GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — Across the street from East High School October 23, students and community members gathered in Joannes Park for a call to action.
“Bring Niko back,” they chanted.
The rally came one week after the school’s head football coach, Kominiko “Niko” Sila, was placed on administrative leave—one day before the team’s final game.
“We’re just asking for the truth,” said football senior Joseph Kolze. “We just want to know why our coach is unavailable. We just want to know why he can’t be at East.”
Sila was ordered by the district not to communicate with students, staff or parents regarding his leave.
He was not in attendance at the rally, but in a statement to NBC 26, Sila said:
“I’ve never been the one to not show up for our community. I’ve always been there, and I see they are there for me. That’s who we are.”
Sila met with district leaders Wednesday morning to discuss his leave. Charlie Brawner accompanied him.
“He could have a support person there. I was there at that person, but I couldn’t be in the meeting,” explained Brawner. “I sat outside a room for 45 minutes [and] gave him a hug when he came out.”
Brawner could not share details of the meeting between Sila and the district, but he expressed frustration with Sila’s inability to speak on it himself.
Watch the full story by Jessica Goska here:
The district declined to comment on the meeting or on Sila’s leave, saying the investigation into Sila is a “personnel matter.”
Those at the park gathering praised Sila’s character and expressed their sentiments that the district re-instate him.
“We want to let him and the district and everybody else know how much we love him,” shared Brawner.
In a statement to East High families Thursday, district superintendent Vicki Bayer said she is proud of the students and is committed to fair treatment of employees during investigations.
For students like Kolze, the fight isn’t over:
“He’s a great coach. He's a great man,” said Kolze.
Organizers of the rally said their next steps will be submitting letters to the school board listing their demands.
