Youth football expenses detailed

July 21, 2010


By PATRICK E. LITOWITZ
plitowitz@ncnewsonline.com

Coach noticed the cones.

They weren’t part of the equipment given to New Castle youth football teams in 2008. Neither were the extra footballs, paper cups and oranges.

Frank Bongivengo Jr. learned volunteer coach Pat Minenok bought the supplies for his players.

The New Castle High head football coach appreciated the gesture but disapproved of it.

“If you or any of the other coaches start spending your own money on this program, what’s going to happen when you guys leave and the next guy can’t do that?” Minenok recalled the coach saying. “People are going to begin to expect the same things.”

“Frank said (the supplies) had to come from the program.”

Minenok, who is also an assistant varsity coach, didn’t ask to be repaid and didn’t keep the receipts.

“I didn’t think it was anything that was important,” he said.

The coach reimbursed Minenok $120.

FINANCES

Bongivengo ignored his own directive.

A review of Bongivengo’s financial statements and checks document that the coach and his wife, Karen, spent approximately $2,100 on the youth and district football programs. They also paid $1,270 in cash to stock the Taggart Stadium concession stand.

However, approximately $3,600 in ATM and bank withdrawals along with transfers from the youth football account took place in 2009. While no receipts are provided, Bongivengo detailed the expenses in a letter to the district.

Minenok’s $120 reimbursement is one example.

Through a Right to Know request, the New Castle News obtained Bongivengo’s financial information and correspondences with the city school district regarding the youth football program.

The Red Hurricane coach approached the school board March 12, 2008, with a request to oversee the city’s youth teams, featuring students in grades three through six.

“The first problem and concern we had was a lack of proper supervision and guidance — lack of quality coaches who have a kid-first mentality,” he said.

ULTIMATUM

Officials of the Tri-County Youth League reportedly told Bongivengo along with school board members Mark Kirkwood and Fred Mozzocio about their issues with the New Castle teams.

“(They) basically gave us an ultimatum saying that they would not allow us to play in the league any longer unless it was taken over by me.”

The board agreed to the move in a 9-0 vote. The district provided an initial investment of approximately $23,000 to purchase new equipment and to pay vendors owed money from the disbanded teams. Attorney Dallas Hartman helped to offset the district’s costs with a $10,000 contribution.

Bongivengo also requested that backers of the youth football program operate the Taggart Stadium concession stands. The district told Bongivengo he would have to split the use of the concession stand with the cheerleaders booster group.

The district budget funds the football program starting at the seventh-grade level. With game-day food sales, the youth football teams had their primary funding.

Bongivengo told the board he would also earmark a portion of the money for the upper grades.

During the first season, Bongivengo asked Kirkwood to assist with the finances. The school board member said he has been a youth football volunteer for approximately 30 years.

“He wanted me to help with the checkbook and that, since I had been around for so long,” Kirkwood said.

Working with Karen Bongivengo, he performed bookkeeping and made deposits from the concession stand sales. Kirkwood kept the funds in an account once used by the East Side Boosters.

Because the school district had purchased equipment for the youth teams, profits went into the bank.

“That’s why we had a surplus,” Kirkwood said.

In March 2009, he turned over approximately $9,600 to Bongivengo’s New Castle Football account.

ONE ACCOUNT

“He wanted one account instead of two,” Kirkwood said. “That was fine. He and his wife, Karen, were going to do the books anyway.”

He threw out the receipts when the 2008 season ended. Kirkwood said he was not questioned in the past about the practice. He said he has bank statements for the previous seasons.

A three-man committee of Minenok, Wayne Ryan and Pat Cioppa oversaw the league the next season. Minenok assisted Karen Bongivengo with the finances.

“Whenever we would get money from concessions, Karen wanted to get things verified,” Minenok said. “She would call me over and sit down and count the money. We would count it, initial it and deposit it.

“It wasn’t computerized or anything like that. It was handwritten.”

The youth program brought in approximately $14,000 in revenue during 2009. A majority of the group’s purchases involved supplies for the concession stand and football equipment. Other expenses were for ambulance service, trophies and pizza parties.

On two occasions, funeral floral arrangements were purchased. One for New Castle sports announcer Harry Dattilo and another for the family of a football coach, whose mother had died.

One question mark involved $3,146 spent on 12 airline tickets for Frank Bongivengo’s son and his friends. In an interview with The News earlier this month, Bongivengo said the tickets were paid on April 13, 2009, with the wrong debit card.

The mistake was realized the same day, he said. The money collected from the students for the trip, $2,470.70, was placed in the football account to cover the costs. The amount was paid in full on July 3, 2009, when the last of the students turned in their money.

TRANSFERS

That leaves the $3,600 in cash withdrawals and transfers that lack documentation. The 14 items range from $40 for party supplied for a youth football party to $2,250 in reimbursements through online transfers.

In a letter to the school district, Bongivengo said he made the transfer to reimburse himself for “expenses I incurred during the 2008 Pop Warner season as well as personal money spent in April and May 2009 for food, weightlifting, (college) recruiting expenses, printer for stadium, cables, ink.”

The coach said he withdrew $400 to provide change for the concession stand and took out $200 for the Pitt Football Passing Camp. Bongivengo also noted that he paid $62 for a graduating senior to take a college entrance exam.

The Bongivengos spent $2,100 of their own money at the beginning of 2010 on the youth football program. The money was used for “picture footballs,” programs and program design costs.

“We just want to run the program,” Minenok said. “We want to get the kids playing football.
“(Bongivengo) has all these different programs to worry about than just Pop Warner.”