Attorney: Boys’ reinstatement to league unlikely

LYNN – Attorney Gary Zerola said he isn’t holding out hope that twin 9-year-old boys will be reinstated in the Lynn Youth Hockey League after a hearing with the league’s disciplinary committee Friday night in Lynn.William and Austin Foglietta were suspended from the league when parents, Holly and Bill Foglietta, said their sons’ coach screamed at Austin after he received permission from the referee to keep the puck used to score his 200th goal.Zerola along with William, Austin and their father met with the disciplinary committee Friday to argue their case for reinstatement. However, after the meeting, Zerola said he doesn’t think the decision will be reversed after the committee was changed at the last minute.”Originally the disciplinary committee consisted of the president Wayne O’Keefe and three members of the Lynn Youth Hockey Board that made the original decision to remove William and Austin,” said Zerola. “After we started voicing complaints that they were violating Mass Hockey rules, one-by-one they removed all three people.”Zerola said Mike Johnson, Secretary of the Lynn Youth Hockey Board, along with coaches Jack Martin and Steve Petkevitch sat in at the hearing Friday instead.”While these three people were not involved in the original allegation, they are involved in Lynn Youth Hockey,” said Zerola. “They were professional and they all listened, and they were compassionate, but I find it very hard to believe they’re going to overrule the board of the organization that they’re all supporting or working for. They let us all talk, but I don’t think they’ll overrule the board.”Members of the committee declined to comment to the item when they left the hearing Friday.Zerola said the committee will be holding a second hearing on Monday to hear coach Bill Norcross’ side of the story. He said was not happy that Friday’s meeting was about Holly Foglietta and not her sons.”I said I objected to that premise ?” said Zerola. “It should not be Holly Foglietta’s conduct but coach Bill Norcross’ conduct. They want to make this about Holly. Holly made a complaint to Lynn Youth Hockey. All she did was repeat what her son told her. When you have a young man who makes an allegation of abuse, verbal or physical ? what you do by punishing the kid is that you chill every other kid’s possibility of reporting potential abuse. The age we live in is tell, tell, tell.”Despite the ongoing conflict, Bill Foglietta said he taught his sons to forgive, saying he has a “tough time staying mad at people.” He also noted that his sons’ coach when they were 4 taught them to save their pucks and that the two 9-year-old are always competing with one another.Still, both William and Austin said they wouldn’t want to play for Lynn Youth Hockey again.”I miss my friends,” said William. “But the coaches were mean.”Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].