The 2016-17 New York high schools year in review, Page 5

[From Page 4]

    • Less than a year removed from a PSAL city championship, Bruce Eugene was fired at Grand Street for allegedly letting a Long Island player use the football coach's Brooklyn address to establish residency.

   Eugene rode out two storms the previous season en route to the season-ending win at Yankee Stadium, but he was suspended shortly before the start of the 2016 season for reasons that were unspecified at the time. That led supporters to protest on his behalf, and the coach intimated that it was the result of a financial dispute.

    • Perhaps the most unexpected involuntary departure came at Cazenovia, where Jim Longo was informed that he would not be brought back as boys lacrosse coach in 2018. Though coming off a 7-11 mark this season, Longo directed Cazenovia to NYSPHSAA championships in 2011 and '13 and finished 192-58 with five Section 3 titles.

Court case of the year

   The man who said he thought a slender 15-year-old runner with autism was going to mug his wife was sentenced to three years of probation for shoving the boy to the ground during a cross country race in Rochester.

   Martin MacDonald, 57, also was sentenced to 80 hours of community service, and the judge issued an order of protection barring him from having contact with Syracuse Corcoran runner Chase Coleman for five years.

   MacDonald, who told police he was not aware that Coleman has autism, pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child and second-degree harassment.

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   MacDonald and Coleman encountered each other in Cobb's Hill Park on Oct. 14 as Coleman lagged far behind the rest of the field of runners. Police reports showed that MacDonald claimed he thought Coleman was on drugs and mocking him when he pushed him. Coleman was wearing a team uniform and racing bib when the incident occurred. The shove was witnessed by two passers-by, both of whom described MacDonald as shouting, "Get out of here," to Coleman.

Taking a stand by kneeling

   San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick was the subject of considerable criticism and debate after he began taking a knee during the national anthem before NFL games to protest treatment of black people. Not unexpectedly, athletes at the high school level soon began to follow suit, with World of Inquiry/School #58 in Rochester probably the most discussed across the state based on sheer volume of participants and success on the field.

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   Top-ranked in the state in Class C with a roster including multiple players from refugee families, the entire 18-man team took a knee before a late-September game in a demonstration that Rochester City School District officials and coach Rich Paufler did not know about beforehand.

   Rochester talk show host Bob Lonsberry, a former newspaper reporter and columnist with plenty of contacts across the region, accused Rochester lawyer Michael Lopez, an assistant coach with a son on the team, of manipulating players into a political statement that some likely did not comprehend. He also reported Lopez tried to talk opposing players into participating in protests.

   District administrators sent a note home with the athletes a day later to encourage parents to talk through the issue and make sure family members were on the same page. At the next day's game, seven players stood at attention for the "Star-Spangled Banner."

   World of Inquiry made it to the final day of the season, losing to 2-1 to North Salem in overtime in the state finals.

Taking a stand by sitting

   Warmups before a Section 6 boys soccer game in September wee disrupted when the mother of a North Tonawanda player staged a sit-in on the field to draw attention to alleged hazing and what she regarded as inaction by school authorities.

   "This has been going on since last year. They turned a blind eye then, I won't let that happen again, Steve Toth, the husband of protestor Jeannette Toth, explained. "Somebody needs to put a stop to this."

   According to the Toths, their son and other players are being bullied by one or more teammates, and the behavior included the destruction of personal property. Following the district's protocol didn't get satisfactory results for the family, leading to the sit-in before a 10-0 loss to Grand Island.

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