Softball Coach Accused of Sending Team to Find Him Dates
A high school softball coach has resigned after he was accused of using his team of girls to find him dates.
Troy Hennum submitted his resignation to Seattle Public Schools on Friday, officials said, after his dating scavenger hunt was brought to their attention by a woman who said she was targeted for a date.
Kat Aagard, 25, said she was flattered when a group of giggling girls from Roosevelt High School came into the sporting goods store where she works.
"They asked me if they could get my phone number and picture for their coach," she told ABC News.
What Aagard didn't know was that the girls' coach, Hennum, had allegedly sent them out to find him possible dates.
"I wasn't sure what to think at first," she said.
Aagard shared text messages with ABC News that she said were sent by Hennum. The sender confessed right away to using the female players to help him find dates.
'Right? Genius. Great way to meet a girl. Use my girls. LOL," the sender wrote.
Aagard carried on the text conversation for more than an hour, even complimenting him when he said he teaches special education.
"He seemed like a nice enough guy for a while," Aagard said.
She had a change of heart, she said, after she searched for Hennum online and found articles about his departure from another school in nearby Lake Washington.
The Lake Washington School District reportedly found no cause to discipline Hennum for texting a student in an April 2012 incident, but he was not on staff the next season.
"I was completely … shocked to see something inappropriate happened with this coach before," Aagard said.
She decided to report him to the principal of Roosevelt High School.
Aagard told ABC News' Seattle affiliate KOMO-TV that Hennum called her to apologize.
"I want to call and, first off, sincerely apologize for any inconvenience myself or the team caused you," he allegedly said in a voicemail.
Hennum did not respond to a request from ABC News for comment.