West Deptford Wrestling Coach Survives Rumblings of Replacement

After a brief closed session, first-year West Deptford High School wrestling coach Christian Scannell was reappointed for 2013-14 by a 5-4 vote at the board of education meeting Monday night.

The roomful of parents, students and wrestling boosters applauded at the announcement—those who’d gathered in support of a coach they said had been tipped off that he might not be back next year.

After a meeting of the six-person Athletic, Band and Cafeteria (ABC) committee to discuss coaching hires for 2013-14 winter sports, wrestling booster club president Mary Bonner said Scannell had been told by an unnamed source that his chances of returning didn’t look good after a 12-10 finish.

That concerned her, she said in the public comment portion of the meeting, not only because the team is fond of Scannell, but because those committee recommendations must be voted on by the full board before any such determination can be made.

“I don’t know how this information got out and why it did,” Bonner told the board. “If it happened to this coach, it could happen to a teacher. It could happen to a student.

"We as parents are saying this was inappropriate the way it was brought about,” she said.

'That can't happen'

Board President Chris Strano and Superintendent Kevin Kitchenman insisted that no action had been taken by the committee regarding Scannell’s (re)appointment, and both were troubled at the prospect of personnel discussions being leaked.

“That can’t happen,” Kitchenman said. “I’m concerned that information that was discussed in a committee meeting was somehow transmitted publically to somebody else.

Kitchenman said that he was doubly concerned because "the information that was actually transmitted was incorrect."

Kitchenman told Patch that he had recommended Scannell for approval based on recommendations from WDHS Principal Brian Gismondi and Assistant Principal for Athletics and Activities Tim Cammarota.

He also said that there were no other candidates considered by the administration for the position.

“Coaches are a year-to-year appointment,” Kitchenman said. “Coaches are either hired or they’re not rehired. Every year, this district runs a generic ad advertising all our coaching positions as being open. 

“During that meeting it was never decided that [Scannell] wasn’t being brought back,” he said. “It was decided that we needed to look at the situation a bit more.”

When the public vote was tallied, however, of the four school board members who serve on the ABC committee—Virginia Brockway, Brian Gotchel, Thomas Lee, and alternate Peter Guzzetti—only Brockway voted to rehire Scannell.

'They have a bond with him'

When the committee went into closed session to discuss Scannell’s fate, wrestlers and their families mulled around anxiously in the hallway of the West Deptford Middle School. 

The success of a coach is measured by his connection to the children, Bonner said,
“making the kids who excel in the sport love the sport.”

Her sons, third-place state wrestling tournament finalist Rory Bonner, and his younger brother Griffin, both learned a lot from Scannell in the year they spent with him. She couldn’t think of any incidents or conflicts that would have given the body cause to replace Scannell. 

“He had a young team and they all did well,” Mary Bonner said, including a Group 4 finals appearance, five wrestlers who made regions and two who made states.

, said the coach was “really enthusiastic and always positive about things.

“I feel like he would better the program in the future,” Kaminski said.

Mary Bonner also pointed out that if the district decided to replace Scannell—who replaced former coach John Craig—it would have made three coaches in three years for the program.

That’s a strain on the kids, who thrive on continuity, she said.

“They have a bond with him,” Mary Bonner said. “Why start all over again?”

“I hope the school board realizes that these parents and kids are here for a reason,” she said. “They stood by their coach because they believe in him. I’m embarrassed to even talk to them.”