A longtime girl's volleyball coach in South Jersey who's been vilified on the Internet for allegedly purposely pegging one of his players in the head after a missed play says he's "troubled" by the firestorm.
Southern Regional High coach Eric Maxwell said he never intended to hit one of his players as he frustratingly chucked a volleyball across the court in a game against Cherry Hill East back in October 2009.
"I was devastated by what I had just done," coach Eric Maxwell said. "When I let go of it, within a second I realized I hit one of my players."
The incident was recorded by spectators and later uploaded to YouTube in January. But it wasn't until a few days ago that sports blogs and local papers picked up on the video and made it national news -- reopening a book that all parties involved thought was closed.
Maxwell immediately apologized to the girl, who wasn't hurt. He also apologized to the teams, parents and district and sent out a letter the next day admonishing his actions. The coach says he also willfully accepted a probationary term set forth by the school district.
But now that the video has gone viral, Maxwell has the unlucky and frustrating task of clearing the air, again.
"I saw some things that are a little troubling because people's takes are not what occurred," he said. "I guess that's the day and age we live in."
Maxwell's not proud of what he did or happy that the situation had to be brought up again, but says the worst thing you could do is "make a mistake and then try to run away from it."
It also helps that the coach isn't standing alone. The school district, while not condoning Maxwell's actions, says he's still their guy.
