Reephdweller
05-08-2003, 03:43 PM
Perhaps I don't know all the details on this, but I don't understand why these players and the coach were suspended. As far as I know, the players went away for spring break and visited a strip club among other places. 15 players on the team were suspended for this.
Why? I know it's not right, but these are kids with hormones out of control, so I understand why they did it. But to suspend them and hurt their futures for a simple mistake seems stupid to me. Unless I have the facts wrong and someone can clear it up, I don't see what the big deal is here....
JV Steps in for Ousted Massapequa Players
By Jason Molinet
STAFF WRITER
May 8, 2003, 4:59 PM EDT
Junior varsity players this afternoon were elevated to play on the Massapequa High School varsity team so the school could play its game today with Syosset, after 15 varsity players were removed from the team yesterday after the district learned the players recently visited a strip club during a spring break trip, officials said.
A district spokesman said today that the junior varsity players would be rotated onto the varsity squad in place of the ousted players so the school could have enough players to field a team and play out the remainder of its season. They will play with the remaining varsity players who were not involved in the incidente and who were allowed to stay on the squad, a district official said today.
The move was a shift from a previous position the district had taken. The district had issued a statement saying its baseball game scheduled for yesterday "was canceled due to an ongoing investigation regarding allegations of improper behavior by some student athletes during a school athletic trip. Massapequa High School and athletic department are carefully considering the appropriate steps to be taken."
Assistant coach Tom Sheedy said he and longtime head coach Bob Dell, who were relieved by the district of their duties as coaches, said the players were taken to the strip club in Florida by a parent, and that he and Dell did not learn of it until two days later. Dell could not be reached for comment last night.
Massapequa is a perennial Nassau baseball powerhouse. Each spring the team goes to Florida for one week. After playing three scrimmages in Cocoa Beach on April 22, Sheedy said the team returned to its hotel, where they ate a buffet dinner and held a team meeting.
Because the Chiefs were not scheduled to play again until late the next day, Sheedy said players were given a 1 a.m. curfew. Then, he said, the parent of one player arranged taxis that ferried 15 players to a local strip club, where they spent much of the night.
"A parent escorted a group of players into the club," Sheedy said. "This parent was buying drinks and who knows what else. You'd never think something like this could happen at Massapequa."
Sheedy said athletic director Igor Bishko was told of the incident when the team returned from its road trip. The players' removal was done yesterday after school. Massapequa (6-6 overall, 6-4 Nassau Conference AA-I) canceled its game yesterday against John F. Kennedy High School in Plainview and is considering whether to bring up junior varsity players to continue the season.
Bishko said only, "We're in the process of sifting through all that stuff."
Dell has coached for 43 years, the last 13 at Massapequa.
Long Island high school teams in various sports, from lacrosse to softball, have a history of going out of state to play games during spring break. East Meadow baseball coach Ken Sicoli said the experience is supposed to be fun, but constant adult supervision is needed.
"When you take 15 to 20 high school kids away for a week - even good kids - you have to be careful what they are going to do," said Sicoli, who has traveled to Florida with Massapequa in the past.
Sheedy said the players were told the limits of what they could do. But it is tough to police, he said, when a parent is one of the culprits.
"This is extremely disappointing," Sheedy said. "There are good kids and respectable pla
Why? I know it's not right, but these are kids with hormones out of control, so I understand why they did it. But to suspend them and hurt their futures for a simple mistake seems stupid to me. Unless I have the facts wrong and someone can clear it up, I don't see what the big deal is here....
JV Steps in for Ousted Massapequa Players
By Jason Molinet
STAFF WRITER
May 8, 2003, 4:59 PM EDT
Junior varsity players this afternoon were elevated to play on the Massapequa High School varsity team so the school could play its game today with Syosset, after 15 varsity players were removed from the team yesterday after the district learned the players recently visited a strip club during a spring break trip, officials said.
A district spokesman said today that the junior varsity players would be rotated onto the varsity squad in place of the ousted players so the school could have enough players to field a team and play out the remainder of its season. They will play with the remaining varsity players who were not involved in the incidente and who were allowed to stay on the squad, a district official said today.
The move was a shift from a previous position the district had taken. The district had issued a statement saying its baseball game scheduled for yesterday "was canceled due to an ongoing investigation regarding allegations of improper behavior by some student athletes during a school athletic trip. Massapequa High School and athletic department are carefully considering the appropriate steps to be taken."
Assistant coach Tom Sheedy said he and longtime head coach Bob Dell, who were relieved by the district of their duties as coaches, said the players were taken to the strip club in Florida by a parent, and that he and Dell did not learn of it until two days later. Dell could not be reached for comment last night.
Massapequa is a perennial Nassau baseball powerhouse. Each spring the team goes to Florida for one week. After playing three scrimmages in Cocoa Beach on April 22, Sheedy said the team returned to its hotel, where they ate a buffet dinner and held a team meeting.
Because the Chiefs were not scheduled to play again until late the next day, Sheedy said players were given a 1 a.m. curfew. Then, he said, the parent of one player arranged taxis that ferried 15 players to a local strip club, where they spent much of the night.
"A parent escorted a group of players into the club," Sheedy said. "This parent was buying drinks and who knows what else. You'd never think something like this could happen at Massapequa."
Sheedy said athletic director Igor Bishko was told of the incident when the team returned from its road trip. The players' removal was done yesterday after school. Massapequa (6-6 overall, 6-4 Nassau Conference AA-I) canceled its game yesterday against John F. Kennedy High School in Plainview and is considering whether to bring up junior varsity players to continue the season.
Bishko said only, "We're in the process of sifting through all that stuff."
Dell has coached for 43 years, the last 13 at Massapequa.
Long Island high school teams in various sports, from lacrosse to softball, have a history of going out of state to play games during spring break. East Meadow baseball coach Ken Sicoli said the experience is supposed to be fun, but constant adult supervision is needed.
"When you take 15 to 20 high school kids away for a week - even good kids - you have to be careful what they are going to do," said Sicoli, who has traveled to Florida with Massapequa in the past.
Sheedy said the players were told the limits of what they could do. But it is tough to police, he said, when a parent is one of the culprits.
"This is extremely disappointing," Sheedy said. "There are good kids and respectable pla