A longtime soccer coach has paid a serious tremendous — and it’s to not the MIAA.
Medfield Soccer Coach Erik Ormberg, who’s additionally a highschool counselor on the faculty, has paid $16,000 for violating the state’s battle of curiosity regulation after urging college students to attend his personal camps.
The Massachusetts State Ethics Fee stated Ormberg used his public place and public assets to advertise and encourage college students to attend his personal soccer and athletic conditioning camps.
Ormberg admitted to the violations, and he agreed to stop and desist from all such conduct in violation of the battle of curiosity regulation, in accordance with the State Ethics Fee.
“When public employees’ public jobs and private business activities are closely related, they must be careful to maintain a clear separation between them,” State Ethics Fee Government Director David Wilson stated in an announcement.
“The conflict of interest law is clear that public employees may not use their public positions to drum up business for private companies they own or are connected with,” Wilson added.
Ormberg has served as Medfield Excessive Faculty’s head varsity soccer coach for greater than 14 years. Since 2018, Ormberg has additionally operated a personal enterprise, Warrior Industries LLC, which affords summer season health and soccer camps to college students from Medfield and surrounding cities.
Ormberg contracted with the college district to function Warrior Industries camps utilizing the highschool’s athletic discipline, weight room, and tools and employed the college’s assistant coaches to assist run this system. Ormberg from 2018 to 2024 acquired a complete of $70,000 in funds from Warrior Industries.
As soccer coach, Ormberg often really helpful that Medfield student-athletes attend his personal camps.
Throughout his shows as head coach at Medfield Excessive Faculty’s annual Fall Sports Info Evening, Ormberg promoted his personal Warrior Industries camps and emphasised that attending the camps was “strongly recommended” for student-athletes.
Ormberg additionally promoted Warrior Industries camps on the Medfield Soccer Twitter account he managed and used Medfield Excessive Faculty imagery to advertise the camps on his personal web site.
In 2022 and 2023, Ormberg used his Medfield Excessive Faculty electronic mail account and a faculty listserv to ship data selling his Warrior Industries camps to college students and fogeys, together with all college students on the Medfield Excessive Faculty soccer crew.
He additionally inspired his Medfield Excessive Faculty assistant soccer coaches to work for Warrior Industries, finally hiring 5 of them through the years.
“By using his position as Head Coach and other Medfield High School resources to promote his private camps to Medfield students, and by recruiting his high school assistant coaches to staff those camps, Ormberg violated the conflict of interest law’s prohibition against public employees using their official positions or other public resources to obtain substantially valuable unwarranted privileges for themselves or others,” the Fee stated in an announcement.
“Also, by as Head Coach including in the high school’s annual Fall Sports Information Night presentations references to his private camps and recommendations that students attend them, Ormberg violated the law’s prohibition against municipal employees participating officially in matters in which they know they or their private business organizations have a financial interest,” the Fee added.
The Fee urges public staff to contact the Fee’s Authorized Division at 617-371-9500 free of charge recommendation if they’ve questions concerning how the battle of curiosity regulation might apply to them.
Initially Printed:
