By Chris Hunn, Register Staff

STRATFORD — Girls’ basketball coach Steve Schuler said Monday he was fired by Lauralton Hall in the midst of his fifth season for the Crusaders.

Schuler sat in the stands of Lauralton Hall’s 53-27 win over Bunnell. He said he attended the game, which raised money for breast cancer awareness, because both of his parents were cancer survivors.

Schuler said he was fired Monday morning after a meeting with Lauralton Hall principal Ann Praston.

“I started playing freshmen and sophomores over seniors, and that didn’t go over well, so the parents went and complained, and I got fired,” Schuler, 37, said. “I feel certain parents cared about their daughter, and only their daughter, not the benefit of the team. ... The reason was because parents give a lot of money to the school, and they have pull in the school. They don’t care about the benefit of the team. They care about their daughter individually.”

Praston sat a few rows in front of Schuler at Monday’s game. She said Schuler was no longer the coach of the Crusaders, but would not comment further.

An assistant under Schuler for his five seasons, Don Cornelio coached Lauralton Hall Monday and will remain as head coach for the rest of the season.

“I have all the respect in the world for him as a head coach, and that’s all I can say,” Cornelio, 55, said. “It’s unfortunate.”

Schuler also said the issues with parents is something that has been on-going. He said he was fired in June, but rehired a few weeks later.

“Over the summer, I was told we were going to have a meeting to discuss the upcoming year and possible practices times,” Schuler said. “I walked in and was told I was fired because a couple of senior parents were upset because they weren’t captains and weren’t playing. I was told to tell the papers I resigned and I refused because I didn’t resign. Later that month, I was asked for their forgiveness, and they said it was a bad mistake.”

He added parents have expressed their displeasure about their daughters’ playing time through text messages, e-mails and phone calls. He also said parents have approached him after games and practices screaming at him about the same issues. Continued...

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Schuler would not name the parents.

Lauralton Hall, ranked No. 5 in the Register Top 10 poll, moved to 13-1 behind Keylantra Langley’s 19 points Monday. Schuler guided the Crusaders to the semifinals of the Class LL state tournament last season.

“I’ve never done anything morally or ethically wrong,” Schuler said. “It’s hard, Especially having the best player in the state (St. John’s-bound Langley) that I groomed, and I can’t coach her for her senior year.”

Chris Hunn can be reached at chunn@newhavenregister.com.

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