As well as rebuking the attackers, the report criticizes the school system and the Pennsylvania judge who handled the cases. Who? I am 13 years old and I am on the Friendswood junior high C-football team I am a second string slot receiver and starting strong safety and I 'm also a second string strong side linebacker it was our last game of the season,so we really wanted to go out on the win or a record for the season was one way in five losses and one tie,we hadn 't had a great season so we especially wanted to go out on a win. These individuals hope to be part of something special, whether its achieving individual goals or team goals. Diasparra cut a deal and received probation. At middle schools, high schools and colleges across the country, everyone is arguing over whether or not students with failing grades should be allowed to play sports. When trying to become a professional athlete, one must start playing sports as early as possible (Ferguson 34).Playing sports comes with many sacrifices. Im theprincipal, he said, and Illdecide who can go on the trip. The lineman wasallowed to go to camp. ''There's no question that they knew hazing had gone on for years, and they allowed it to go on,'' said Robert Kelly, a lawyer for two of the victims. Does heknow this for sure? In my mind, the school made a major error innot suspending these three allegedperpetrators, says Robert Kelly, an attorneyfor two victims. But they dont want to appearself-serving, he says. It was just too outrageous," says Jimmy. Most of the shit they did was pranks,like shaving cream, one Mepham boy tells me ona sunny Wednesday, a day before the funeral of thelinemans father. I believe that exclusive tryouts should be held for children because they are extremely good for their mental health in three ways: tryouts teach kids humility, in that they arent always going to be selected, they help kids learn to work harder, and they boost kids confidence. Berger produced the requiredslip of paper. In recent years, the Pirates havent done aswell, losing roughly as many games as theyvewon, but the coach remains a local legendafather figure who welcomes players to his house forbarbecues with his teenage daughters in attendance.Its not surprising, then, that McElroy and theadministration would be the first stop on thewhos-to-blame tour. Youth sports are becoming too intense for young children to keep up with. #inline-recirc-item--id-a617c056-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d, #right-rail-recirc-item--id-a617c056-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d { Brackets for the 2023 NJSIAA State Wrestling Championships in Atlantic They had hoped that the three assailants (Phil Sofia, Ken Carney, and Tom Diasparra) would be tried as adults for the crimes. Berger says his friends persuaded him to stay off theteam. We care about kids. That blond buzzcut, the baby face, the meager beginnings of agoateehes only 16, too young to beburying his father. Bellmore Journal; Life Goes On but Is Altered After School Scandal, https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/20/nyregion/bellmore-journal-life-goes-on-but-is-altered-after-school-scandal.html. And people who might have had the chance to prevent this incident are not being held accountable.''. When I was in ninth grade, says Lohman,my father died and my mother wanted to move toFlorida. As she accepts her Someone to Watch award on stage. Weve been 0 and 8 since 1999!says James. Michelle Yeoh Promises No Swearing, Only Tears During Best Lead Performance Win. !Effin this, effinthatyoure not coming on my team,youre done, youre done, youredone! And I started screaming at him.. "He missed the whole first, basically, semester. Research shows that 70% of kids drop out of sports for many reasons and not making the team is one. What about, say, having your head flushed in a toilet? We love our children. And McElroy neverprevented him from playing on the varsity team. He even threatened teachers. Berger sayshe got up and called his dad, who went straight to thecoaches. (516) 569-4000, To donate or for more information, click here, Chamber, mayors office are no match for the Thunderbolts. Treat others with the respect that you wouldlike to receive. Act appropriately. This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. At this point, though, those feelings have mostly worn off, replaced by a different set of reactions, from weary resolve to dark humor. A failure can be a downward spiral or a setback turning into a benefit. He never judged us, saysDave Lohman, class of 94. The public was barred from the hearing, but the penalties and the judges comments were disclosed by relatives of victims, lawyers and cops. } Offscreen, he was one himself. Travis Barkers Finger Is Now the Enema of Blink-182 Fans. display: none; ), I knew all those kids, saysanother boy, a JV player. On 11/11, the Mepham varsity football team won their neutral playoff game against Long Beach (NY) by a score of 14-0. He was always in troubleat school, but not in football. Due to the poormoral character of your children, Kristina saysCaramore told the parents, this investigationis not moving forward. She stood up and askedDidden twice if any child had been threatened beforethe camp incidents. McElroy and his coaching staff claim they had no responsibility for a vicious alleged hazing incident at a training camp in Pennsylvania in August. We dontalways understand, and we dont alwayssee. He attempts a little levityIknow he shared his hopes for the Yankees with theLordbefore straining for profundity:The great artist has finished hisportrait. He urges the mourners to say a prayerfor the family. Involuntary deviate sexualintercourse. "He came to me and said, 'I'm bleeding. "We're not animals. When the victims came forward, the team closed ranks.Kids who were said to have witnessed the attacksrefused to talk, even though the longtime coach of thePirates, Kevin McElroyCoach Mac to anyone whoknows himwarned them that the season would endif they didnt come forward. They had complained to the coach and the principal before football camp that their son, a freshman, had been bullied and threatened by one of the boys who was later charged in the attacks. No. A pack of teenagers congregates across the street from Mepham High School, smoking their cigarettes and clowning. 28 - 13 W. 10/22/2022. He was benched for two years as the lawsuit creptthrough the legal system. They were later suspended from classes on September 18. I think they hated me because I introduced the pull-up to their strength and conditioning program. This is hard tosayI know he was a good coach and a lot of kidsliked him. Mepham High School football head coach Anthony Cracco says LaSpina is the perfect role model for anyone who wants to just play because she worked hard and never got discouraged, adding there's a . "He was laying in bed with a big butcher knife in his hand 'cause he was scared. Dominick Novello #2, Mepham quarterback, throws a pass during a rain-filled Nassau County football Conference II semifinal against Long Beach at Shuart Stadium on Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. It's, like, they're monsters," says Patty. And you know, I'm panicking.". When the school board canceled the football season and suspended the coaches, the community actually split -- between those who supported the victims' families, and those who wanted to save the coaches and the season. Most students, the girls say, have not gotten caught up in the anger and recrimination that have divided their parents. The priest declares that the father had nothingbut life ahead of him. What about the boys who were raped? Coaches, the report says, were oblivious to what was occurring. Touring the world with friends one mile and pub at a time; MEPHAM COACHES BOOTED IN HAZING SCANDAL - New York Post Whos going to give him thatmoney now? He was riding the bus along with varsity members, who held him upside down. The team did it along with some guidance from my assistant coach and the parents. Theyre sick of reporters, andtheyre worried about the lineman. He called the school boards decision 100 percent unjust.. Thanks for contacting us. The parishioners sing Make Me aChannel of Your Peace. And then the younglineman, who charged onto the varsity squad hissophomore year at W.C. Mepham High SchoolHomeof the Piratesis in tears. Did either coach notice anything on these children's faces? Did I do anything to those kids?" You know, what could be going on? And he was very excited," recalls Patty. False imprisonment. During the recessional, he submits to a seeminglyendless succession of embracesmuch like theones he received from his former teammates last nightat the wake. He went to camp but didntstay in the fated cabin. Since the scandal began, parents of students have squabbled among themselves and with members of the school administration over everything from the decision to cancel the football season to whether the school district could have prevented the incident. These parents are now lobbying for a national hazing law, one with severe penalties. What's more, the 16-year-old ringleader of the assaults had his own history of disciplinary problems. The grand jury report did not state that sexual assault had been part of hazing at Mepham High School or at past football camps (there were two before 2003). I should just sit there and go, 'Hmm, he's hazing him.' I need to know for medical.' Every year parents and students of local schools can come and enjoy seeing kids of their community playing football, which could make a player's future bright, and a grandparent proud. There are the ugly jokes, the signs and buttons declaring neighborhood solidarity, and for some people, new-found activism. The coach wentalong with canceling the season because he knew kidswere not coming forward. He was one of four captains chosen by CoachMac his senior season. The sexual assaults that occurred last summer among members of a Long Island high school football team sprang from old traditions of violent hazing that coaches and school officials could not curb, according to a report handed up yesterday by a Pennsylvania grand jury. On 11/4, the Mepham varsity football team won their home conference game against MacArthur (Levittown, NY) by a score of 14-7. At last nights meeting, one player called the coaches caring role models, and team captain Dan Cosenza hugged McElroy. It devastated us. In the southern reachesof Long Island, nestled between the bucolic SouthernState Parkway and the fast-food joints and cardealerships on Sunrise Highway, the four small townsof Bellmore, North Bellmore, Merrick, and NorthMerrick make up a solid community of working- andmiddle-class families. He did more for me than any coach ever. The problem was with thekidsand with the parents who brought them upthat way., Sothe parents. After all, theywerent just studentsthey wereathletes.. ''It's got to end here. He says the coach started yelling.Hes like, No! "He's one of the victims.". Thepurported ringleader, according to police, was thelineman. He never brought this incident toMcElroys attention; he must have brought it tothe JV coachs attention. The Mepham High School football season was eventually cancelled and the three upperclassman were charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated assault, kidnapping, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, terroristic threats, criminal coercion, simple assault, reckless endangering of another person, ethnic intimidation, and criminal conspiracy. Judge Robert J. Conway chose to try the accused as juveniles. The grand jury says the five coaches who supervised the team were ''more concerned with being coaches of a football team than interested in the well-being of the players as students.'' Children have strived for years to make their parents, teachers and coaches proud of them. The two boys join their sister tobring the Communion offerings forward as the mournerssing Be Not Afraid.. Three varsity players are charged by Pennsylvania authorities with sodomizing three junior varsity players with broomsticks, pine cones and golf balls. Criminal coercion. Broomsticks dipped in mineral ice, a kind of liquid heat, golf balls, pine cones and toothbrushes, were all pushed into the boy's rectums. Touring the world with friends one mile and pub at a time; ut austin undergraduate majors Newsletter . The Mepham High School football season was eventually cancelled and the three upperclassman were charged with "involuntary deviate sexual intercourse," "aggravated assault," "kidnapping," "unlawful restraint," "false imprisonment," "terroristic threats," "criminal coercion," "simple assault," "reckless endangering of another person," "ethnic CNN. If three victims getanything close to that much each, it would devastatethe school districts budget. Before lastmonth, Mepham High was generally known as anabove-average school with a robust athletic program.Fathers and sons have played for the Mepham Pirates,and Saturday football games are huge social events.The players are the schools heroes: With thepossible exception of Roone Arledge, Mephamsmost famous alumnus has been star Pittsburgh Steelersrunning back Amos Zereoue. ''These assaults appear to have grown out of a history of hazing both at the football camp and at Mepham High School itself,'' the report says. The district's superintendent, Dr. Thomas Caramore, defended the decision in a letter to the community earlier this month, saying the principal spoke with the boy and the coach before camp, and there was no way of anticipating the attacks. Then it became a football school. Terms of Service apply. They have become activists, who say that the incident is just part of a pattern of problems in the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District. He had his little list. Other players laughed, the report said. Rullo, now a community activist for change in his school district, says he received numerous letters and phone calls, including one that said that he and his family would die. The police call what happened in August at thePirates five-day training camp a series ofAbner Louimastyle sex attacks (though,curiously, no student interviewed by police has evenmentioned Louimas name). 18 - 35 L. 10/15/2022. He triedseriously to treat him as a regular kid, like nothingever happened. At Mepham High School on Long Island, the entire football season was canceled after players admitted to sadistically hazing fellow teammates. A minivan with two others whizzes by, music blaring. The morals, the attitudes, of a Mepham student,are different, suggests another Kennedy player,Danny. Did you know that depending on the sport, students who play sports in college most likely have less than a 2% chance of becoming professional athletes? They could be home as early as next month. Pertzborn and assistant coach Brad Rogeberg were made aware of the initial bullying on July 24, 2022, according to the police report. We got all new things to bring to pack. All the while, older players watched and laughed. The Nassau Conference II showdown between these two unbeatens has . Both coaches still don't understand why they're being blamed for what happened last summer at Mepham High School's football camp. "You didn't monitor him very carefully, obviously," says Patty of what happened to her 13-year-old son. Life goes on in Bellmore, despite the sex-abuse scandal involving members of the high school football team that has roiled this Long Island community. Mary is athird-generation Bellmoron. Her boy,Kyle, played varsity. '', ''This is a wake-up call,'' said the father of one of the victims, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect his son. Tell me why I should just know? Ke Huy Quan Continues His Winning Streak at the Independent Spirit Awards. He was dyingto play for the Pirateshed gotten AmosZereoues autograph when Zereoue visited hisjunior high. You\'ll receive the next newsletter in your inbox. some by the crimes, others by the cancellation of the season. Three days after camp ended, Carol and Vinny's son asked for help. Kids and adults are then forced to take a side on the issue for the good of the school and the safety of the children. I said, You wantto lock me in a locker and laugh for an hour, fine.But Im not down with urine, dude., At the beginning of his junior year, Berger says, heshowed up to start the season. It has been 11 years since three football players, ages 15 to 17, from Mepham High School in Bellmore, New York, were criminally charged with sodomizing teammates during a preseason. "He was absolutely screaming. According to a local new report, two older students called the boy to the back of the bus and, in addition to the wedgie, punched the 13-year-old in the groin and stomach all as a part of an initiation ritual. But my son says nobody knew he would cross theline., Andys son plays lacrosse. The coach told Bergerhe needed a physical. School administrators, however, let him get on the bus anyway. All five lost their coaching positions. All the negative attention has galvanized them, they said. Not, 'Coach, things aren't good over here.' He really was.". Hes been introuble before, that kid. Of course this thing escalated tosodomy, Berger says. But the happy boys these parents sent to camp last summer didn't return that way. One student lifts up another and dumps him, legs flailing, in a bush. Instead, they were treated as juveniles. Password must be at least 8 characters and contain: As part of your account, youll receive occasional updates and offers from New York, which you can opt out of anytime. Or as David Woycik, who represents another victim,puts it: Theres bound to be a movie madeabout this., This is not what Isigned on for when I tried to do the rightthing, says Vic Reichstein. We have more wealthy backgrounds, saysDanny. Everyone laughs. Dozens of Long Island parents outraged at the handling of broomstick hazing assaults at a Mepham High School football camp are organizing a secret meeting tomorrow to plan action against. They have criticized the coaches and school district for lax supervision, accusing Mepham officials of ignoring the long disciplinary record of one of the three attackers. ''Our issue is our children are being blamed,'' said Paule Pachter, one of the parents in the group. display: block; , 2023-02-08, 18:25:23 How long has it been since you've licked a high school girls pussy daddy? Youre old enough to knowwhat youre doing., I had some friends who were older, saysMcDermott. Hasan Minhaj Brings His Powerpoints and Power Suits to Independent Spirit Awards. Relatives of the victims, 13 and 14 at the time of the attacks, expressed satisfaction at the outcome. On a Friday morning in August, 60 kids were droppedoff for the bus ride to Pennsylvania. Considering the college scholarships that can be provided, the countless generations of players in certain families, and the homecoming activities would be pointless without it. "He didn't go to school for a long time. Heand a group of kids have me surrounded. OK? Hes dangerous, hes terrifying, hes an extra in, How to Watch the 2023 Oscars Celebrate All 23 Categories Live Again. "Something happened in between those practices every single time, to my son. He alwayslistened. Everyone should be so lucky.''. Because if these attacks are acceptedas hazing, then the school is responsible. L.I. Village Split Over Decision To Forfeit Game Over Hazing "He [my son] called several times. All rights reserved. Carol said it appeared Conway had sentenced Sofia to the boot camp because he disliked the teens attitude. Correspondent Peter Van Sant reports. And he stands where the priest stood and speaks,reading from crinkled sheets of paper rapidly, almostinaudibly, in a low monotone. But even those who are, still have an astonishingly low chance at making the professional leagues. mepham high school football scandal. "Did I tell the perpetrators to go and do that to those kids? When Patty and Jimmy's son came home, he told them he had been sodomized, too. The grand jury criticizes the school district for not providing adequate supervision during the weeklong camp, and says the district should adopt a zero-tolerance policy toward violent behavior. Mepham High School (North Bellmore, NY) Varsity Football - MaxPreps.com My father was agreat man, he begins, and tells a story of howhis dad once saw a crashed, burning car, pulled overand ran to help, and discovered that the guy trappedin the passengers seat was a friend. "The kid who just made the tackle," says Cannestro, identifying one of the players on the tape. Hasnt hebeen through enough? (Smith/AP) Last week's criminal charges involving six New Mexico high school football players alleged to have sexually . Were more Jewish! another kidyells, laughing. Know what is expected andacceptable. Be responsible. A few blocks from school, Allie Pagano and Sarah Mirenda, both 14, stop at the local pizza shop, Luigi's, on their way home. The abuse occurred day and night, and young players were attacked repeatedly and forced to sodomize each other, the report says. He says the coach said,Okay, Ill handle it. From thatmoment on, the junior stopped callingReichsteins son faggot andstarted calling him tattletale boy., One day at practice, the lineman approached him whilehe was drinking from a water fountain. Was there anything that indicated they were injured or traumatized? The transition to college is not a walk in the park, but add a rigorous summer conditioning program, two-a-days everyday, and the pressures of coaches you have yet to impress, and you have a recipe for disaster. Werent theyalready on the right track? Many parents, especially those with children on the football team, have found it hard adjusting to their new reality in the center of a fishbowl. For Carol's son, it doesn't end. David Woycik, a lawyer for the victims, said, My clients were relieved that [Sofia and Carney] will be out of the community and off the streets and they are pleased the judicial system worked to a certain extent..