, awesome.

The next time I pull a tough DE somebody is getting a roofie-colada.

Seriously, though, why didn't the guy get more jail time? And you sort of have to wonder if his kids had any idea... if everyone I fenced got sick afterwards I'd probably pick up on it (or just assume it was because my fencing is so ugly). It'd probably be devastating on their self-esteem if they only found out after their dad got caught.

[jjefferies]

Originally Posted by mlr2fence

Unfortunately fencing also has its share of 'soccer moms and dads'. Just go to youth tournaments, and especially NAC/Nationals where points can be earned. Its a real eye-opener to see some parents yelling at kids because they lost, kids crying because they don't get the 'prize' their parents bribe them with to encourage winning; bragging how many hours/days per week their 10 year old trains, etc. Its sickening to see what lengths parents with visions of gold will go to! Fortunately, these parents seem to be in the minority. Funny tho, its seems in many cases, the parents that push the hardest seem to be low achievers themselves.

I remember one NAC where a fencing mom screamed "That's my son that won" so loudly I'm sure you could hear it in all the corners. If I were her son, I would have crawled into the deepest darkest hole I could find and never gone near a foil again.

[cs3dswb]

8 years for manslaughter !!
8 years for manslaughter !!
8 years for manslaughter !!
8 years for manslaughter !!
8 years for manslaughter !!

Sorry about that but ... WTF

Seriously if your drink driving an you kill someone you get more time for that and thats just stupid behaviour. Actually willfully drugging people is intent, just because it wasnt intent to kill doesn't mean it should be forgotten.

Oh yeah he's a nice bloke really im sure he just happens to get a little bit in the mood for drugging people when it looks like his kids might lose. Put him in prison until he's learnt a lesson ( 8 years isn't long enough for the teacher to hit him enough on the head so that he CAN learn a lesson )

Its ridiculous.

[cs3dswb]

8 years really doesnt seem like long enough for causing the death of someones kid. Accident yes i can see that as a mistake. but this guy drugged him wiht intent to make him sleepy and he didnt even think to tell the guy not to drive home it mightn't be safe. He knew what would happen he deserves longer

[keropie]

I would expect the difficulty would lie in proving beyond a reasonable doubt (on this side of the pond, at least) that the drugging caused the accident. I don't expect any of us have any doubts that it contributed to it, but that definitely alters the texture of the case, if nothing else. Additionally, none of us are privy to the full facts of the case or the additionaly information. Though I do agree, eight years does seem a bit light. I would have thought that they'd be looking more at the twenty, and then letting him out in 12ish (good behavior, or whatever).

Either way, I hope the NGB's and IGB for tennis bans him for life. No watching, no coaching, etc.

[cs3dswb]

No speaking to any other tennis players ever again in his life..yeah that might be a bit better

[RoninX]

Note to self... be sure to outfit children with puncture proof nalgene bottles...

Second note to self... be sure my drug administering needle is heavy gauge enough to puncture the nalgene bottles of others likely to take similar action after reading this story...

[Dax]

Originally Posted by RebelFencer

Now we know how DFP manages to win!

Come to think of it, I did feel a little drowsy when I fenced that DE against him at that last tournament. =P

[Fencergrl]

His mother's love and affection....