PULASKI, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Pulaski School District officials say former Packers Head Coach Mike McCarthy was involved in an incident with referees following his stepson’s basketball game Tuesday night.
And a formal complaint about the incident has been submitted to the WIAA.
Pulaski High School defeated Notre Dame Academy by one point in the regional high school boy’s basketball game. The loss ended Notre Dame’s season. McCarthy’s stepson is a member of the team.
McCarthy has been a regular face in the stands at Notre Dame Academy’s basketball games this season, however, his actions after the tight loss at Pulaski crossed a line, according to people at the game.
Janel Batten, Pulaski’s athletic director, tells FOX 11….
“This parent chose to follow the officials and berate them, which is clearly unacceptable.”
Through an open records request, FOX 11 submitted to the Pulaski School District, security footage from moments after the game has no audio, but you can see a Pulaski staff member escorting the referees out of the gym with a man following behind.
District officials confirmed the man is McCarthy.
“Some things were said, some language was used that we don’t want in our gym, unsportsmanlike language,” said Batten.
FOX 11 talked with one of the referees who did not want to talk on camera for this story, but confirmed an “unfortunate situation” happened with McCarthy that the official described as a “verbal tirade.”
Batten was asked if she had ever seen anything quite like it in her time at Pulaski…
“Not here and not in my time as an athletic director.”
The WIAA says a confidential abuse against contest officials complaint has been filed about an incident at the game.
Notre Dame Academy releasing a statement from Athletic Director Steph Mathu.
“We have been contacted by the WIAA regarding last night’s basketball game, and we are currently looking further into this situation. We will continue to stress the importance of sportsmanship and respect to our students, parents, fans, and community members.”
“Without these great officials, we can’t have great sports right?” said Batten.
“So that is important, so we’ve taken some measures in our conference, specifically at our school, we do things maybe that are a little different. We always escort these people to the court or to our stadium.”
Pulaski believes the system it has put in place prevented this situation from escalating any further.
A request for comment has been sent to the agency representing Mike McCarthy.
