Two Mountain Lakes varsity girls soccer players–juniors Sydnie Savarese (left) and Elizabeth Olshanski (right)–have started a petition to show their support of Coach Kevin Vrabel who was fired Thursday.MOUNTAIN LAKES — Nine days after reports surfaced about hazing by varsity girls soccer players during a borough-wide scavenger hunt, the team’s head coach has been fired.
But Kevin Vrabel, known to his players as “Coach Kevin,” is more shocked than angry over his termination after only his second season. Mostly, he says, because administrators only had one substantial interaction with him during their investigation and that was when the reports first emerged.
The scavenger hunt, he said, took place off school grounds and without his knowledge but administrators claim he sanctioned the incident.
Vrabel, parents and the school administration have declined to discuss what the hazing entailed. One parent who spoke on the condition of anonymity has told NJ Advance Media seniors on the varsity team had girls “Army crawl” through dog feces, expired food and garbage on a tarp, and eat muffins baked with hot sauce and expired mayonnaise.
RELATED: Alleged Mountain Lakes girls soccer hazing wasn’t criminal, cops say
Superintendent Ann Mucci has declined to discuss the hazing, but she has said some of the reports have been “exaggerated by false rumors.” Mountain Lakes police Chief Shawn Bennett has said the allegations regarding the “Army crawl” through garbage and the distasteful muffins were “blown out of proportion.”
Bennett said police are not investigating the hazing incident because the accusations don’t rise to the level of “alleged criminal activity” but the department is monitoring the school’s investigation “in the periphery.”
During a heated parents’ meeting Thursday evening, school officials fielded questions over Vrabel’s firing following a pre-planned anti-bullying seminar. NJ Advance Media was not permitted into the meeting, but several parents later said Vrabel had nearly unanimous support from parents and players.
Parents and players repeatedly told NJ Advance Media they believed the administration had made Vrabel “a scapegoat” for the scavenger hunt hazing. They also criticized the administration’s investigation, school officials’ alleged evasiveness during questioning and expressed concerns for the future of the team.
“I think the administration sidestepped a few questions asked (during the meeting),” said junior Elizabeth Olshanski.
Vrabel’s players, however, aren’t letting this defeat stop them.
Olshanski and junior Sydnie Savarese, both of whom are on the varsity soccer team, started a petition to show their support of their coach and to try and reverse the administration’s decision.
“We believe Coach Kevin didn’t do anything wrong,” Olshanski said. “It’s not his fault. He’s the best coach we’ve ever had.”
“Long live Coach Kevin,” Savarese said.
Vrabel was fired Thursday afternoon—an hour before practice—but only a few hours later Savarese and Olshanski had the signatures of dozens of supporters on three pages of their petition.
Vrabel, who didn’t attend the meeting, said in a phone interview he had particularly taken issue with how the administration handled his players.
MORE: Officials probe alleged hazing by Mountain Lakes student athletes
“The way the kids have been treated through this has been awful,” Vrabel said.
During his only interaction with the administration over this incident, Vrabel said he offered to speak with one of the seniors with whom he had a good rapport. His plan was to restructure practice so he could talk with her without isolating her from the rest of the group and get more information for the administrators.
Instead, two administrators singled out the senior by interrupting practice and took the player off the field, which, Vrabel said, “devastated the team.”
Two of the seniors implicated in the incident, he said, weren’t even present for the scavenger hunt. They had been picked out because the administration alleged that they helped plan the scavenger hunt, he said.
Soccer players who have been implicated in this incident haven’t been allowed to participate in practice or attend team events, he said. School officials, however, still haven’t told them what their exact punishments will be, which, he said, has left them in limbo for the past week.
Six other athletes from other Mountain Lakes sports teams were also involved in the execution of the scavenger hunt, he said, but, as far as he was aware, they hadn’t yet been disciplined.
Mucci declined to discuss the incident, the administration’s investigation and any discipline issued to students. Despite fielding questions from parents over Vrabel’s firing, she also refused to confirm to NJ Advance Media that Vrabel had been fired.
Justin Zaremba may be reached at jzaremba@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinZarembaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook
