Bishop Canevin fires coach

Tim Joyce built the Bishop Canevin High School girls basketball program into a strong one, winning three WPIAL titles and one PIAA title in the past five years. But he was informed Monday that he has been fired.

Joyce, Bishop Canevin’s coach for 15 seasons, learned of his release after a short meeting with Bishop Canevin principal Ken Sinagra. According to Joyce, parental complaints were the main reason for his firing. The move is shocking when you consider Joyce’s success.

“I don’t know what to say. I was kind of caught by surprise,” said Joyce. “I knew there were some unhappy parents, but I didn’t expect this. [Sinagra] just said there were parents complaining. Over 15 years, I guess you get a few of those.”

Joyce, 59, was miffed that parental complaints led to his ouster. When asked the nature of the complaints, Joyce said: “It’s ‘ you’re too hard on them,’ or ‘you’ve taken the fun out of the game.’ The usual things. We didn’t really have a long conversation. I was shocked. I’m upset about it. I’ve thought about things and I can’t say I would’ve done anything different. I’ll try to find another coaching job. If this is the way the school feels, I guess it’s time to move on.”

Athletic director Shawn Holup said, “I can’t really say anything because it’s a personnel matter, other than to say we just decided to open up the position.”

Joyce said Holup had no idea the firing was coming. Joyce won his second consecutive WPIAL title this season and lost in the PIAA final. His 15-year record was 293-123.