Angie Dunlop and Niki Mills say they’re just two of nearly a dozen families who feel their daughter’s softball coach made off with thousands of dollars before disbanding the team last year.
According to the two parents, Ron Gamm Jr. shut down the Diamond Starz, a 16 and under independent softball team, following several fundraisers.
Dunlop and Mills say the team should have had approximately $23,000 raised when the team was disbanded - money they claim disappeared.
"We had sponsorships in excess of $2,200, so that alone paid for everything that was paid from team money. So the rest of it went into Ron's pocket,” said Dunlop.
41 Action News ran a similar story just two weeks ago regarding local youth baseball coach Brett Vilott, who Phenom Baseball USA fired after admitting the coach stole thousands of dollars from parents.
Dunop says Gamm was coaching under Vilott this spring and contacted Vilott to warn him.
Gamm agreed to a phone interview with 41 Action News. The former coach said this regarding Vilott: "My connection with Brett Vilott, I was going to coach this year, but decided not to."
He also said any embezzlement accusations are “ridiculous” and that the team disbanded because of disputes over playing time.
"Whenever the roster lineups started to shake, that's whenever all the problems started to unveil,” said Gamm.
When asked about the fundraising dollars, Gamm said, “"It was negative and in the hole."
41 Action News was also given what appears to be a Diamond Starz sponsorship form, which lists Non-Profit Tax I.D. No. 47-2098903. A federal search on that ID number came back empty.
According to the Amateur Softball Association, Gamm was never a registered coach, although his Diamond Starz team played in eight ASA tournaments in 2015.
"Ron Gamm is not allowed to be an ASA coach,” said ASA Regional Director Mary Mahoney.
Mahoney has been part of ASA for 40 years and says embezzlement cases involving coaches come up about once every year.
"The teams that seem to be taken advantage of are our rec teams. Teams that are getting into this for the first time, a group of 10 parents who got their kids together and wanna play ball, and they get approached by somebody,” she said.
The ASA regional director listed the following tips for parents when searching for a new league/coach:
The Basics
- Check with the local softball/baseball organization to see if the team or coach your child will be playing for has a good reputation.
- Talk to other parents who have been involved with the team/league.
- Observe the team/league by attending games and watching how the coach interacts with his players and peers.
- Find out of the coach has passed a current back ground check.
Finances
- Request an itemized list of expenditures the team will incur for the entire season. Most summer teams know well in advance what their uniform, league and tournament fees will be.
- Be leery of any team/coach who asks for payment in full before the season begins. Most teams allow parents to pay a monthly fee to be on the team.
- Never pay cash. Pay by check so you have record of the transaction and don’t be afraid to request a receipt.
Goals
- Find out what the goals are for the team/coach. Are they in line with the goals for your child?
- Is the coach promising to get everyone a college scholarship by playing on their team? If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
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Josh Helmuth can be reached at josh.helmuth@kshb.com
