A controversy pitting football coaches against administrators has arisen in the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference over the past few days with the news that last week’s games, except for one, will not count against league records.
John Kuczo, the league’s executive secretary, said he was puzzled by the uproar that has been created. He said the current schedule was approved by athletic directors last October, then agreed to by the board of directors and given final approval by the principals, who have final say, in January.
“Apparently some people have conveniently forgotten about this,” Kuczo said. “It is all in writing. I think this is coming from just a couple of people.”
Chip Salvestrini, the athletic director at Danbury High School, backed up Kuczo’s assessment.
“It’s pretty simple, pretty clear,” Salvestrini said. “It was passed officially. People in our conference knew it was going to happen. I’m surprised why people feel differently about it now.”
According to several coaches I have spoken to, including New Canaan’s Lou Marinelli and Ridgefield’s Kevin Callahan, they were under the assumption that last weekend’s games would count in the league standings. Marinelli, who is the head of the league’s football committee, said he was stunned when told otherwise on Monday.
“Had I known this I would have objected and I did object when I it was explained to me a few days ago,” Marinelli said. “This could create some problems. Never in the FCIAC has this happened where football games don’t count.”
Ironically, because of a confusing schedule created because each team is allowed to play 11 games this year instead of the usual 10, the Rams’ 25-0 win over Norwalk on Saturday is the only one that does count against the standings.
One of the teams most hurt by this is Ridgefield, which upset Greenwich, 21-14.
Callahan, a member of the league’s board of directors, said he was unaware of the rule and is doing his due diligence to get verification. He is going through his athletic director, Carl Charles, who is requesting minutes from the meeting where the schedule was passed.
“I’m a little confused,” Callahan said. “It doesn’t mean it’s not there. Maybe I missed the meeting. I just want to make sure.”
Teams that benefit are Greenwich, which was spared a second league loss and elimination for a league title berth, and St. Joseph and Wilton, which remain undefeated in the FCIAC despite falling last week, respectively, to Stamford and Westhill.
The league coaches might be unhappy but basically nothing is going to change, which is the perspective Staples coach Marce Petroccio, whose team defeated Danbury last weekend, is taking.
“I think what the league did was with good intentions,” he said. “For whatever reasons there was a lack of communication and whether we agree with it or not we have to live with it. In the end we will have the 2 best teams in the FCIAC final.”
There is a lot more to this story, which I will have in tomorrow’s paper.
