Coach Fired After Parents Drink Beers

WALKERSVILLE, Md. - A Frederick County high school girls softball coach has been fired for hosting an end-of-season cookout at his Walkersville home where beer was served to other parents.

It was a cookout around Brad Young's backyard swimming pool on June 11 celebrating the end of a winning season.

"And one parent brought some beers to the party. A couple of people had those-- probably no more than five or six," said Young. "No kid was uncomfortable. No kid had access to it. No kid drank. No parent got more than probably one or two beers. I did not drink."

But another parent called the Frederick County School Board, which tells FOX 5, "The incident in question took place at what is considered an official team function."

And so Brad Young was fired and banned from coaching for three years.
 
"There's a lot behind it you know a lot of details that. Why he was ratted out in a sense? Yes, and it's just really a shame. We all feel that yes, maybe in retrospect, in hindsight he wouldn't have let-- allowed the parents to put the beer in the cooler," said Barbara Burdette, whose husband helped Young coach the team.

A financial planner by day, Young has coached the Walkersville High School Lady Lions Varsity Softball Team for the past five years. He helped to build new dugouts, and his team went 15 and 4 and to the state semifinals this spring.

"I've got an appeal in to Dr. Burgee, the superintendent of schools. I've got a hearing set for July 29, where hopefully she will look at the facts and say that what's happened is not reasonable," said Coach Young.

Frederick County school officials say, "Athletic coaches are hired and supervised by the high school athletic directors. They have one-year contracts that are subject to annual renewal."

"Coach could have been responsible to a certain degree-- however the parents, I'll make the parents more responsible than anything else for knowing they were going to an activity related to the sports, school—and they still brought the beer. So the example was not set properly by the parents," said Yolany Osorio, a Walkersville parent.

In addition to coaching the team, Young's 16-year-old daughter also plays on what is now known as his former team.