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By KEVIN HOFFMAN khoffman@leader.net
Friday, January 28, 2000 Page: 1A
HAZLETON – The Hazleton Area School Board voted unanimously Thursday to
open football coach John Yaccino’s position, and the head of the athletic
committee vowed she would investigate whether he violated a district policy
against corporal punishment.
In a separate vote, the School Board unanimously decided to review all
other coaching positions in the district and open each at the end of their
seasons if the athletic committee sees fit.
Yaccino has admitted he called players names and jokingly kicked them in
the rear end to discipline them. At the board meeting, a former player said he
had been a victim of physical and mental abuse from Yaccino.
Justin Fisher, 18, said Yaccino kicked him in 1996 as punishment for
missing a block. “He made me get in my football stance and then in front of
everybody he whacked me one,” Fisher said. “It thrust me forward.”
Yaccino did not attend the meeting. Called after the meeting, Yaccino said
he did not want to comment and hung up. He has said that he has twice given a
player “a soft, open foot tap on the butt.”
Fisher said he saw Yaccino grab a player by the shoulder pads and throw him
more than 5 yards to the ground. Yaccino hit another player in the chest with
his forearm at least three times, Fisher said.
Yaccino also mentally abused players, Fisher said, calling them losers,
sissies and a word that is the same as female genitalia. Fisher said Yaccino
often told him he was “nothing but a big pile of (excrement).”
“You feel depressed at the moment. And after that, you just get angry,”
Fisher said.
Gloria Pesock, the head of the athletic committee, asked Fisher and another
player to contact her so she could investigate whether Yaccino violated a
district policy prohibiting the use of corporal punishment.
“I want to see if what’s being said is true,” Pesock said. “If he’s
breaking that policy, I’m afraid there’s going to be a problem.”
Pesock declined to elaborate on what punishment Yaccino might face if she
found he was violating the policy. She said she is drafting a required code of
ethics for all coaches.
In Thursday’s Times Leader, Yaccino said he softly kicked players and
called them names. He said his disciplinary measures helped end hazing among
players, and said that before he became coach, players terrorized the
community and each other, and had been forced to masturbate in front of other
people to make the team.
Citing those comments, board member Marie Kay made a motion to place a
letter of reprimand in Yaccino’s file. Pesock seconded it. Before the vote,
board President Tom Scarpati called for an executive session. Afterwards, Kay
and Pesock withdrew their motions.
Superintendent Geraldine Shepperson declined to comment on Yaccino.
Call Hoffman at 829-7139.