Families hire lawyers after 5 children banned from youth football team as part of punishment for parents' actions

Two other sponsors indicated they are considering pulling their support from the team. One sponsor supports banning the children. The rest declined comment, mostly out of concern that sharing their feelings with a journalist could hurt business.

Ben Nandy

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Dec 12, 2024, 10:50 PM

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Updated 17 days ago

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Some sponsors of a youth football team are questioning the team board's decision to kick children out of the league as part of its punishment against their parents for code of conduct violations, as all sides are preparing for a legal battle.

John Stegenga, whose auto body shop sponsors the Washingtonville Wizards Youth Football team, said Thursday that if five banned players are not reinstated to the program, "I would pull my support for sure."

The team's volunteer board voted to ban four board members from the team after arguments about playing time, fundraising, coaching style and how some coach's handle instances of bullying.

After the four board members — who are parents of five players — contested their expulsions from the team, the board sent a letter to the families stating that the children have also been banned from the team.

The sequence of events does not sit well with Stegenga.

"I'd rather see my resources go to a program that is thriving for the whole player," he said, "not just on the field but also off the field."

Two other sponsors indicated they are considering pulling their support from the team.

"I do want to hear from all sides about what exactly happened," sponsor realtor Jacqueline Manzolillo-Blais said in a text message Thursday, "before I can commit to being a sponsor again."

One sponsor supports banning the children.

The rest declined comment, mostly out of concern that sharing their feelings with a journalist could hurt business.

Both the team board president and the Orange County Youth Football League president have retained attorneys, and have been advised not to speak on the matter further.

The four families are also now working with an attorney.

"Children should not be punished for things happening between adults," said Nicole Berhau, a banned board member whose son Nolan, 10, has also been banned.

Berhau said she wants the Wizards community to realize the banned players — ages 8 to 11 — are being put in an unfair position.

Berhau delayed telling Nolan about his expulsion for as long as she could, but after News 12's initial story on the controversy aired Monday, word circulated.

"He came home from school the day after the news, and he was like, 'People are saying I'm kicked off my team?,'" Berhau recalled. "I was like, 'Oh, I'm trying to work on that buddy."

Team and league leaders are not backing down from their decision to ban the children from the team, though they have acknowledged the children were not at fault.