Editor’s note: Boys tennis coach Timothy M. Kelley is not related to Ocean City School District Business Administrator Timothy E. Kelley. This article concerns the coach.
OCEAN CITY — Two Ocean City High School coaches spoke up for a pair of colleagues who were reappointed to one sport at last Wednesday evening’s meeting but a month earlier had not been renewed as coaches of the girls basketball team after a months-long controversy.
Sean Matthews and Ed Ritti appeared before the board during public comment to voice their support for former girls basketball coach Michael Cappelletti and assistant Timothy M. Kelley. Kelley and Cappelletti were reappointed as the head coach and assistant coach, respectively, of the boys tennis team at the meeting. The board voted not to renew Cappelletti’s contract as the head girls basketball coach at the May board meeting and took no action on the assistant coaches’ positions. Both remain vacant.
Matthews, a physical education teacher who coaches in all three sports seasons, questioned why the board would reappoint the coaches to one sport but not another.
He asked why the men would want those coaching jobs after they have faced public scrutiny, had their names “dragged through the mud” and had the school board vote against Cappelletti returning as the basketball coach.
Noting that students consistently challenge teachers on their knowledge and authenticity on a range of issues and hold them accountable, he turned that on the board.
“As a member of our community — resident, teacher and coach — I ask myself these questions all the time about the current situation with coach Cappelletti and coach Kelley,” he said.
“Why would a coach leave his wife and three children at home and return to work after a near-death experience after eight weeks?
“Why would a superintendent (Thomas Baruffi) with 20-plus years of experience recommend these two men to be rehired to coach basketball and tennis at our school if they’re harmful to students?
“Why wouldn’t a meeting take place in executive session with the coaching staff and school officials to discuss what’s happening right now? With both parties having representation … to make sure things go smoothly?”
“Please help us understand,” Matthews said.
In February, nearly the entire girls basketball team appeared before the school board and asked that Cappelletti and Kelley not be renewed as coaches. They had a lengthy statement read to the board that questioned the coaching and treatment they received and the failure of the administration to respond to their concerns before the made those concerns public.
In subsequent months, parents of players also appeared before the board detailing ways in which they said the coaching was harsh, improper and included name-calling, and how their daughters became the subject of attacks on social media and in person at school questioning their character and toughness, even though they had received numerous varsity letters in multiple sports and had never had issues before with other coaches.
Others also appeared before the board to stand up for Cappelletti and Kelley, vouching for their coaching and their integrity. That was part of the message Matthews and Ritti advanced last week.
Matthews talked about how Cappelletti suffered a “near-death experience” yet returned to coaching quickly. He said he was there Oct. 23, 2015 “when Michael Cappelletti unexpectedly fell and dropped dead in front of me and two other coaches in our coaches room from complications of an aneurysm.”
He said as Cappelletti was wheeled out, there were tears rolling down the cheeks of the high school football players, “not knowing what would happen to their coach.”
He said the coach recovered and was able to go home to his family, then within eight weeks returned to the sidelines to coach the girls junior varsity basketball team. (Cappelletti was assistant to longtime coach Paul Baruffi for 15 years before being named head coach for the 2021-22 season after Baruffi retired from coaching. Paul Baruffi and interim Superintendent Thomas Baruffi are brothers.)
“His actions over those eight weeks to get him to that point inspire me to this day as a husband, as a father, as a teacher and a coach,” Matthews said.
Over the past seven years, he added, Cappelletti “refuses to let me down as a source of inspiration and someone to look up to.” Talking about all the work he did off-season with the girls basketball team, “every summer I witness accountability from coach Cappelletti. I witness toughness from coach Cappelletti toward his players. Most importantly, I saw his players respond in a way you would want to see your student athletes respond in a tough situation.”
Ritti, a mathematics teacher and head coach of the golf team, spoke about his oldest son, Owen, who graduated the week before from OCHS.
“I want to thank all of his teachers. He is the man he is because of his teachers. I especially want to thank Matt Purdue, Steve Hoffman and Anthony Johnson for coaching him in 12 seasons,” Ritti said. He pointed out his son received 12 varsity letters, set school and county records, won a state title and was Ocean City High School’s Athlete of the Year.
“He drives himself, but he drives himself because his coaches lead the way,” Ritti said, adding it wasn’t just because of the track coaches, but “because of every coach in this district.” He said coaches take pride in their athletes, spend countless hours paid and unpaid away from their families “because we know what it means to be a coach in Ocean City.”
He also noted he was in a “unique position” to comment on the girls basketball coaching because for the past eight years, except for the season missed because of COVID, he worked the clocks at most of the girls and boys basketball games and witnessed a lot of bad behavior, but not from the coaches.
“I was proud every time I left the gym that Mike Cappelletti and his coaching staff was representing Ocean City. He was a source of inspiration, he was positive, he always pushed his team to be better because he knew they could be better,” Ritti said. “And that’s what we expect in this district, athletically and academically. It’s that we push ourselves to be better. That’s what he did and what he continues to do.”
There was no action taken as Cappelletti and Kelley were renewed as tennis coaches before public comment, but a few school board members commented.
Cecilia Gallelli-Keyes, one of the seven board members who voted not to renew Cappelletti as the basketball coach, said “there are two sides to every story” and that the board had to listen to both sides “to make the best decision” about the coaches.
Fellow member Bill Holmes, one of the four board members who wanted to renew Cappelletti, credited Cappelletti and other OCHS coaches and teachers for instilling values into his children, including two sons now in the military and a daughter who graduated the week before.
He said aside from family guidance, teachers and coaches deserve credit for how she turned out — her dedication, her teamwork and her drive.
“She had outstanding coaches. They pushed her. They drove her,” he said.
“I have two boys who are serving in the military. They played for coach Capp and several other coaches as well. I can tell you, the drive they have in life, the dedication, the ability to get through some of the toughest situations they see on a daily basis,” Holmes said. “It comes from not being patted on the back every time you do something. It is being driven to do your best every single time you go out there. As a society I think we have gotten away from pushing people, obviously. Everything is sugar-coated, everything is a trophy for everyone.
“In the real world it isn’t a trophy for everyone. You have to work hard. You have to pay your own way. You have to pull your bootstraps up. You have to work hard each and every day to better yourself,” he said. “I would like to thank all of the staff in Ocean City for their dedication and hard work. The education my children have received is top-notch.”
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff