Club soccer director charged with DUI

RSL Florida director of girls soccer Jim Cote,  charged with driving under the influence last week, will meet Thursday with the organization’s board of directors to determine if he’ll still work for one of the bay area’s largest clubs.
Cote, 39, a former Chamberlain player, coaches the defending state champion U-17 and U-18 girls teams, which include standouts from Hillsborough and Pinellas counties and will play in the North American Nationals next month in Tampa.
The club, formerly the Tampa Knights, signed a five-year deal last year to be a youth development program for Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer.
“As always, there’s a legal system and it will deal with it,” Cote said. “Whatever it is I must take responsibility for it. I preach to our players to never put themselves in the situation.
“Drinking and driving is the wrong thing to do — whether you had one beer or two beers or half a beer. It’s just wrong.”
Cote was arrested at 4:52 a.m.  Thursday  and refused to submit to a Breathalyzer test. According to the police report, Cote was “intoxicated” with a “distinct odor of alcohol on his breath” and was unable to do the field sobriety test properly. Cote was released on $1,000 bond and will set up a court date to fight the charges. 
RSL Florida president Simone Hollar said the board, which meets monthly, did not want to “rush to judgment without knowing all the facts.” Hollar said she has never received any complaints about Cote, who owns  a business and makes  $2,000 a year from RSL for overseeing about 18 soccer teams.
“Jim’s a really good person and coach,” said St. Petersburg senior Andrea Rodriguez, who is on Cote’s U-18 team. “Of all the clubs I’ve been on, he’s one of the most hands-on DOC’s I’ve ever had.”

-- JOE SMITH

joesmith@sptimes.com

Comments

wow if this was a youth fooball coach from azalea, people would have their pious opinions about how they don't want their kid under that coach, but I guess it is ok when it's a drunk soccer coach...where is all the backlash? where is all the judgement? where is all the...oh forget it. It's situational ethics with a hint of racism...and you know that I am right

[Mike]

are you serious? this is obviously the first newspaper you have ever read...attacking a person who has given so much to youth sports is embarassing to you, your family(if you have one or you were probably disowned, rightfully so) and your intelligence what little you have...if you would like to step-up and coach a team(if you have any athletic ability at all) in a youth club or inner-city organization they might take you, assuming you can pass the simple coaching test and background investigation.
Grow-up and respect people going through hard-times but still find time to give so much to the community.

[CP]

This individual that you so adamantly defend has had four (4) documented DUI arrests and a domestic battery charge against him. I'm all for giving second chances, but this is way over the edge....He should not be allowed to coach with this record! What happened to "3 strikes you’re out?"