Lacrosse Parents Support Suspended Girls Coach

The Babylon School Board of Education is being asked by a group of parents to investigate a possible appeal and potential strategy to reverse a Section XI decision that resulted in the suspension of the girls varsity lacrosse coach.

The athletic governing board, which oversees all county school district athletics, suspended Tim Harrison for the remainder of the season and the decision stipulates he is not allowed to attend games or practices even as a spectator. Section XI claims Harrison violated a scheduling rule in having his team play 17 games in the season, when only 16 are allowed. The team played three non-league matches and has 14 league contests.

During last night’s school board meeting, Greg Antolini, a longtime youth lacrosse program leader and sport advocate, said the board’s ‘no comment’ following media reports of the suspension was “disrespectful” and that he felt the district had “thrown [Harrison] under a bus” instead of supporting the coach and fighting the ruling.

“This was a clerical error and there has to be some recourse the board or the district can take. The board needs to seek a better outcome and dig deeper into determining why the penalty was given,” he said. “He [Harrison] got shafted and this is a guy who saved a girl’s life on a athletic field last year. It’s very disturbing that there has been no public statement by the board about this,” he added.

In response, district officials said the lack of board comment and action was in response to a request by Harrison not to oppose the ruling or comment in the media.

But several board members stated they would be willing to learn more about the Section XI ruling and see what could be done given that Antolini offered up letters from parents and residents who want to see the decision reversed or invalidated.

Section XI notified the district of the rule infraction early last week. The initial penalty, in addition to the suspension, included preventing the team from participating in playoff games if the team became eligible. Following a hearing attended by the district’s athletic director Section XI relented on the playoff ban. 

According to an October 2007 update to the Section XI handbook, “if an individual or team exceeds the maximum number of contests permitted by Section XI, the penalty is team ineligibility from the date of violation for the rest of the season, including playoffs.”

As of 10:30 p.m. Tuesday night Section XI President Ed Cinelli had still not returned a call from Patch earlier in the day or responded in any manner to media inquiries for further comment regarding the decision.  Cinelli, a Bayport resident, is a former athletic director at Patchogue-Medford schools.

In an email exchange earlier Tuesday, Babylon’s athletic director Mike DeJoseph said he and Harrison took full responsibility for the scheduling infraction.

“Babylon inadvertently violated a Section XI rule regarding the maximum number of contests allowed. We claim full responsibility for the infraction and accept the consequences,” DeJoseph told Patch in an email.

“Babylon respects the leadership and governance of Section XI and the NYSPHSAA and will continue to follow the rules and regulations without exception. We want to get back to the business of playing lacrosse and request all concerned parties respect our wishes,” stated DeJoseph.

Harrison had just embarked on his ninth year of coaching the team and has been an big supporter of the village youth lacrosse program and other lacrosse programs.

He has run a coach’s clinic for the Village Youth League, where he shows the volunteer coaches what a typical training session is comprised of, and what are “age-appropriate expected outcomes.”

In addition, Harrison helped organized an alumni game that brought players back to interact with the up and coming generation, so players get an inside view of college competition

“I consider myself very fortunate to have coached at Babylon with girls who have bought into my system of lacrosse and with parents that have supported our quest for excellence," said Harrison last week in an interview about the upcoming season.

"Girl’s lacrosse is booming in Babylon. The fields are packed with kids on Saturdays; we have a youth program with qualified coaches doing a great job; we have travel teams, and we have a school program that has over 70 girls playing this sport. It’s just great," he said last week.

The girls lacrosse team has a home game at 6:30 p.m. on April 15 against Mt. Sinai and on another home match on May 4 against Center Moriches.