Hi everyone,
I wanted to let you know that a few weeks ago Rocco, with my total support, had decided not to continue with APIA. He wanted to finish the season and try to enjoy himself. After not getting any game time yesterday and being given no explanation by the coach we have decided to stop now.
This has not been an easy decision as Rocco has played for this club since he was 5 years old which has included all SAP years, now two NPL and six years with the academy.
A few rounds ago, during our only loss of the season Angelo Rodic lost complete control of his emotions, not for the first time, and at half time was abusing all the boys. When he highlighted a mistake Rocco had made Rocco responded that he thought the referee had made a mistake. Obviously given Angelo’s emotional state this was an error of judgement on Rocco’s part but it was a display of his frustration at the referee, something all the coaches regularly engage in. Angelo told Rocco to “love off”, looked away and then back and told him to “love off and get out of my sight”. Rocco spent the second half on the bench, the first time this season he had not been on the pitch. After the team lost the game and Angelo was again abusing the boys at the end he told Rocco he may have played his last game for the club. This experience was very confronting for Rocco.
Later that afternoon I phoned Angelo and respectfully sought some explanation about his comments. He aggressively told me not to phone him after a game.
Since that time Rocco’s game time has gradually decreased culminating in him sitting on the bench for the entire game yesterday. Neither Angelo or any of the other coaches offered him any explanation.
I am aware Rocco is not the first child to be abused and excluded this way by this coach and this is not the first time he has been abused although not to this level. One player already left our team this year for similar reasons as did, I’m told a few of the under 13s and some boys in the teams he coached last year due to this person’s abuse. I have witnessed him verbally abusing and mocking kids over the last two years including when he called one of the current players a “beautiful retard”. I am also told that a few years back he was sacked by the president of the club from coaching for abusing a kid. Apparently this type of oversight of the club no longer exists.
Clearly this man is verbally abusive and threatening, he intimidates and humiliates through exclusion and snide remarks. Speaking with a colleague of mine who is a lawyer in the child protection space I am aware that this is in a legal sense child abuse as well as being wrong. Some people, particularly those of the ‘old school’, might think it builds resilience in kids but it can also cause harm.
I think this is part of a larger cultural problem at this club which has resulted in a toxic environment. This man’s behaviour is at the least enabled by Nick Rizzo who could not be unaware of what is going on. Presumably no action is taken against Angelo Rodic.
In my opinion the elite arm of this club now operates without values. Things like respect, trust, honestly, family, are not valued . Apparently the driving principle is profit through the academy. We see this when, for example, team training in school holidays is cancelled and the boys expected to attend an academy clinic, for a fee of course. The other motivation seems to be the boosting of the coaches own status through winning or having a boy ‘make it ‘. It seems obvious that there is no real care about the boys.
I have been aware of this culture for a while and must take responsibility for allowing my son to be exposed to it. Rocco’s mother has been saying this for many years and wanted him to leave but it is difficult not to be invested in the dreams of your child.
The silver lining for us is that my son will now be free of this toxic culture and bullying. Further, he will now not be exposed to poor role models. Hopefully he can now go and play this game with a smile on his face which is a rare sight these days at APIA.
I will be sending this message to the board so if you experience anything similar you may feel able to raise it at that level. Eventually, I would hope, they would be compelled to act.
All the best for you and your boys’ future. Rocco has formed some very strong friendships over the years. Thanks also to the friends I have made.
Peter