PONY League Releases Coach Convicted of Injuring 11-Year-Old : Sports: Directors receive an anonymous tip about the retired sheriff’s deputy. He kneed a boy in the groin.
PALMDALE — The Palmdale PONY League released an assistant coach Tuesday after learning that the man was convicted last year of kneeing an 11-year-old boy in the groin on a Little League field.
A retired sheriff’s deputy, Michael J. DiDonna, was sentenced to 90 days in County Jail and three years probation in May after being convicted of misdemeanor inflicting injury on a child. He was also convicted of misdemeanor battery, a charge stemming from an unrelated incident in which he punched a man. DiDonna has appealed the convictions.
DiDonna was selected as an assistant coach late last month. After the PONY League’s 15-member board of directors received an anonymous call about DiDonna’s conviction, it decided to release the coach.
Doug Lechner, PONY League president, said, “When we found out the problem, we went through our steps and he’s now eliminated. You can’t ask anything more out of an organization.â€
DiDonna declined to comment beyond saying the anonymous tip was the result of a personal feud.
The league has 40 ball teams for youths aged 5 to 14 and at least 80 volunteer coaches and managers, Lechner said. Parents of the 500-plus youth league members who are interested in coaching fill out an application and are then selected by the board of directors. Lechner said the application does not inquire about criminal background.
Edd Freeman, assistant region director for the PONY baseball West Zone High Desert Region, said guidelines are followed in selecting coaches.
“If you’ve had any problems in the past with law enforcement, we kind of shy away from those kinds of people,†he said. “If we have information that you have had problems in the community, we shy away from those people.â€
He added, “We don’t want anybody that’s going to hurt the kids or embarrass the program.â€
An administrator with PONY Baseball Inc., the Pennsylvania-based nonprofit corporation that operates PONY Baseball/Softball, said the organization does not have any requirements or rules about who should be allowed to coach.
“Each league is just a registered entity with PONY baseball,†said Abe Key, administrative director for PONY Baseball Inc. “The local organizing people are responsible solely for organizing their local league. We play no part in telling them how to operate or who to select as coaches, although we try to educate them about the proper selection process. Part of our responsibility is as an educational organization.â€
Lechner said the league was not aware of DiDonna’s conviction for kneeing the 11-year-old boy until the board received an anonymous call last week. Then newspaper clippings about DiDonna’s May, 1993, convictions arrived at the league office over the weekend.
“We took an action after we became aware of the problem,†said Lechner, noting that the season began March 12 and that DiDonna had done a fine job. DiDonna and his son, who plays in the league, will continue to be members.
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