Parsippany Father, Former Coach Banned From Seeing His Son Play Ball

A Parsippany father and former youth baseball coach will no longer get to see his son play Little League baseball after being permanently banned last week.

However, league officials say that could have been avoided with an apology.

Scott Dean, who had been a Par-Troy West Little League coach the past four years, has been banned from all league activities for what some board members have considered a "smear campaign" against the PTWLL after he was not selected as a coach this year.

League President Frank Neglia said the PTWLL Executive Board-Disciplinary Committee ruled at a May 12 meeting that Dean violated numerous provisions of the parental code of ethics, acted in a manner contrary to the Model Athletic Code of Conduct and engaged in conduct detrimental to the PTWLL.

As a result, Dean's "member-in-good-standing" status was revoked/suspended for seven years; he was banned from the Par-Troy West Little League complex and from all PTWLL events/functions for seven years, with the exception of attending his son's games; and he was asked to send letters of apology to the PTWLL Board of Directors, Neglia and the league in general for what league officials claim are false allegations that Dean made against the board for allegedly misappropriating and mishandling league funds.

However, Neglia said no letters of apology were received, resulting in Dean's permanent ban from all league activities, including attending his son's games, and he is no longer permitted at the league's playing facility.

According to a June 2 letter to Dean from the PTWLL Executive Board-Disciplinary Committee, "your presence at any Par-Troy West Little League facility or event shall be considered trespassing and the police will be summoned to escort you off the premises and charges filed."

“[The ban is] only of his own fault and his own actions,” Neglia told Patch this week. “We’ve tried up until a week ago to continue with him. All he had to do was write a letter of apology for his actions and it would have been over. But he refuses to do that. He continually refused to speak with us, yet he continues to slander us.”

Dean doesn't believe he did anything that warranted an apology and questions the severity of the punishment.

"I should be banned for actions that I did, not because I didn't write a letter," Dean said. "I didn't do anything to apologize for. This is Little League, not some federal organization. He's not running a government in town."

Dean insists he's being "blacklisted" from coaching in the league because of his ongoing feud with another league coach, Carmine Verducci. Dean claims Verducci acted with "unsportsmanlike behavior” during his coaching tenure. Dean believes he's now being punished for voicing his concerns.

"This guy [Verducci] has got a very long past of problems with youth sports, being more about winning...just unsportsmanlike conduct for 8- and 9-year-old kids,” Dean said. 

Kim and Carmine Verducci responded to Dean’s allegations via email.

“Mr. Dean’s accusations of both my husband and I are totally false. He is just an angry man with a chip on his shoulder towards Par-Troy West Little League because he was not approved as a manager or coach back in February. Since then, he has been on what some may consider a smear campaign towards the League and all the Board Members.”

Dean claims his issues with Verducci, which he expressed to Neglia and the board, have been "swept under the rug" because Verducci's wife, Kim, is a member of he PTWLL Board of Directors.

Neglia responded to Dean’s allegations, explaining the selection process for coaches that occur before each season and why Dean was not among those picked this year.

“Every year, people who are interested in coaching are presented to the Board of Directors by the player agent and the president,” he said. “I personally presented Scott Dean’s name to be approved by the Board of Directors. Each board of director has the opportunity to vote on every individual. They vote ‘yes,' or they vote ‘no.' The way each board member votes is their prerogative. In Mr. Dean’s case, he received more ‘no’ votes than ‘yes’ votes.”

But Dean disagrees, convinced there are other factors why he wasn’t approved to coach this season.

“All of these parents tell me how good of a coach I was,” Dean said. “Not only do these kids learn baseball, but they learned a little bit of respect and everything else, because quite frankly, I am a good coach.”

According to Neglia, the selection process each year begins with all interested candidates being placed on a list that is distributed to the league's 24-member board and president.

During a private, closed session, each name is called and members vote either "yes" or "no," and are not required to provide any explanation for their decision, Neglia said. Since this is done in closed session, the exact total of those who voted in favor and against Dean is not able to be released, Neglia said.

After all candidates are voted on, the league directors, vice presidents and player agent select the managers and coaches, Neglia said.

"I would say a good 70 percent of [these board members], I've never met in my life," Dean said. "They've never seen me coach, but they claim that each individual person voted 'no' on me, when I've never seen them. They've never met me before."

Neglia said Dean had opportunities to address the board after the selection process, including at least four regular board meetings, but declined to do so.

“We gave him every opportunity to come forward and speak to us,” Neglia said. “We’ve asked him to sit down and talk about it, and he refused it. He even at one point had an attorney call and say, ‘he’s not showing to meet with you,' after [Dean] requested the meeting. ... How do you talk to someone who doesn’t want to talk to you?”

After not being selected as a coach this year, Dean said he began to investigate the league's operations. Dean has since made accusations that the league has been mishandling funds and has committed "15 to 20 violations of their own consitutional bylaws from Little League International."

But Neglia and the board refute Dean's claims, saying they have nothing to hide.

“That’s totally false,” Neglia said. “In fact, you can go online and see our 9-90 anytime you want. We file a 9-90 every year, we file a CRI every year, and in fact, we have an independent audit done every year by a third-party auditor. Everything we do is in accordance with all of the rules and regulations, not only with the IRS and consumer affairs, but also with Little League Inc."

Neglia insists Dean has been on a mission to "disrupt the league" since not being selected as a coach this season.

“He wanted to do whatever he could to disrupt the league,” Neglia said. “For a person who claims so much that he cares about the kids, to try and do so much damage and to try and disrupt the league is really mind-boggling."

According to Neglia and the PTWLL Executive Board, Dean never made an effort to discuss or resolve the matter, rather he went on what Neglia described as a “personal smear campaign against the league.” 

“In my mind, it was a lot of sour grapes when it started,” Neglia said. “If he would have just came to [the board] and said, ‘hey guys, why wasn’t I approved to coach, can I sit down and talk to you?’ In all reality, that’s been done before and we’ve had a nice chat with the person. And that person was always given an opportunity the next season, or maybe even later on that season, to get back involved in coaching. But he didn’t take it that way.

"The irony is that I actually supported Scott in the beginning, and I put his name forward to be approved as a manager or coach."

Representatives from the New Jersey District 1 Little League as well as Little League International have supported the PTWLL's decision to permanently ban Dean.

In an email to Dean and the PTWLL Board of Directors that Neglia shared with Patch, Patrick Holden, of Little League International, said that while his office does not have the authority to overrule the ban, the PTWLL's decision was "done so in a manner that we support."

"The matter is closed," Holden wrote,"unless the league feels it necessary to re-address with [Dean] this year or in the future."