The coach of the New York Adirondacks community's high school girls' basketball team was fired after pulling the player's ponytail at the end of the state championship game on Friday, the district confirmed.
Videos on social media and local TV news show older men who told and emphasized the hair of the distraught player while other players were trying to separate the two.
A hair pull occurred after the girl's varsity team from Northville Central School District lost to Laphageville Central School District in the Class D New York State Championship Game.
The Northville districts in Fulton County and Great Sakandaga Lake, about 60 miles northwest of Albany, said they were “deeply disturbed” by the coaching actions and “individuals no longer coach.”
The statement did not say the coach was fired, but district chief Sarah Chauncy said in a phone interview on Saturday that the coach “has finished serving the district.”
Dr. Chauncey refused to confirm the identity of a coach or player.
The team's head coach is Jim Zullo, according to MaxPreps, a website that tracks high school sports rosters. The player appears to be a senior in high school based on her jersey number.
Zullo's contact details were not immediately accessible.
Zullo told News10 ABC before the episode that the player had instructed him to expend when he instructed him to shake hands with the opposing team.
Alyssa Leroux, 31, of Watertown, New York, was watching the game with her family on Friday. The team placement from the La Pharmage Building, about 90 miles north of Syracuse, was a “big deal” in the community at the championship, she said.
At the end of the game, Northville's six-point loss was confirmed, so she thought she had seen something strange. She then received a text from a friend. She asked if she “sees the coach pulling the girl's hair.”
She played the broadcast and confirmed it. Aghast, Leroux wanted to pay attention to it. She filmed a video from television showing the episode and posted it on Facebook.
Her video has so far won 500 responses – most of them are mad at emojis – and almost 900 shares. It was also featured in a local news report.
“I felt bad for the girl,” Leroux said. “She just played her heart.”
“When you're an older man with a young child, you can't do that,” she added.
