I strongly disagree with a recent letter from Ms Morrison that, in my opinion, undervalues the importance of community service/interaction as a qualification for serving public office.
While the other qualifications listed in her letter are certainly equally important, the importance and significance of someone having coached kids’ soccer, especially over multiple years, is that it demonstrates one’s experience in dealing directly with residents who may not have been of one’s own choosing, who may have a vastly different socio-economic, educational, or cultural background (depending on the league one is coaching).
While coaching kids’ sports alone should not be qualification, the experience is certainly one of the ways to demonstrate one’s ability to serve public office and is a meaningful skill to me.
Greer Tan Swiston
West Newton
