USCGA Women's Basketball Coach Found Dead

Luigi59

Banned
Joined
Apr 1, 2007
Messages
4,566
USCGA Women's Basketball Coach Found Dead
By Kira Goldenberg
Published on 3/15/2009 - theday.com

New London - Alex Simonka, the head coach of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy women's basketball team, was found dead in his car on campus early Saturday evening.

Simonka's death, which was discovered around 5:30 p.m., was still being investigated by Coast Guard Investigative Services and the New London Police Department late Saturday night, according to Petty Officer Ryan Doss, assistant public affairs officer.

Simonka, 52, of Gales Ferry, recently completed his 16th season coaching the team. He is a 1999 inductee into the CGA Hall of Fame who played football, basketball and baseball for the Bears as a cadet from 1976-79.

Simonka still holds two CGA athletic records: most touchdown receptions in a football game (three) and most baseball at-bats without a strikeout (106). He also led the Bears to their first NCAA basketball tournament berth in the 1978-79 season.
 
That is just horrible!!!!

Prayers to all the family, friends and Cadets...
 
wow, incredibly sad news.....my prayers go out to his family and his extended Coast Guard Family
 
The Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy passes the following message to the Academy Community:

It is with great sadness that I share with you that one of our own, Mr. Alex Simonka, our Athletics Division Business Manager and Women's Basketball Coach, was found dead in his car here at the Academy on Saturday evening March 14, 2009.

Alex Simonka was a mentor, coach, and friend, and we are all deeply hurt by this tragedy.

Situations such as this often cause us to ask more questions than there are answers, but for now I ask that we focus on providing support to those most affected by this loss, and by providing our deepest sympathy to the family members left behind.

For more than 30 years Alex Simonka served the Coast Guard and the Academy in various capacities as both an officer and a civilian employee. Those who knew Alex best saw his passion for helping others, and his interest in developing and inspiring future Coast Guard leaders.

This loss will affect each of us differently, and assistance will be available for anyone who needs it. Academy chaplains and counselors will be available in the Upper Leamy Hall Lounge starting today for anyone who desires assistance. A Critical Incident Stress Management Team will be available Monday afternoon.

More information regarding memorial services and support will be passed as it becomes available.

Alex's family, friends, and all those whose lives he touched are in my thoughts and prayers. Please join me in remembering Mr. Alex Simonka for the many lives he impacted in a positive way, and help look after those most affected by his loss.

Sincerely,

RADM J. Scott Burhoe
Superintendent, USCGA
 
Very sad. My prayers go out to his family, friends, and the Coast Guard community who looked up to him and worked with him.
 
What a tragedy for this coach, his family, CGA Athletics and the CGA.

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/03/ap_cg_basketballcoach_032409/

It appears CGA athletics was a one man show - what a shame. Possibly a violation of Sarbanes-Oxley prompted the investigation.
Going forward - I hope that the athletic program will not suffer and that the CGA athletic department will be run completely separate from the Athletic Association.
My condolences to all.
 
JAM, thanks for posting the Navy Times update. I agree with LITS that any speculation is inappropriate. However, the article was very enlightening.
 
Oddly this thread remains yet the thread(s) last month about the West Point cadet who ran through the barracks drunk and attacked two female cadets (supported by appropriate links to newspaper articles as well) was deleted.

:thumbdown:
 
There is already a thread on this as stated above. I will merge the two threads and we'll go from there.
 
We can go from here to delete the thread, based on the proximity to both current CG officers and CG cadets who use this forum. If not deleted, I hope the admin keep a close eye to make sure this doesn't head any further south.
 
We can go from here to delete the thread, based on the proximity to both current CG officers and CG cadets who use this forum. If not deleted, I hope the admin keep a close eye to make sure this doesn't head any further south.

Honestly? I suppose there are those small minded individuals who would rather read that it was a sex scandal involving underage male swabs. Personally, to me, it was gratifying to learn that perhaps it was simply an individual trying to do his job, constrained by manpower and an inflexible financial system.

Please don't read this as speculation. Merely as an example of how an honorable person doing the 'right' thing might get caught up in something like this. All in all, nevertheless, a sad and unfortunate situation.
 
I completely read that as speculation, and I am waiting for this thread to be closed down, or deleted.
 
LITS - I simply posted a new report from the Navy Times - my comments are based wholly on the content of the article.

In case you are unable to click on the link I will post it for you:
The women’s basketball coach at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy who committed suicide earlier this month had been put on paid leave three days before his death amid an investigation by federal prosecutors, a school official has said.
Alex Simonka, 51, who was also director of the school’s athletic association, was found dead in his car at the New London academy on March 14. The state medical examiner ruled he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Rear Adm. J. Scott Burhoe, the academy’s superintendent, said in statement that the Connecticut U.S. attorney’s office has been investigating the Coast Guard Academy Athletic Association for several months.
The nature of the investigation is unclear. Neither academy officials nor a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office would comment.
“After an interview with Mr. Alex Simonka, certain information was revealed that warranted placing him on administrative leave with pay pending the outcome of that investigation,” Burhoe said in the statement first provided to The Day of New London on Monday.
Burhoe referred other questions to federal prosecutors. Tom Carson, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office, said Tuesday that he could neither confirm nor deny an investigation of Simonka or the athletic association.
The unincorporated association raises money for the academy’s sports teams and spends about $1 million a year, said Petty Officer Ryan Doss, an academy spokesman. Half the money for the academy’s intercollegiate athletic program comes from the association, while the other half comes from federal government appropriations.
The organization pays for assistant coaches’ salaries, athletic equipment repairs, teams’ travel costs, printing expenses, sports awards and other costs, Doss said. Revenues come from donations, ticket sales and merchandizing, he said.
Simonka, who was not paid for his work as the association’s director, was also the academy’s athletics business manager. He lived in the town of Ledyard with his wife and daughter, Doss said.
Simonka had served the Coast Guard and the academy for more than 30 years in various positions, both as an officer and a civilian employee, Burhoe said. He graduated from the academy in 1979, retired from active duty in 1999 and coached the women’s basketball team for the past 16 years.
He was a three-sport athlete at the academy. He led the basketball team to its first NCAA tournament in 1978-79, and he still holds the football record for three touchdown receptions in a single game, according to his obituary in The Day.
“We are all deeply hurt by this tragedy,” Burhoe said last week. “Those who knew Alex best saw his passion for helping others, and his interest in developing and inspiring future Coast Guard leaders.”

No one can comment on the investigation because this is an ongoing legal matter that may go to a grand jury. Neither side wants the grand jury to be tainted - or any jury should charges be brought.

The bold portion of the article is somewhat troubling if true. This is very common in small organizations without the manpower to provide a segregation of duties. However, the enactment of Sarbanes-Oxley (after the Enron, Tyco scandals etc) requires a segregation of duties. I suspect a forensic audit is/has taken place. I am not and have not accused the coach of any crime including embezzlement or any personal gain.

I am not speculating that this is the "cause" of the tragic suicide at all. None of us can get inside the coach's head. However, being under a Federal investigation and placed on leave must have caused a great deal of stress in this man's life.
Tragedy all around.
 
Back
Top