Posted on Mar 9, 2022
Black, Latino high school soccer players heckled with monkey and barking sounds, coach says
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Black and Latino soccer players were heckled with monkey noises and barking during a championship game in California — behavior condemned by the state’s high school sports governing body as “unacceptable” and by the players’ coach as “blatant racism.”
The jeers were heard Saturday during the Northern California championship game between Buchanan High School of Clovis and Oak Ridge High School of El Dorado Hills.
The “high-pressure game” resulted in a penalty kick shootout, Buchanan girls soccer head coach Jasara Gillette said in a statement, and that’s when the heckling was heard coming from the stands.
“Our third kicker, who is of African American descent, was subjected to monkey noises and gestures that came from the Oak Ridge stand as she took her PK,” or penalty kick. “The player before her who is Hispanic was also barked at,” Gillette said.
The jeers were heard Saturday during the Northern California championship game between Buchanan High School of Clovis and Oak Ridge High School of El Dorado Hills.
The “high-pressure game” resulted in a penalty kick shootout, Buchanan girls soccer head coach Jasara Gillette said in a statement, and that’s when the heckling was heard coming from the stands.
“Our third kicker, who is of African American descent, was subjected to monkey noises and gestures that came from the Oak Ridge stand as she took her PK,” or penalty kick. “The player before her who is Hispanic was also barked at,” Gillette said.
Black, Latino high school soccer players heckled with monkey and barking sounds, coach says
Posted from nbcnews.com
Racism
Soccer
Children
El Dorado Hills
Posted 2 y ago
Responses: 6
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."The harassing noises came from “one individual in the Oak Ridge side of the stands,” the El Dorado Union High School District, which oversees Oak Ridge High School, said in a statement.
Gillette called out the Oak Ridge High School administration, saying it “stood by and did nothing to address the problem. No fan was removed, and the stands were not cleared.”
A rundown of the day's top stories and headlines.
Officials at Oak Ridge could not be reached for comment Tuesday. The school's principal told NBC affiliate KCRA of Sacramento that in the moment “it was impossible to determine who had made the sound” and that the matter was discussed by the referees, an administrator for the California Interscholastic Federation, or CIF, and representatives from both schools. They decided to proceed with the game, said the principal, Aaron Palm.
Oak Ridge ended up winning the championship.
“Our players were physically and emotionally upset after the incident and were not addressed. This gave a huge competitive advantage to our opponent and directly influenced the end of the game!” Gillette said.
Palm, who said a student was behind the heckling and “is being held accountable,” added in a statement that the “incident disgusts our learning community and embarrasses our entire school. There is no room for this type of individual behavior anywhere in society.”...
..."The harassing noises came from “one individual in the Oak Ridge side of the stands,” the El Dorado Union High School District, which oversees Oak Ridge High School, said in a statement.
Gillette called out the Oak Ridge High School administration, saying it “stood by and did nothing to address the problem. No fan was removed, and the stands were not cleared.”
A rundown of the day's top stories and headlines.
Officials at Oak Ridge could not be reached for comment Tuesday. The school's principal told NBC affiliate KCRA of Sacramento that in the moment “it was impossible to determine who had made the sound” and that the matter was discussed by the referees, an administrator for the California Interscholastic Federation, or CIF, and representatives from both schools. They decided to proceed with the game, said the principal, Aaron Palm.
Oak Ridge ended up winning the championship.
“Our players were physically and emotionally upset after the incident and were not addressed. This gave a huge competitive advantage to our opponent and directly influenced the end of the game!” Gillette said.
Palm, who said a student was behind the heckling and “is being held accountable,” added in a statement that the “incident disgusts our learning community and embarrasses our entire school. There is no room for this type of individual behavior anywhere in society.”...
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SP5 Tom Manning
I would really like to see the end results from this incident . The winning teams principal said there was no way to find out who the singular person was while the other principal says a student "is being held accontable" . Counseling should be made public know;edge.
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Those of us in the south know this behavior is more common than people think. Racism is a learned behavior.
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SSgt Richard Kensinger
And generated across many generations per my clinical research on this matter.
Rich
Rich
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there is a lot of blame to be laid at a lot of different feet here. Having been a Ref (state 1 and PIAA) the ref could have suspended play and ask the school district to remove said hecklers. The Coaches could have requested this from the district people and ref staff . The offending school should be suspended from play for a suitable about of time.
Soccer as a whole has made huge steps to deter such acts and are making progress . Hopefully this will fastly trickle down to the school and youth league levels.
Soccer as a whole has made huge steps to deter such acts and are making progress . Hopefully this will fastly trickle down to the school and youth league levels.
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SSgt Richard Kensinger
In my 30 yrs. as a center soccer referee, I was the one who got heckled the most and had my life threatened on several occasions.
Rich
Rich
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SP5 Tom Manning
I also was heckled and threatened . i had the person ejected from the league and suspended from the state organization.
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