NewsWednesday, October 24, 2007 4:08 PM CDT

Comments (8) |

E-mail this page |

Print this page |

Enlarge type |

Reduce type |

Search archives |

RSS feeds |

Add to My Yahoo!

Soccer mom accused of attacking coach with chair

By Michael Frazier
Newsday (MCT)

NEW YORK -- An East Rockaway, N.Y., soccer mom angered over being dropped from the team e-mailing list for game-day directions was arrested after slamming a metal folding chair across the face of her daughter’s coach, police said Tuesday.

Alicia Vigil, 33, was charged Monday with second-degree reckless endangerment in the 2:45 p.m. attack Sunday.

Vigil, who was released without bail pending a Nov. 1 court date, said Tuesday that she didn’t hit Nassau Queens Coach Sam Schwarzman.

Schwarzman, 67, who suffered a cut to the lip and cheek in the attack, said Vigil is telling “a total lie,” referring to her defense.

The incident is the second recent incident in which a parent is accused of having a violent encounter with a coach. Earlier this month, the father and uncle of a youth league baseball player were arrested on assault charges after, police say, they charged at the boy’s coach after he benched the 11-year-old for cursing during batting practice.

Both sides in Monday’s incident agreed that Vigil brought her daughter, 12, who was injured and did not play, to watch the game at Sewaneka High School. They differed on what happened after the Nassau Queens’ 3-2 loss to the Floral Park Fireballs.

Vigil said she approached Schwarzman after the game and asked why he stopped e-mailing her directions to visiting games. He responded with a torrent of curses, she said.

“He called me a (expletive) and criticized me for being a single mother,” she said. “I was so afraid. I was so scared that he was going to do something to me.”

Vigil said she just walked away with her daughter, who was on crutches.

In contrast, police and Schwarzman said Vigil, approached the coach and cursed him. “She came running across the field. She called me an American, an American,” Schwarzman said. He said he took her off the e-mail list because she e-mailed “nasty letters” about practices and other matters.

Schwarzman admitted he made a negative remark about the woman being a single mother with two daughters, ages 12 and 10. But he said he tried to avoid the confrontation by walking to his car.

Vigil followed, picked up a nearby folding chair, and in view of her daughter, “slammed me in the face with it three times,” Schwarzman said. “I never touched her.”

Vigil then keyed a van she thought was the coach’s before leaving, Schwarzman said. He said Vigil must have been upset over more than the directions, but he didn’t know what. He said her oldest daughter and his daughter attended the same school and both played on his team.

“This is the first incident I have ever had,” said Schwarzman, a four-year volunteer coach with the team of girls, ages 12 and 13.

Vigil’s daughter, who suffered a knee injury in a junior high soccer game, has been on the Nassau Queens of the Lynbrook/East Rockaway Soccer Club about a year and a half, he said.

So far, there has been no action taken against the girl or her mother, said Soccer Club President Guy Punzi. He said no parents have ever filed a complaint against Schwarzman. “He’s a volunteer who stepped up to coach the team when no one else would,” Punzi said.

(c) 2007, Newsday. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

E-mail this story | Print this story | Search archives | RSS

Show comments | Hide comments | Hide comments on all stories

Subscribe to the Pantagraph

Contact the Pantagraph staff

Home page | Previous page | Top

Ads by Yahoo!

Online Degrees

Get Your AA, BA, Masters or PhD at a Top Online School. Start Now.
www.NexTag.com

Weekly New Car Bargains

Find a Dealer's Weekly Specials . Get a Free New Car Quote in Seconds.
CarBargainsWeekly.com

Video

Most commented stories

Top 10 from the past 14 days

Browse online archives

Recent issues:

Reader comments on this story - 8 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

PluMpARENTING wrote on Oct 30, 2007 11:02 AM:

" It not only angers me that this parent would do something so stupid over a game, but that she did this in front of her child and most likley other children. This is only teaching her child that it is okay to act out because you are angry. In my opinion this woman clearly needs to grow up. "

TDOG wrote on Oct 24, 2007 2:41 PM:

" Parents are crazy when it comes to there kids playing!! "

re: Don't mess wrote on Oct 24, 2007 2:35 PM:

" Yea right. Sounds like someone forgot to take their Midol. No wonder she's a single mother. "

Stupid parents wrote on Oct 24, 2007 12:12 PM:

" Great example for the children. "

Jim Ross wrote on Oct 24, 2007 11:35 AM:

" Good God Almighty, she just hit him with that chair. She's whipping the coach like a government mule... "

Of course wrote on Oct 24, 2007 10:43 AM:

" Since she's a woman, no assault charges were filed. Or vandalism for the keying. Or Cries of racism for using "American" as an insult. "

Enough is Enough wrote on Oct 24, 2007 8:37 AM:

" I think it's time to put an end to this violent game of soccer. So much running and kicking and head-butting, it's no wonder the kids involved are turning into mayhem-crazed hooligans. We need to get back to more peaceful, team building games such as dodgeball and tackle football. You don't see dodgeball fans getting drunk and setting fire to the stadium like those crazy soccer fans in Germany! "

Don't mess~ wrote on Oct 24, 2007 7:04 AM:

" With us soccer moms!!! "

Add your own comments

Please read the rules before posting comments.

You must be logged in to leave comments.
If you don't have a member ID, please register.

*Member ID:
*Password:
Remember login? (requires cookies)
	Forgot Your Password?

Customer Service | 301 W. Washington St., PO Box 2907, Bloomington, IL 61701-2907 | Ph. 309-829-9000 | 800-747-7323