A coach who was fired inside hours of pulling a participant’s ponytail after a loss in a New York ladies basketball state championship sport issued an apology Sunday, saying his actions have been unacceptable.
Jim Zullo, previously the coach of the women crew at Northville Central, was dismissed by the varsity within the Adirondacks after video footage confirmed him pulling the hair of participant Hailey Monroe moments after their crew misplaced the Class D state remaining to La Fargeville, 43-37 on Friday evening.
“I deeply remorse my conduct following the loss to La Fargeville Friday evening within the Class D state championship sport,” Zullo said in the statement, which was first obtained by Albany-area television station WNYT. “I wish to supply my sincerest apologies to Hailey and her household, our crew, the nice people at Northville Central Faculties and our neighborhood.
“As a coach, under no circumstance is it acceptable to put my hands on a player, and I am truly sorry. I wish I could have those moments back.”
The incident occurred because the groups have been lining up for the postgame ceremony, which included handshakes between the groups and the presentation of awards following the title sport at Hudson Valley Neighborhood School in Troy.
Zullo, 81, coached at Northville for the previous two seasons and took the crew to the state remaining in every of these years. He was a extremely profitable boys coach within the state for many years, profitable a state championship with Shenendehowa Excessive in 1987, earlier than starting to educate ladies in Northville in 2023.
He took the Northville job, partially, at his spouse’s urging whereas she was dying of most cancers. His spouse died through the 2023-24 season.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to have coached girls basketball at Northville the past two years, especially last season, which was a difficult time for our family,” Zullo stated. “I’m tremendous pleased with each one in every of these younger ladies and what they achieved. I do know every of them will go on to do nice issues and I want them nicely.”
The Northville college district stated Friday evening within the assertion saying that Zullo would not be teaching on the college that it desires to “assure the public that this matter is being taken extremely seriously, and the District is actively addressing it.”
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