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Youth football coach wins appeal to return to sideline

Official: Background check policy will change.

By SAUNDRA AMRHEIN
Published October 20, 2006

A convicted felon is back coaching youth football after being reinstated by a committee of volunteers, a move that angered referees and left county officials vowing to correct a confusing policy on background checks.

Armand Cotnoir won his appeal Thursday following his removal this month from a practice field where he was coaching a Plant City team.

Cotnoir, 31, a former Plant City police officer, served 14 months in federal prison after pleading guilty in 2002 to conspiracy to deprive civil rights, deprivation of civil rights, obstruction of justice and five counts of mail fraud. His case was part of a larger corruption probe in Plant City.

County parks officials said they hadn't done a background check on him because the team was late submitting its coaches' application forms. When they heard of his background from a reporter, they asked him to leave the field.

Cotnoir appealed to a volunteer committee, which met Wednesday night and announced Thursday that Cotnoir could coach again.

"We're furious about it," said John Walters, supervisor for the Southern Independent Conference Officials Alliance.

Referees undergo a rigorous background check and, if a felony turns up, they are automatically turned down, he said.

Walters had to say no to five men this year, including someone with a tax evasion charge from several years ago.

He said the same standard should be applied to coaches.

"How do I explain to referees that it's okay for coaches to be convicted of a felony?" he said. "We have less contact with children than the coaches do."

The officials' group is sending letters to its members about Cotnoir. If they choose not to officiate when he is coaching, they can shut down the game.

The committee likely considered that Cotnoir's crimes were nonviolent and didn't involve children, said county parks Director Mark Thornton.

Still, Thornton said, parks officials plan to adopt guidelines for next season that mirror those released this year by the National Recreation and Park Association.

Volunteers automatically would be excluded from coaching, with no chance of appeal, if convicted of certain crimes.

Under those policies, Cotnoir couldn't be considered for a coaching position until at least 2012.

The current county policy lists a range of crimes that can prevent someone from coaching, but Thornton said applicants can appeal in just about every case.

Controlling appeals

The county parks staff also wants to make the final decision about an appeal after a recommendation from the volunteer committee.

"If we're having all the liability, we should have all the responsibility to have the final say," Thornton said.

Even before the Cotnoir case, the county's vague policy proved troublesome.

Earlier this fall, the parks staff said a man wanting to coach the Brandon Broncos football team should be disqualified because of a sex crime charge involving a minor when he was a juvenile and for failing to disclose one of his arrests, Thornton said. The man had appealed last year and won. This year, he lost.

Steve Gude, football director for the Plant City Dolphins and a good friend of Cotnoir's, said he doesn't know why Cotnoir was removed from coaching.

His understanding from the county was that volunteers couldn't coach if they were convicted of crimes against children.

Cotnoir coached the Dolphins the past two years and county officials never said anything, even though the team submitted his application to the parks department, according to Gude.

Cotnoir well-liked

Gude said he's surprised that the county is acting like the team was keeping a secret. Cotnoir is a popular coach not only for the Dolphins but for Little League baseball, he said..

After he got out of prison, Cotnoir was bombarded with requests from parents to return to coaching, Gude said.

Cotnoir, a youth pastor, helps children with divorced parents and gives rides to kids whose parents don't have a car, he said. "He's that kind of guy," Gude said.

Reached at their home Thursday, Cotnoir's wife said the family had no comment.

County Commissioner Ronda Storms, whose district includes east Hillsborough, is happy with the steps Thornton is taking to tighten the county's background checks of coaches.

And while she believes that people who commit nonviolent crimes are capable of being rehabilitated, their offenses should not be taken lightly.

"You don't want to send a message to children that these (crimes) are not as important and things we don't treat seriously," she said.

Saundra Amrhein can be reached at 661-2441 or amrhein@sptimes.com.

[Last modified October 20, 2006, 06:44:16]