Ex-PDS hockey coach says memo has hurt him
By: Justin Feil
Chris Barcless won a lot in his nine seasons as head boys’ ice hockey coach at Princeton Day School.
He established a reputation for taking undermanned PDS teams to the top of the state. Eight times he won the state Prep B championship.
But his reputation, he says, is being torn apart by a memorandum issued April 13 by Head of School Judy Fox to the PDS community as well as to the press. The memorandum alleges that several PDS, state and collegiate rules were violated by donations from a booster club the Friends of Princeton Day School Hockey for hockey players’ tuition. The memorandum did not mention Barcless by name, but Barcless’ side says that the damage has been done.
"It’s impossible for him to go forward to seek advancement in his career," Philip Colicchio, an attorney representing Barcless, said at a press conference held Thursday to clear Barcless’ name. "For him to not address it is to say, I did all these terrible things, I did break all these rules.
"This precludes Chris from continuing at this level or higher," he added. "They’re accusing him of effectively cheating, or skirting rules. This is Chris’ life. This is Chris’ career."
Outside of PDS, Barcless has worked for 11 years at Ice Land, where he is hockey director and player development director. He also is head coach of the tier one Mercer Chiefs club team. He asserts that the fallout from the release of the memorandum is affecting his job at Ice Land.
"We’ve lost a few (clients) because of this," Barcless said.
Barcless has lost more than that. According to the memo, his resignation letter was expected by PDS, but he has not resigned. He has received a letter from PDS that effectively terminated him from the job he did not want to leave.
"That was the first thing we asked for," Barcless said. "They said, ‘Not a chance.’ After they refused my job back, we said we want a public apology. My reputation is what I build my business on. Before this, you couldn’t say anything about it. Now everyone is saying everything about it."
Princeton Day School does not believe it did anything wrong or inappropriate in sending out the memo.
"The school’s handling of this matter has been completely appropriate based on the facts and application of various principles and regulations guiding amateur sports in New Jersey," PDS attorney Neal Schonhaut, of Archer and Greiner in Princeton, said Friday. "The school kept its review of this matter private until Mr. Barcless began a public discourse which required the school to respond. That response was both limited and accurate. Mr. Barcless continues to publicize his actions while admitting many of the facts which led PDS to the proper exercise of its rights."
Barcless and his attorneys have released a Web site, www.chrisbarcless.com, that addresses the memorandum point by point. They are in the process of seeking recourse for the effects of the memo.
"The goal was never to be sitting and talking to you," Colicchio said to the press. "The goal was for them to send out a letter that recanted this, that they regret any inference or reference to Chris Barcless. The school could not. Litigation has been threatened in private discussions between counsel."
Litigation is being explored for defamation of character and for constructive termination, which means that PDS made working conditions impossible for Barcless to continue, Colicchio said.
Canceled checks presented Thursday by Colicchio showed that PDS had cashed three tuition payments provided by the Friends of Princeton Day School Hockey in support of one student, now a graduating senior. The total of the three checks was $12,500. PDS officials have said that the payments violate school and state rules, and compromise a student’s college athletic eligibility.
Central to Barcless’ argument is that PDS is not a member of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association and that he is not affiliated in any way with the Friends of Princeton Day School Hockey, though he said he has received payments from the group totaling as much as $70,000 over the past 10 years.
"For the type of line I’m in," Barcless said, "to receive gifts or outside money is not uncommon. Even the athletic department has given my family gifts during the season. They’re all for the appreciation of the job I’ve done.
"I’m not hiding anything," he added. "It’s all in the open. It’s for everyone to see."
PDS’ memo did not refer to any gift-giving to Barcless because that is not a rules infraction. The memo referred to the booster club’s tuition assistance breaking NJSIAA rules, but Barcless’ attorney pointed out that PDS does not belong to the NJSIAA. PDS, which does belong to the New Jersey Independent School Athletic Association, was cleared of any wrongdoing by NJISAA President Bill Quirk, who met with Fox and PDS Athletic Director John Levandowski before the memo was issued.
"They called me and asked to have a meeting," said Quirk, who is athletic director at The Hun School. "They informed me on what they had found out. They wanted to know what the role of the NJISAA would be. After I heard the facts, I told them that this really is all internal. It has nothing to do with the association. We regulate tournaments and we make sure every student is eligible."
Quirk says that at Hun the athletic department meets with its coaches each year and has the development office come talk about what is acceptable.
"As I say, most of the time someone wants to offer you a gift, there’s a string attached to it," Quirk said. "Our policy is, anytime somebody wants to give something to a team, they deal directly with the director of advancement."
Barcless’ attorney presented evidence that shows PDS cashed checks for a student’s tuition from the Friends of Princeton Day School Hockey as far back as 2004. Its memo, however, stated that: "In late February, the school learned of the existence of ‘The Friends of Princeton Day School Hockey.’" An NCAA bylaw concerning educational expenses prior to collegiate enrollment states that as long as the tuition assistance is paid to the school and not to the individual, there is no NCAA issue.
Martin Conroy, the attorney representing the Friends of Princeton Day School Hockey, would not comment. David Denise, who was chairman of the nonprofit foundation in 2004, did not return a call seeking comment.
Barcless contends that PDS is making him a scapegoat for the discovery of the booster club.
"In my opinion," Barcless said, "when there was some buzz that I was thinking of resigning for a year or taking a sabbatical for year, there was such an outpouring of support on my behalf, I feel that to save face for her (Fox), she had to flip it. I think she spun it into, it’s not my fault he’s leaving, he broke all these rules."
Added Colicchio: "If they didn’t like the job Chris was doing, they could have fired him. They chose a route that was very public, very embarrassing, and defamatory."
Following the memo’s issuance, PDS has begun searching for a new hockey coach. Barcless wants to make sure that he has the chance to move on without a tarnished reputation.
"My coaching ability is not in question," Barcless said. "No one is questioning my ability to be behind the bench. My morals, my integrity is being attacked."
Barcless has seen his supporters come forward, but he’s also seen something new doubters. And those detract from the hundreds of supportive e-mails.
"There’s been a lot of support," he said. "But for every five supports, there are a handful of negative posts."

