WATERLOO, Iowa — Coach Brian Cook and his staff were recently dismissed, despite leading the Waterloo Warriors to a national championship victory. Cook says was called in for a meeting with the board of the Waterloo Youth Hockey Association last week for a contract review, which led to his termination.

“They didn’t review my contract,” Cook said. “They basically just told me that I was not fulfilling my contract and they told me to resign or they were going to terminate my contract.”

Cook explained the board’s reasoning included his absence at some practices and not reporting a safe sport violation.

Responding to those claims, he says he delegated one practice a week to assistant coach to provide him with experience for future head coaching roles.

Regarding the safe sport violation, Cook said, “When we found out about it, we were told by a board member, who was our team rep at the time. So the board already knew about it. Why do I need to report it to the board when the board already knew about it?”

He felt the board’s actions were unfair, given the team’s history of success under his leadership.

“They made it out as if I was hiding something, which I thought was unfair,” Cook said. “I don’t feel that those things warrant a breach of contract at this point.”

Cook mentioned that no one had previously raised concerns about his coaching methods.

Cook suspects perhaps the board was searching for any reason to dismiss him. “I think there’s just a group of parents that have gotten on the board that do not like me as a coach,” Cook said. “They’ve got enough of their friends on the board to vote me out.”

KWWL reached out to the board for comment. Instead of participating in an interview to get their side of the story, we received this brief statement:

Coach Cook expressed concern for the juniors and seniors on the team, noting that the head coaching position has a one or two year learning curve, potentially affecting the way the team plays and having an impact on the players’ chances at future championships.

Cook tells KWWL the he has retained legal counsel with the goal of being finishing his contract, which has two years remaining.

A petition in support of Cook, initiated by parents of players, has garnered nearly 300 signatures aiming to reinstate the coaching staff.

Cook expressed gratitude for the support from families and players during this time.