New Mexico Soccer Coach Booted for Praying Vows to Play on
By: Fox News
Updated: December 6, 2012
A successful New Mexico high school soccer coach who claims he was forced to resign after praying for an injured opponent is in the market for a new team, he told FoxNews.com.
Tom Hirschman, a special education teacher at Eldorado High School in Albuquerque, said he was told to resign last month for violating district policy twice, most recently during a match in September in which the Albuquerque Public Schools' 2010 girls coach of the year prayed with an opposing player after she was injured. The nine-year coach also violated district policy last year, he said, for watching two movies -- "Soul Surfer" and "Forever Strong" -- with female players that featured religious themes.
"I had not gotten administrative approval to show them because they had religious overtones," Hirschman told FoxNews.com. "That was their objection."
Hirschman, 42, continued: "Three years ago, I was up for the national coach of the year award and to move from that to being forced out, it's hard to take."
Several messages seeking comment from district officials and Athletic Director Mike Huston were not returned early Thursday.
Parents of students at the school were informed of Hirschman's resignation in a letter dated Nov. 5, citing "allegations of inappropriate conduct and comments" that were not criminal or sexual in nature.
"Upon the conclusion of the investigation, Mr. Hirschman chose to tender his resignation as the head girls soccer coach," read the letter, which was obtained by FoxNews.com.
Hirschman, meanwhile, will stay at the school "for now," but said he is considering coaching elsewhere now that he's been booted from the Eagles' sideline.
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