Coach Amero ousted at BHS

By Tom Williams

The 12-year veteran led the Spartans to the Div. I state softball title in 2001.

BOARDMAN — One of the Boardman High School’s most successful head coaches is no longer wanted.

Bill Amero, Boardman’s softball coach for 12 seasons, has been told that the school board will not renew his contract for the 2009 season.

Amero, who admits he’s “frustrated” by the board’s decision, is the only coach to lead a Boardman team to a state championship. In 2001, Amero’s Spartans defeated Hamilton, 4-1, for the Division I crown.

Since 1995, Amero and Canfield’s Ronie Haurin are the only Valley softball coaches to win state titles. On June 7, Canfield defeated Celina, 6-0, for the Div. II title. Poland’s Reid Lamport (2001) and Champion’s Cheryl Weaver (2006) coached state runners-up.

Superintendent Frank Lazzeri said Friday that the school board has decided that the softball program “needs to be taken in a different direction.”

Lazzeri declined to say what prompted the administration and the school board to sour on Amero.

“There isn’t a coach in the system that I haven’t received complaints about,” Lazzeri said.

“Bill is a great guy,” Lazzeri said. “We appreciate what he’s done for the program but things sometimes run their cycle.”

This season, Amero’s Spartans finished 16-13, losing to Brunswick, 3-2, in the Div. I district semifinals.

Amero, the president-elect for the Ohio High School Softball Coaches Association, said he’s aware that complaints from parents about his coaching style have been made to administrators. Those complaints prompted administrators to have athletic director Dave Smercansky conduct “exit interviews” with softball players after the season ended.

Amero later met with Smercansky and Boardman High principal Timothy Saxton.

Lazzeri said Amero, who is not an employee of Boardman schools, has had a one-year contract each year he coached. Amero works for Community Bus Services.

Because staff members are given priority, non-staff coaches’ contracts are not automatically renewed in case staff members apply for the position.

In 12 seasons, Amero compiled a record of 248-104.

When Amero took over the Boardman team in 1997, Fitch was the top program in the Steel Valley Conference. In Amero’s third season, the Spartans began its run as the SVC’s dominant program.

In 2000, the Spartans were state runners-up, losing to 3-1 to Hilliard Darby in the title game.

In 2002, the Spartans made their third straight trip to state, losing 1-0 to Cincinnati Sycamore in the semifinals.

In 2003, Boardman and Fitch left the SVC for the Federal League, which includes softball state champions Uniontown Lake (2005) and North Canton Hoover (2006, 2008).

Playing tough competition was something Amero relished. Over the years, Amero is one of the few to say he was happy to be playing a Federal League schedule.

“Teams are dying to get on Hoover’s schedule — we get to play them twice a year,” Amero said.

Lazzeri said the softball coaching position has been posted for staff members to apply. He doesn’t know if the position will be filled when the school board meets July 28.

williams@vindy.com