The Daily Item – Angela OwensIt’s standard hockey practice that whenever one scores a milestone goal — be it their first, 100th, 500th, etc. — the puck is retrieved from behind the goalie and given to the player to be put on display or entered into a Hall of Fame.
This wasn’t the case for 9-year old Austin Foglietta of Lynn, Mass. who scored his 200th goal last month and asked the referee if he could keep the puck. The official obliged which allegedly set off his coach.
From The Daily Item:
“He said, ‘ridiculous, ridiculous, that’s the most selfish thing I’ve ever seen,’” [Austin's dad] Bill Foglietta said during an interview about the incident in his Salem home. “He took the puck away from Austin and threw it back on the ice. He broke my son’s heart and he did it publicly. It just tore me up inside.”
Ah, but as in every dispute, there’s a whole ‘nother side to things.
The coach, Bill Norcross, denied the Foglietta’s claims, instead, turning it around on the boys’ mother:
They say Holly Foglietta is an overbearing hockey mother who has at times tried to interfere with the way the coaches run the team, and who by making false allegations created a situation where lawyers are now representing people on both sides of the dispute.
The situation has devolved so much that Holly Foglietta filed a complaint with the league; and according to the paper, she called the treatment of her son “borderline child abuse.”
Because of the apparent contentious relationship that dates back before the puck incident, the league suspended Austin and his twin brother, William, from the competing. This has led to a scheduled hearing between the family and members of the Lynn Youth Hockey board. The twins were given permission by the league to continue to participate with their team until the hearing took place.
A hockey coach/parent dispute that spirals out of control? No way!
More from The Daily Item here, including reaction from other parents, from those who deny anything happened to one who backs up the Foglietta’s claim.
By Sean Leahy | Puck Daddy
Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy
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