High School Basketball Coach Fired, Charged After Pulling Player's Hair
A high school girls basketball coach has been fired and charged after he was seen on video pulling a team member's ponytail.
The disturbing incident unfolded on Friday in upstate New York after Northville High School lost to La Fargeville in the Class D state championship game. The coach, Jim Zullo, claimed the player directed a expletive at him after instructing her to shake hands with the opposing team, which was receiving its medals.
The incident was caught during NFHS Network's online stream, which shows Zullo pull senior Hailey Monroe's ponytail. You can see Zullo violently yank on her ponytail, causing Monroe to jerk backward. A teammate of Monroe's pulls her aside and shields her from Zullo. The teammate points to the coach and admonishes him while he appears to bark back at her.
According to multiple reports, Zullo was charged with misdemeanor harassment. He was also fired from his head coaching position.
"The Northville Central School District is aware of, and deeply disturbed, by the conduct of the Coach of the Girls' Varsity basketball team during the Class D New York State championship game," a school district spokesperson said in a statement the day after the incident. "We hold our coaches to the highest standards of professionalism, sportsmanship, and respect for our student-athletes, and this behavior is completely unacceptable."
The statement continued, "The District is committed to ensuring that this type of behavior has no place within our programs, and we will continue to uphold the values of respect and integrity that our athletes, families and community expect and deserve. This individual will no longer be coaching for the Northville Central School District. We assure the public that this matter is being taken extremely seriously, and the District is actively addressing it. The District will be following up with the affected players and their families to provide support and outline the actions we are taking in response to this incident."
Zullo issued an apology obtained by WNYT in Albany, NY.
"I want to offer my sincerest apologies to Hailey and her family, our team, the good folks at Northville Central Schools and our community," he said. "As a coach, under no circumstance is it acceptable to put my hands on a player, and I am truly sorry."