By Matthew Santoni

Published: Thursday, September 22, 2011

Two Mt. Lebanon youth football coaches have resigned over an incident earlier this month in which they became confrontational with children and were cited for disorderly conduct.

Jeffrey Borris and Michael Ventrone used obscene language and threatened violence after a football practice near Markham Elementary on Sept. 8, according to court records. Witnesses said a child not on the team was struck with a football before throwing the ball into a wooded area.

The coaches then became confrontational and threatening toward the child and adults who tried to intervene, with Ventrone telling the child, "I will choke you out," according to the citation.

Mt. Lebanon Football Association President Chip Dalesandro said the association's board of directors met the next morning and asked the two men to step down. They had been coaches with the organization for four years.

"They're good coaches, they're good guys and they're good with kids, but ... (the board) had to put that stuff aside," Dalesandro said. "They didn't handle things well."

The association is a nonprofit organization fielding teams for youths in first through sixth grades. The two coaches received summonses for two counts each of disorderly conduct, though court records did not yet show a hearing date.

In the city of Pittsburgh, police cracked down on youth football teams by requiring coaches to pass background checks and carry identification following an August 2010 shootout at a game in Homewood. Police sweeps of games in Homewood last weekend resulted in three coaches without credentials being sent home and a gun found in a car.

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