Leading off today: NYSPHSAA boys tennis coordinator Quan Huynh has resigned from that position and his role as the Section 1 coordinator following pushback he received after an incident at a recent state tournament contest,
LoHud.com reported.
Huynh, a Harrison High JV coach who held the positions for a decade, said he was forced to step down by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association leadership following complaints about his speech after a state team tournament quarterfinal last month.
"It hurts because I really enjoyed doing this," Huynh said. "I'll miss the kids, and the relationships I've built over the years with coaches and players across the state. Whenever someone said to me after a tournament, 'This was a great experience,' it was such a rewarding feeling."
According to the website, tempers flared and spectators became unruly during the June 5 match between Horace Greeley and Syosset, and Huynh said the outburst included a Long Island parent's expletive directed at a player.
"We had a parent taunting the kids, someone cursed at the players, and I even stopped play and told everyone we can't have this,” Huynh recalled. "In my wrap-up speech at the end of the tournament, I brought it up. I kind of scolded them about their behavior."
Someone in attendance recorded his remarks and forwarded them to the NYSPHSAA. Huynh said the Section 8 coordinator criticized his remarks in a letter to NYSPHSAA, and he believes others with Long Island ties pushed for his ouster.
"There were some comments made in the speech that were concerning, and I addressed that with him," NYSPHSAA Executive Director Robert Zayas said. "He did a good job in the role, and we appreciated his work, but this was an unfortunate situation."
The NYSPHSAA has not yet named a replacement. The organization's Central Committee could approve an appointment next week at its annual meeting in Schenectady.
Huynh later resigned from the Section 1 role as well, explaining that because section coordinators work with the NYSPHSAA routinely, it would've felt awkward interacting with some of the people who wanted him out.
More on the tennis situation
Sport coordinators do considerable work for a relatively small stipend each year, and so the biggest loss that Quan Huynh is likely feeling is that of some friendships forged over the years.
I know coordinators occasionally clash with fellow committee members and even the NYSPHSAA office staff, but ousters are rare. While it's possible there have been others since, the only coordinator firing I can recall in the past decade came in 2018.
In that instance, Executive Director Robert Zayas had to act when the cheerleading committee had descended into dysfunctionality to the point of dereliction of duty.
In the more recent instance, the tennis operation had seemed to be sailing along just fine other than the usual financial worries associated with non-revenue sports. It's unfortunate that one moment of emotional reaction required a change.
Section 3 school facing a massive disruption
Oneida High School won't open this fall because of severe damage caused by a deadly storm that passed through Central New York last month.
Superintendent Matthew Carpenter posted on the district's website that "extensive electrical and mechanical damage" at the school makes holding classes there out of the question for the upcoming school year.
The June 22 storm overwhelmed the drainage system carrying Oneida Creek beneath school grounds, flooding the high school with up to 8 feet of water. It destroyed the school's heating and electrical systems, and Carpenter said some electrical components could take a year to arrive and be installed.
The district has begun working with BOCES and nearby districts to figure out how to accommodate 500 students and the corresponding staff, Syracuse.com reported.
While certainly not the major concern at the moment, the start of fall sports is less than a month away. Even if practices can commence on Aug. 18 on school grounds or other locations, potentially having to spread students across several locations and sharing fields with other districts would pose a challenge for practicing and playing games once classes begin.
