Update: Nauset won 11-0 against Blue Hills Regional Technical School at Charles Moore Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 16 to clinch a spot in the postseason.
EASTHAM — Nauset Regional High School boys hockey Head Coach Drew Locke was fired on Thursday, Feb. 10 with just four games left in the regular season. The reason for the popular coach’s termination remains unclear.
Locke’s firing has rocked the community, and a protest petition and walkout at the school have already been organized. Nauset Athletic Director John Mattson and Principal Chris Ellsasser did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.
Ellsasser told the team on Feb. 10 that Locke would no longer be the coach and that Assistant Hockey Coach Jake Pickard would lead the team for the rest of the season, Pickard told the Independent.
“It doesn’t take away from the integrity and morale that Drew represents,” Pickard said. “The work he put in behind the scenes … I have nothing bad to say about the guy. It’s an unfortunate turn of events.”
But what exactly were those events? It’s not at all clear.
An Allegation Denied
Attorney Bruce Bierhans, who is representing Locke, said, “An allegation has been made that Drew placed his hand on a student, which he unequivocally denies. We are in the process of investigating whether Drew was wrongfully terminated and whether there are unsupported claims against Drew. We are compiling information from witnesses who were at the scene where the alleged incident occurred, and we are investigating what investigation was done by the school.
“Drew is a beloved figure within the Nauset hockey team,” Bierhans added. “I believe it to be an extraordinarily unfortunate situation, and we are going to get to the bottom of it.”
A reporter for the Independent spoke on Feb. 15 with the mother of the student who is the alleged victim in the incident, but she said she was not able to comment by the newspaper’s deadline.
Locke, who lives in Truro, is in his second year as head hockey coach, although he has been involved with the program for several years.
Truro Vineyards co-owner David Roberts, whose son Zach is a senior captain on the team, said the school notified parents about Locke’s termination on Wednesday, Feb. 9.
Roberts said his son, two other student athletes, and Pickard met with Ellsasser to discuss the situation on Friday, Feb. 11. Ellsasser reportedly told them that an investigation began on Monday, Feb. 7 and was completed on Wednesday, Feb. 9. The complaint, Roberts said, involved Locke and a student athlete in a locker room incident in mid-January.
Roberts said many team members who were in the locker room at that time recalled nothing unusual.
“If it was something serious, I think they’d remember,” he said. “My questions would be, there were 15 or 18 other people in the room. Why did they only ask three kids? We want the school to be transparent and pursue every single side of the story. If there’s enough other evidence to justify him being released, then that’s understandable, but it seems like they’re ignoring potential witnesses that they have access to.”
More than 30 parents, including Roberts, met at the Charles Moore Arena in Orleans on Friday, Feb. 11 to strategize. The group, calling itself the “Nauset Boys Varsity Hockey Coalition,” drafted a letter to the school administration on Feb. 13 asking for more transparency from the school on its investigation.
“We’re asking them to tell us what the process is for investigating and disciplining a coach,” Roberts said. “If that process was not followed, we ask them to restart the investigation and give Drew a fair hearing.”
One Win From Playoffs
At the beginning of February, the team had a 9-4 record, just one win away from clinching a playoff berth. The Warriors then lost two games in a row and received the news that Locke had been fired. Nauset hosted its Senior Night game against Martha’s Vineyard on Saturday, Feb. 12, two days after the firing, and the Warriors again lost, 3-2. Some team members wore shirts before the game that read “#dontscrewwithdrew.”
The team then skated to a 3-3 tie against Monomoy on Sunday, Feb. 13 to bring its record to 9-7-1. With three games left in the regular season, Nauset needed one win to reach the playoffs.
Pickard said it’s been hard for the team to focus on getting that elusive win.
“It’s difficult and emotional,” he said. “It adds adversity to an already difficult situation with the pandemic and everything else going on.”
The Nauset boys hockey team and fellow students staged a walkout at the high school on Monday, Feb. 14, at 11 a.m. Videos of the walkout appeared that night on the @nausethockey Instagram page.
A change.org petition created last weekend by Nauset student Courtney Redihan, titled “Rehire Coach Drew Locke,” had 1,071 signatures as of Feb. 14 and dozens of comments.
“The 2021-2022 season has been a record breaking one for Nauset boys hockey,” the petition reads. “Coach Drew Locke has been a part of the program for eight years and has worked hard day and night for these boys. It is truly heartbreaking to the Nauset players, families, and students to see such a great person and role model have this amazing opportunity taken away. Not only does it affect Coach Drew, but it takes a huge toll on the team for the remainder of this season. We hope that this petition will allow Drew Locke to return to coaching the Nauset boys ice hockey team.”
