Ciarellis Won’t Coach Together

Huntington Beach’s Rocky Ciarelli took a sabbatical from coaching this season, but when he comes back in the spring to coach the boys’ volleyball team, it will be without his wife and co-coach, Cammy.

Rocky Ciarelli said the Huntington Beach Union High School District has prohibited Cammy Ciarelli from continuing to coach at the high school.

Allegations of verbal and physical abuse of players and misappropriation of funds by the Ciarellis were filed last season by one set of parents, Rocky Ciarelli said. He declined to name the parents.

But Ciarelli thought the situation was rectified last November in a meeting that included those parents and former Huntington Beach principal Jim Staunton, who is now the Southern Section commissioner.

“I messed up,” Rocky Ciarelli said. “We were paying Cammy directly out of the booster club funds instead of going through the school. That’s how walk-on coaches are supposed to be paid.

“But we’ve fixed that now. And in that meeting, I was ensured by Staunton that the financial issue was a dead issue.”

Staunton confirmed he did meet with Ciarelli, but said he could not comment further.

Current Huntington Beach Principal Frank Berry also said he could not comment, and district Superintendent Susan Roper and John Myers, the district’s assistant superintendent of educational services, did not return several calls from The Times.

“I can’t get anyone to explain this to me,” said Rocky Ciarelli, who staunchly denied the abuse allegations.

“I was told by the parents about bruises their child had after practices,” Ciarelli said. “But everyone gets bruises in volleyball. In my years of coaching here, I’ve never [before] had any complaints filed against me.”

The Ciarellis coached the Huntington Beach girls’ team to Southern Section and state championships in 1996 and the boys’ team won consecutive section titles in 1993-94. Rocky has coached for 16 seasons and Cammy has been the girls’ co-coach the last eight seasons.

Huntington Beach Athletic Director Dave Van Hoorebeke said he plans to bring Rocky Ciarelli back to coach the girls’ team next season.

“Rocky had to apply to become the girls’ coach again since he technically resigned before this season,” Van Hoorebeke said. “We just have to go through the process. He’s been our coach a very long time and I feel strongly about keeping him here.”

Cammy Ciarelli played at Laguna Beach High and UCLA before playing on the women’s professional beach volleyball tours. She coached this fall at Talbert Junior High in Fountain Valley.

PLAYOFF NOTES

The South Coast League got little respect from the Southern Section playoff seeding committee, sending second-place Capistrano Valley to play at Moore League champion Long Beach Wilson. Wilson finished the season ranked fifth in the Division I-AA poll. Dana Hills, which defeated El Toro in a third-place playoff Friday, lost in five games Monday at Los Alamitos. The Griffins advance to play at two-time defending Division I-AA champion Newport Harbor. . . . Second-seeded Calvary Chapel will host Riverside Notre Dame in a first-round Division IV-A match Thursday. Setter Jessi Wright has committed to Eastern Washington.

If you have an item or idea for the girls’ volleyball report, you can fax us at (714) 966-5663 or e-mail us at mike.itagaki@latimes.com