Three coaches have resigned after they had players from their eighth-grade youth football team burn their third-place trophies as motivation for next season. (credit: Scott Halleran/Allsport/Getty Images)
NEW CANAAN, Conn. (CBS Connecticut) – Three New Canaan Youth Football coaches, including the league president, have resigned after concern from parents and league officials about an end-of-season party last month that ended in the players burning their third-place trophies.
On Nov. 19, coaches Rod Fox, David Jahn, and Jay Pirrone reportedly took many of the players from the NCYF eighth-grade black team to Irwin Park for the trophy-burning exercise, using it as a motivational tool to improve next season. The team had reportedly won five consecutive league championships, New Canaan Patch reports.
New Canaan police received an anonymous letter from a parent who was concerned about the incident, the Connecticut Post reports. On Nov. 30, police observed “a very small burn spot” in the area of Irwin Park where the incident took place. Police have indicated that no charges are pending, but that the league itself is conducting its own investigation. In a recent email sent to parents, the league’s board addressed the concern for the trophy-burning incident.
“The parents uniformly were disappointed and upset at this exercise and thought it demonstrated poor sportsmanship and an inconsistent message after the players had all been congratulated for their hard work and play,” the letter stated, according to the Connecticut Post. “Likewise, carrying out this activity in a town park showed a lack of judgment when the town specifically rules out even small fires. The coaches involved have resigned from the NCYF board, the NCYF board has accepted their resignations and the coaches have been suspended from any further involvement with the program or any individual team.”
The three coaches held positions on the league’s board of directors, according to the NCYF website. Fox was the president, while Jahn and Pirrone had roles as treasurer and co-director of coaching, respectively. The coaches expressed their embarrassment for the incident and how their resignations came to fruition.
“In football, there is a tradition of ‘burning the show’ as a means of forgetting any disappointment in the season and instead focusing on the positive and looking forward to next season,” the coaches wrote in an email to the league’s parents. “Unfortunately, we as coaches made a mistake in our attempt to carry out this tradition. While our message was intended to be positive, it was a mistake to carry it out in this way and for that we would like to apologize. This lack of judgment on our part should in no way tarnish all of the hard work, sportsmanship and success that you accomplished this season and in previous seasons.”
The coaches told New Canaan police that there was gasoline or an accelerant used to spark the fire and that there was a fire extinguisher nearby.
One league official told CBS Connecticut that the isolated incident has been blown out of proportion, noting that there has been “very strong support” for the coaches from the parents on the team.
“The players could have cared less,” the official said. “They were over it by the time the party ended.”
Messages left by CBS Connecticut to New Canaan police were not immediately returned.
