Ex-Yonkers basketball coach says district made him scapegoat after antisemitic incident
By: nypmetro (New York Post)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The ousted coach of a Yonkers high school girls basketball team said school officials made him a scapegoat when they fired him after some of his players allegedly yelled antisemitic slurs at a visiting team from a Jewish school.
Former Roosevelt High School coach Bryan Williams of New Rochelle told The Post he did an "excellent job with those girls" during his three-year tenure with the team.
But he was canned Sunday after last week's game against the Leffell School, a private Jewish school in Hartsdale, which took an ugly turn when some of his players allegedly tossed antisemitic slurs at their opponents — including one who allegedly said, "I support Hamas, you f-king Jew."
That was news to Williams, who said he did not hear anyone jawing at each other or making threats.
"I personally did not hear any of it on the court," Williams told The Post. "I do not condone what was allegedly done … I do not condone that. I focus on my team and what we have to try to do to win and be successful."
Former Roosevelt High School coach Bryan Williams of New Rochelle told The Post he did an "excellent job with those girls" during his three-year tenure with the team. NYPJ6Williams was fired after some of his players allegedly yelled antisemitic slurs at a visiting team from a Jewish school. @BWHoopers
The coach also said he felt the Yonkers school district — which announced Sunday it had fired him and booted one of his players off the team — "treated me very unfairly."
"They needed a scapegoat, and I was it," he said. "They needed a fall guy."
The Jan. 4 game ended early after the antisemitic slurs, and security guards had to escort the Leffell School players off the court after what the players described as an increasingly hostile contest.
The Yonkers kids played rough, and throughout the contest they yelled "Free Palestine" or other anti-Jewish statements, senior player Robin Bosworth wrote in an op-ed for the Lion's Roar, Leffell's student-run newspaper.
Robin Bosworth (left), seen playing against another team in March 2023, wrote an op-ed detailing a recent incident in which her basketball team, the Leffell School Lions, were allegedly targeted with antisemitic attacks during a game. Frank Becerra Jr./The Journal News / USA TODAY NETWORK6"
I support Hamas, you f-king Jew," a Roosevelt player snarled at a Leffell opponent, according to the New York City Public Schools Alliance.
Eventually, the Leffell players walked off during a timeout as the coaches spoke with each other, then the refs. Eventually, they canceled the game, and Roosevelt agreed to forfeit.
On Sunday, Yonkers Public Schools Interim Superintendent Dr. Luis Rodriguez and city Mayor Mike Spano issued a joint statement denouncing the hatred and apologizing for the vitriol the visiting team faced.
"Collectively, we do not and will not tolerate hate speech of any kind from our students and community," the statement said. "The antisemitic rhetoric reportedly made against the student athletes of The Leffell School are abhorrent, inappropriate and not in line with the values we set forth for our young people."
Coach John Tessitore with the Leffell Lions varsity girls' basketball team. @LeffellV
But Williams says the game didn't happen like that. He said his kids played the game the proper way, which included tough defense.
"We were just playing basketball," said Williams, who is also the CEO, founder and program director of Hoopers NY, an "elite girls national travel basketball program," according to its website.
He also said he warned his kids to "act appropriately," since they'd be playing against a Jewish team.
"I told them that — everyone," he said.
Theodore Roosevelt High School in Yonkers, New York
When he found out that the Leffell school kids were accusing his team of being racist, he told his girls to apologize for whatever they said, immediately. But they didn't get the chance because the game ended abruptly.
He added that he doesn't believe Yonkers did the investigation properly, and he wished he got to finish out the season with his team. Especially because some are seniors, and he's worked with them for several years.
"I can't say who did what," Williams said. "All I was focused on was my team and how we're playing, what we need to do to be successful and win."
"We were winning by a lot, so I was shocked because, again, I don't think my girls would do that."
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This is America 2024. Antisemitism has never been worse.
The Roosevelt High School Basketball Team
“Many of the people who have expressed these sentiments in America aren’t neo-Nazis, or card-carrying Klan members, or Islamist extremists,” Schumer said. “They are in many cases people that most liberal Jewish Americans felt previously were their ideological fellow travelers.” ....Chuck Schumer
Translation: It is coming from the left
Terrible to see.
It is disgusting.
You have to put your foot on the throat of speech like this and twist.
Any student athlete using speech like this, at minimum, needs to be removed from the team.
Is it too late to get the coach a hearing aid?
All I know is if we pulled something stupid like this when I was in organized sports the coaches would have personally kicked your ass.
Of course we live in a kinder, gentler world these days ….
That is right. We had it under control once.
not going to happen. Wouldn’t be equitable
And there it is