5 years ago, our district chose to hire a male coach that never played lacrosse to be the girls' varsity head coach. He cannot effectively demonstrate the proper use of a female lacrosse stick (cradling, shooting, etc).  The other candidate that applied for this job was a former division-1 lacrosse player, who plays professionally, and she was the director/coach of one of the premier girl's travel lacrosse programs. She was also a Rocky Point graduate.  Soon after being turned down for this varsity coaching position, she accepted the head coaching position at Maritime College.  As of today, she is the assistant coach at division-1 Drexel University:  https://drexeldragons.com/sports/womens-lacrosse/roster/coaches/alyssa-guido/1508

Our district currently has two female coaches that played in college.  The JV coach is our high school biology teacher.

In addition, the district has two new female candidates: Both have extensive high-level coaching experience.  One candidate played for Division-1/Princeton University which consistently ranks in the top-15 and was the team captain, and the other candidate played for a Division-2 university that won the NCAA championship.

Why are more qualified female coaches in subordinate positions?

At about the same time, our district hired Tom Walsh as the boys' varsity head coach.  Here are his credentials:  Smithtown West Varsity Coach, Cold Spring Harbor JV Coach, Connecticut College Offensive/Recruiting Coordinator, Hampden-Sydney College Face-Off coach and Defensive Coordinator, Wissahickson Varsity Coach, Ursinus College Team Captain, Smithtown West Team Captain, All-County, and Class A Super Six Champions 3 consecutive years.

The boys' program has a highly qualified coach.  We passed on more qualified coaches and keep more qualified female coaches in subordinate positions.

Why has the district completely ignored the New York State Education Guidelines for The Coaching Requirements, which states the following:

"3. Non-teacher Coaches.

A) Temporary Coaching License(TCL). A person who does not hold a current New York State teaching certificate (e.g. physical education, English, mathematics) may be appointed as a temporary coach ONLY IF there are no certified teachers available with experience and qualifications to coach the team."

We have a certified high school biology teacher coaching JV.  Why hasn't she been given the varsity head coaching position?

Where is the equity in the hiring process?

Don't our girls and female coaches deserve equal opportunities?

Why is it important to have the right coach?

Our historically dominant lacrosse program has helped our female athletes earn scholarships and go on to play at top colleges like Northwestern University, Maryland University, Yale University, Sienna, Marist, Adelphi, Ohio State University, and a dozen others.

We have requested to have meetings with the current Board of Education, and our requests have gone unanswered.

Our girls deserve better, and we must demand that the district replace the current coach immediately.

Please sign this petition and email Superintendent, Scott O'Brien, Athletic Director, Jonathan Rufa, and Teachers Union President, Stacy Iberger to demand that they promote or hire a more qualified head coach:

Scottobrien@rockypoint.k12.ny.us

jonathonrufa@rockypoint.k12.ny.us

Stacyiberger@rockypoint.k12.ny.us