'Doug Partridge needs a break,' says coach Scott Noftall

The future of a basketball coach at Memorial University, who was suspended twice in one week for his behaviour at games, is up in the air after his second suspension.

Doug Partridge was sidelined by the university's athletics department for the MUN Sea-Hawk's women's basketball team on Nov. 16 for "inappropriate" behaviour."

Partridge was suspended for Sunday's game against the University of Prince Edward Island, after he allegedly made derogatory remarks about a referee at the game the night before.

Now, Atlantic University Sport (AUS) is investigating the allegedly derogatory remark against the game referee, made to one of the AUS officials.

Scott Noftall, who runs a sports blog and owns a basketball skills training group in St. John's, says the situation is unfair to the players involved.

"This is not the kind of attention that these athletes need right now," he said.

Noftall said he used to play basketball when Partridge was a young coach, and playing for a coach "as demanding as Doug" adds a next-level amount of pressure.

"Doug doesn't walk the line, he sprints the line as a coach, and he pushes himself and his players and his teams to the limit and he gets a lot. He's the winning-est coach in Newfoundland and Labrador basketball history," said Noftall.

"I think Doug Partridge needs a break. I think to have back-to-back suspensions in two weeks … I think Doug needs to take a break from coaching."

Memorial University is also conducting an internal review. This is the fifth time Partridge has been suspended, for one reason or another.

MUN has not said when its review will wrap up.