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Former coaches who have been ousted from the district in the past year and a half have taken issue with a small group of parents that allegedly are going over the coaches’ heads to district officials with complaints, according to multiple reports.
In total, seven longtime varsity coaches have been dismissed or resigned recently without warning, as well as several of their veteran assistant coaches, according to lohud. Among those dismissed include Jim Mancuso (head ice hockey coach), David “Doc” Scholl (baseball), Bill Murphy (basketball), Brendan Curran (lacrosse) Dave Scagnelli (softball), Genette Zonghetti (girls lacrosse) and Sharon Rosenthal (field hockey).
Zhongetti was let go from her position a month before the lacrosse season started and Rosenthal resigned earlier this month. Murphy was fired with the season still in progress, while the other four were shown the door in August 2016, shortly before the school year started.
According to Scarsdale10583, Murphy was shown the door after complaints from two parents during the team’s annual trip to Miami. At a recent forum, his former players and parents reportedly expressed their support for him following his firing, which allegedly came after he drank a beer at one of the students’ parent’s Florida home. Murphy proceeded to suspend the parent’s player, which led to a complaint and the firing.
The coaches were given little negative feedback before their firings, according to the reports. In response Scarsdale Athletic Director Ray Pappalardi plans to start a coach mentoring program, athletic advisory council and hopes to improve communication between coaches and parents. Scarsdale school officials could not immediately be reached for comment on Tuesday morning.
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