Sunday, Aug. 9, 2015: The 2014-15 New York school year in review (con't)

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   Less than two months later, McKenney was introduced as the new coach at Bishop Grimes, where is a teacher.

   The J-D school board hired Jeff Ike to replace McKenney. Regardless of how effective Ike might be, odds are he won't enjoy anything close to the success of one of Section 5 boys soccer's first-year coaches.

   As was noted in our 2013-14 Year in Review, one of the most absurd firings imaginable took place in the Rochester suburb of Greece, where the deciding vote against retaining Athena coach Bill Hueber was cast by a board member who was cut by Hueber during his playing days a decade earlier.

   Replacement Mike Butler had the Trojans sitting at just 3-5-1 at midseason, but they went 13-1 the rest of the way and defeated East Hampton 4-2 for the NYSPHSAA Class A championship.

   Early in the school year, Jack Agostino, fifth all-time on Long Island with 473 boys basketball wins with just 128 losses, learned he would not be reappointed for a 28th season at Amityville. Agostino, who won nine Long Island championships, was in charge when Amityville was stripped of its 2014 Section 11 Class A crown three days after beating John Glenn when it was determined an ineligible eighth-grader played briefly in two postseason games.

   Back in Section 3, football coach Joe Sindoni made news a lot more often than he would have preferred. First, he was suspended for the Cicero-North Syracuse opener -- at the Carrier Dome, no less -- because players were seen wearing pads too soon during preseason workouts.

   Well after the season, Sindoni was fired at C-NS for what he says he was told constituted disloyalty. It seems he interviewed for the vacant head coaching job at Syracuse CBA -- his alma mater and where he was an assistant for 13 years.

   Sindoni had managed to go 7-10 in two seasons at a school the previously bore the label of largest football non-entity in all of Central New York. C-NS lured 11th-year coach Dave Kline away from sectional Class AA champ Syracuse Henninger, but Sindoni landed on his feet by taking the top football job at Skaneateles, where he had previously been the head coach in 2012.

   Mike Plonisch was dismissed as coach at Utica Notre Dame in February, less than a year after winning NYSPHSAA and Federation Class B championships in girls basketball. Plonisch was 104-31 in six seasons, capturing three Section 3 championships.

   The Saratoga baseball team fell to Mamaroneck in the NYSPHSAA Class AA title game a month after Dean Bailey was removed as coach.

   "[I]t was determined that Coach Bailey addressed the team in a manner and tone that did not meet the standard of professionalism expected from our coaching staff," the district said in a statement.

   Before the school year started, Lansingburgh girls soccer coach John Cipperly appeared to have been forced out before his 28th season, only to see his presumed replacement withdraw his name from consideration ... which worked out exceptionally well since that candidate reportedly never asked to be considered in the first place.

   There were two high-profile departures in Section 1 girls basketball under less than idea circumstances.

   Woodlands girls basketball coach Ty Postell resigned at the end of the school year, with a district spokesperson saying it was unrelated to an April story by The Journal News that a star 13-year-old on the varsity had to withdraw from the school after the season when it was determined

RoadToSyracuse.com football site

she allegedly was not a legal resident of the district.

   Postell led Woodlands to its first Section 1 title in 2014 before losing in the state semifinals.

   The Journal News also reported the resignation of Rodney Headley Jr., who guided Peekskill to a NYSPHSAA championship in 2011 and three sectional crowns in five seasons, came after a 17-year-old female student alleged she engaged in a sex act with the coach.

   Headley was reassigned to duties away from coaching on the eve of the 2014 state tournament and then agreed to resign after the district notified him of its intent to file disciplinary charges, according to a copy of his settlement agreement obtained by the paper.

   Just hours after paper's report, City College of New York cut ties with Headley, who was working as a women's basketball assistant coach.

   Just as we were about to close the books on 2014-15, word arrived in July that Buffalo City Honors girls volleyball and softball coach Deborah Matos was under fire for the second time in less than two years in the form of bullying allegations from a parent filed under the Dignity of All Students Act.

   The Buffalo News reported the complaint was filed by Meg Gifford, one of two parents who unsuccessfully tried to get Matos removed in September 2013 for what some parents contended was harsh and abusive behavior toward players.

   At its October meeting, the NYSPHSAA Executive Committee approved three changes to its rules that will make it more difficult for athletes to move between high schools. Chief among the moves was a 19-2 vote to eliminate the "academic advantage" waiver, which often allowed athletes to transfer by saying they wanted to take courses such as theology or Advanced Placement offerings not available at their previous school. Beginning in September, students using that reason as the basis for transfer after the start of ninth grade will fall under the rule requiring them to sit out a season in sports they played in the past year.

   Nine private high schools and one charter responded in February by filing suit in state Supreme Court seeking to annul the new measure. The schools asserted there have been no complaints about the rules in question in the past three years, and that the new rules limit school choice and discourage students from attending schools they feel are the best fit. A NYSPHSAA survey showed 132 transfers with academic waivers in 2011-2012, 177 the next year and 213 the year after that.

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