Little League mother guilty of assault
A Wakefield Little League mother was ordered to watch a sportsmanship video and write an essay about it after she was found guilty yesterday of assaulting an 11-year-old boy who was cheering the opposing team at her son's game nearly two years ago, according to the Middlesex district attorney's office.
Valerie Yianacopolus, 41, was sentenced to one year of probation, including 50 hours of community service, an anger management program, the video assignment, and an order to stay away from the victim, according to Emily LaGrassa, spokeswoman for the district attorney's office. The case stems from a May 2003 game at which Yianacopolus, a mother of two who had served as the secretary and as a coach in the league, jumped into a fight between her son and another boy.
''I think it sends a message that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated and that parents are expected to be role models in sports, not to set poor examples," LaGrassa said of the sentence.
The assault became a symbol of what many see as an overly intense youth sports culture driven by out-of-control parents. Reports of the encounter made headlines as far away as California.
Yianacopolus was originally charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, her shod foot. But Judge Jonathan Brant found her guilty only of assault and battery, ruling that her sandal was not a dangerous weapon.
Brant found Yianacopolus not guilty on a second assault-and-battery charge, that she had also shoved the victim.
Shortly afterwards, the league's board of directors voted unanimously to ban Yianacopolus from games and all other Little League activity. It also removed her as secretary of the board and stripped her of her job as rookie league coach.
Yianacopolus's lawyer, Thomas V. Orlandi, could not be reached for comment last night, but he and Yianacopolus had maintained her innocence in previous interviews.
Orlandi also represented Thomas F. Junta, a Reading man convicted of manslaughter in 2002 for beating another father to death at their sons' hockey practice.
Witnesses of the Little League fight offered differing accounts at the time. Some said Yianacopolus swore at the boy and kicked him as her son, also 11 at the time, attacked him. Others disputed those accounts, including an umpire at the game who said she did not kick the boy.
Cy Bode, who was coaching the opposing team that day and is now league president, said he did not see Yianacopolus kick the boy, ''but any type of behavior that brings about so much distress was inappropriate, and it shouldn't have happened."
The sportsmanship video was produced by the Middlesex district attorney's office in 2003.
Yianacopolus's husband, Glenn, is still a coach in the league, and their son played until last season, Bode said.
In response to the fight, the league instituted a strict zero-tolerance policy against inappropriate behavior, Bode said.
''I think almost all of youth sports over the last few years has been made aware of the need to take appropriate action as soon as possible," he said. ''I don't understand it. These are kids. They're very young,and they don't need to see these things."
Scott Goldstein can be reached at sgoldstein@globe.com.
