Pompelia dismissal disturbs VASJ coach

Pompelia dismissal disturbs VASJ coach

Dear Fanfare:

I am deeply disturbed after reading Steve Ruman’s article on Warren John F. Kennedy dismissing one of their own — Shawn Pompelia — as head basketball coach.

Why am I disturbed? I’m deeply concerned about the future of high school athletics. Do parents always coddle their children? If they did, the end result is a spoiled kid. Coaching is no different.

Sure, we as coaches all make mistakes, but isn’t it a pillar of Christianity to forgive and continue to love? I’m not condoning foul language, but if that is the metric in which high school coaches are fired then by all means please call my athletic director and put me in the class of coaches who have used a “potty word” and have me dismissed.

Let me tell you what I do know — I have known Shawn Pompelia for three years. Shawn Pompelia is a good coach. I’ve always been impressed with how hard and smart his teams play. Warren JFK has not been very talented. I’ve often said if he coached somewhere else (say VASJ for example) he would be considered one of the best coaches in Ohio. He has built that program up from ground zero as a graduate of Warren JFK and this is what he gets? Wow.

Shawn Pompelia is a family man. He is not doing this for the money. He treats his team like his family, like they are his sons. His team went to church together, they did fund-raisers for the school together. He has a high profile job outside of coaching with an amazing family that supports him in giving back to the school that he loves and this is what he gets? Wow.

Shawn Pompelia is a good man, one of the best I have ever met. Last year, his team went and fed the poor during Thanksgiving. In a day in age when coaches often self promote Shawn never does. He tells me all the time, “It’s about team, Kwas. ... It’s about Warren JFK.”

If I were in a leadership position at Warren JFK, I would tell the students this is a man we should emulate. Yet this is what he gets? Wow.

What you learn in coaching is that it is a thankless profession. What makes it worth it is the young men and families you get to interact with. You can either manage or lead your team.

When you manage them you always do what is politically correct in order to not upset one or two parents that will try to get you fired. When you lead you make the best decisions for your players and your program regardless of what others may think.

I truly feel for the kids at Warren JFK. They lost a good coach, a good leader and a great man.

Guys like Shawn are at a premium these days. Best of luck trying to replace someone who cares about Warren JFK as much as Coach “Pompee” does.

Babe Kwasniak

Boys Basketball Coach

Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School

Cleveland