Fired high school basketball coach apologises for yanking female player's ponytail

A Michigan high school basketball coach who was fired after being filmed pulling a player’s hair has apologised for his actions.

The incident occurred on Friday (21 March), when Jim Zullo, the 81-year-old Northville High School girls’ basketball coach, was filmed yanking the ponytail of one of his players, Hailey Monroe, who was standing with her teammates on the sidelines.

Before the incident, Monroe appeared visibly emotional, as reports suggest that she is the school’s all-time leading scorer and had fouled out of the game that the team eventually lost.

After Monroe’s hair was pulled by Zullo, Monroe was comforted by a teammate. She then appeared to get into a verbal disagreement with Zullo who then turned his anger towards her.

Zullo told NEWS10 ABC that Monroe had sworn at him after he told her to shake hands with the opposing team. Monroe hasn’t yet commented on the incident.

According to WNYT, Zullo apologised for his actions.

“I want to offer my sincerest apologies to Hailey and her family, our team, the good folks at Northville Central Schools and our community,” Zullo said.

“As a coach, under no circumstance is it acceptable to put my hands on a player, and I am truly sorry.”

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A statement from the Northville Central School District said that Zullo had been fired and he would never coach in the school district again.

“The Northville Central School District is aware of, and deeply disturbed by, the conduct of the Coach of the Girls’ Varsity basketball team during the Class D New York State championship game. We hold our coaches to the highest standards of professionalism, sportsmanship, and respect for our student-athletes, and this behavior is completely unacceptable,” the statement read.

“The District is committed to ensuring that this type of behavior has no place within our programs, and we will continue to uphold the values of respect and integrity that our athletes, families and community expect and deserve. This individual will no longer be coaching for the Northville Central School District.”

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