On Friday, Jan. 27 during a postgame meeting following the girls varsity basketball team’s loss to Needham, volunteer assistant coach Alex Bryson got into an altercation with Needham High School Athletic Director Micah Hauben after Bryson was hit by the door Hauben opened.
Athletes, fellow coaches, parents, and others in the side room and gym witnessed the incident.
Bryson said he felt as if Hauben was the aggressor by “pressing” the door into him and staring him down. Hauben did not respond to email requests for comment.
“I told him how unprofessional it was,” said Bryson.
Junior Jessie Stein, a player on the team, had a different perspective.
“Our whole team profusely apologized to the Needham athletic director. We were like, ‘We’re sorry for his behavior. It’s not acceptable,’ ” said Stein.
Head coach Allyson Toney said Athletic Director Pete Rittenburg called her while the team was still riding home on the bus to discuss a complaint about the incident.
Bryson said he was suspended and told by Rittenburg that he would have a meeting with Rittenburg to discuss the events. That meeting has yet to occur, he said.
“I was told by Pete that since the [Needham] athletic director is a peer of his, he has to side with him automatically. It doesn’t matter what I say,” said Bryson.
“I don’t care to comment on any specific teams or coaches. I am not sure it is appropriate,” said Rittenburg, who declined to discuss the specifics of the case. “There are things that happen that are outside of the acceptable.”
Bryson said he pursued legal action since his emails and pleas for a meeting have gone unreturned.
Since Bryson was a volunteer and only coached at games and weekend practices due to a full-time recruiting job he holds, his legal rights may be murky.
“Volunteer coaches are under no contract,” Rittenburg said.
Stein said Bryson’s style was not gentle enough for some girls on the team.
Bryson “just didn’t respect us as individuals, the way he talked to us. He was a very arrogant person and it would show,” said Stein.
Toney said she lost an extra pair of hands.
“Any time, whether you’re teaching a class or coaching a team, the more adults that you have to help supervise and help instruct and help teach, the better off the program, the better off the kids are,” Toney said.

Jake Wolf-Sorokin can be contacted at [email protected].