Burbank High School Baseball Coaches Dismissed After Alleged Under-Age Drinking

BURBANK (CBS) — Four Burbank high school baseball coaches have been dismissed and the rest of the team's season has been cancelled after under-age players consumed alcohol on a team trip.

According to school Superintendent, Head Coach J. R. Schwer and three assistant  assistant coach at Burroughs High School in Burbank were fired after one of the assistant coaches allegedly shared a few beers with some of the under-age team members during a team trip to Arizona.

Head coach J. R. Schwer stepped up to the plate and took full responsibility for the coaches he hired, "If I hired...them...I hired them...but it wasn't with the intent to have a problem."

One of the hardest things he had to do was confess to his family that he had been fired, "I had to explain to them...I had nothing to do with it.  I don't know who in their right mind...would find a justifiable reason to by alcohol for kids."

According to the district, 11 out of 18 varsity players confessed to drinking.  Coach Schwer says he's put his dismissal aside.  Given the impact, he believes the harshest punishment will be for his players, who have all been suspended, even those who didn't drink because they failed to report it.  The remainder of the season has been cancelled.

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