It would be the adventure of his life five days of intense football in the woods of Pennsylvania. Hasnt hebeen through enough? Reichstein triedto stare the lineman down. The group, which calls itself Mepham Parents 4 Change, consists of eight families, but says it is quickly gathering support. The boy, wearing a regulation backward baseball cap,is standing at the schools west entrance. Everyone laughs. I want to thank my assistant coach who is the baseball expert. For me, this challenge helped me develop as a person than will work harder and strive for the best in my academics. display: none; He's back home on Long Island. Berger sayshe got up and called his dad, who went straight to thecoaches. But the school board was unswayed by the coaches defenders. On 11/4, the Mepham varsity football team won their home playoff game against Elmont Memorial (Elmont, NY) by a score of 14-7. At Mepham High School on Long Island, the entire football season was canceled after players admitted to sadistically hazing fellow teammates. And McElroy neverprevented him from playing on the varsity team. The coaches' lawyer and officials for the Bellmore-Merrick School District did not comment on the report's findings or its criticisms. I dont evencare what they did.. Watch this highlight video of the Mepham (North Bellmore, NY) football team in its game Recap: Mepham vs. MacArthur 2022 on Nov 4, 2022. !Effin this, effinthatyoure not coming on my team,youre done, youre done, youredone! And I started screaming at him.. The kid that did it, I feel so bad forhim, the boy says. Theyre investigating the possibility that some students were planning to attack their schoolmates. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Bellmore Journal; Life Goes On but Is Altered After School Scandal Once in high school, senior athletes have scouts that come out to see them play. He really was.". CNN. Travis Barkers Finger Is Now the Enema of Blink-182 Fans. 49 - 18 W. You\'ll receive the next newsletter in your inbox. A pack of teenagers congregates across the street from Mepham High School, smoking their cigarettes and clowning. ''We don't do it in front of them,'' the teenager said, referring to the victims. That decision ''let down and insulted the victims and their families,'' the report says. Rick Scott Is Unfortunately Right About Novak Djokovic. The star lineman towersover most of the other pallbearers. A day later, the threeboys were suspended, and a student demonstrationerupted behind the schoolto the delight of theTV crews camped out there. But others angrily argue that not enough attention is being paid to the victims' ordeals. 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. MaxPreps is a registered trademark of CBS Broadcasting Inc. 2022 Fall Boys Football New York: Long Island Division II. What's more, before camp, parents Victor and Kristina Reichstein say Carney threatened their 13-year-old son. Keep yourmouth shut, the letters read, andnothing will happen to you or your family.. 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. Some parents and athletes believe equal playing time for all sports and activities is deserved all through their middle school and high school careers. This password will be used to sign into all, I Inherited Millions From My Mother, and Everyone Knows, Shania Twain Gives Rare Update on Her Ex-Husband and Ex-BFF, Journey Should Probably Go Their Separate Ways, 10 Things That Delighted Us Last Week: From Glass Jars to Guayabera Shirts. Thepurported ringleader, according to police, was thelineman. The report criticized the Wayne County judge, Robert Conway, for his decision not to move the attackers' cases from juvenile to adult court. 2023 Vox Media, LLC. Jason Statham and Aubrey Plaza do not seem like a match made in action-comedy-chemistry heaven, but it somehow works. ''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. Who Is Jerry Sandusky Responsible For The Crimes At Penn State "These boys were like 6 feet 2 inches and 6 feet 4 inches, and roughly 250 lbs. Heresisted, and according to his version of events, heremembers a JV coach telling him to roll with it. 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 public was barred from the hearing, but the penalties and the judges comments were disclosed by relatives of victims, lawyers and cops. Once the season started, eight players tackled him inthe locker room and lowered him into the toilet; thistime, he says, it contained urine. Trust me been there done that, the most regretted thing about school sports for many are tryouts. By the end of three exciting days in Atlantic City, 14 champions will emerge at the NJSIAA/Rothman Orthopaedics State . In practice, theyd put meon the B squad and Id tear up the Asquad. He says he stayed on the team for twoyears but was allowed on the field only once,returning a kickoff 50 yards. But its notthe only time I hear neighbors, even parents, floatthis notion. 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. Mary is athird-generation Bellmoron. Her boy,Kyle, played varsity. The Biden administrations policy of blocking unvaccinated people from the country continues to make little sense. "Not once. Despite the linemans threats, noone could have anticipated what happened atcamp, Caramore told parents in a speech, adding thatwhatever happened wasnt hazing:None of us in Bellmore-Merrick has used thatterm to define what is, in fact, a brutalcrime., The hazing-or-not debate is a key factor in the legalbattles to come. Clutching their schoolbooks in their arms, Allie and Sarah said they actually felt tremendous pride in their school these days. ), I knew all those kids, saysanother boy, a JV player. For many years, people have been debating about whether sports teams for kids should have selective tryouts. But rather, in my opinion, how could the coaches have known?" 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. . And his youth. Did a kid come and tell us? "The gastroenterologist said, 'What happened? 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. They could be home as early as next month. A football captain begged for the season to be reinstated, and his pleas were met with thunderous applause. At this point, though, those feelings have mostly worn off, replaced by a different set of reactions, from weary resolve to dark humor. 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.. Adds Jesse: Mepham kids say,Youre from Kennedy, and punch us.Theyre the bully school, the physical school.Even in middle school, we knew which kids were goingto Mepham and which to Kennedy.. 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. That washazing! Relatives read from the books of Matthew and Wisdom.And then the linemanwhom classmates call abully, who would shove kids hed never even metinto lockers as they walked bystands suddenly,stepping out from his place in the front, and walksback eight rows to give a bear hug to his littlebrother, seated next to his mother (who was divorcedfrom the father). After the coacheswent to sleep in their own cabin, at least threemembers of the team, ages 15, 16, and 17, allegedlyrubbed heat-producing mineral ice on broomsticks,pinecones, and golf balls and used those items topenetrate at least three freshman players while therest of the boys in the cabin all bore witness. Which mayexplain why Coach Mac, in his only public statement,has concurred with Caramore. 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. 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 Football team - Long Island High School Sports - Newsday What I know about the Berger incident isit did not involve hazing. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. says McElroy. He said, 'Well, your son was just online and saying he can't take it anymore. Then it became a football school. These parents are now lobbying for a national hazing law, one with severe penalties. "Something happened in between those practices every single time, to my son. I ask. Theres fury and finger-pointingandopportunityon all sides in this corner of LongIsland. This story has been shared 140,209 times. We got all new things to bring to pack. Now, McElroy and Junior Varsity Coach Art Cannestro exclusively tell their story to 48 Hours. What LAppartement 4F Co-owner Ashley Coiffard Put on Her Wedding Registry. Meet the Long Island High Schooler Who Made History With a Touchdown Did I do anything to those kids?" Try as they might to rid themselves of it, students, parents and other residents are finding that the incident is now woven into the fabric of life here. The Mepham-Garden City football game this week could be a juicy one. Colleges and the NCAA can make money selling jerseys and other souvenirs that might include the likeness of players, yet the actual players never receive a cent. 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. This wasn't just something that happened when the lights went out.". "The bottom line is, if we did anything wrong, we wouldn't be sitting here talking to you," says Cannestro. I went to summerschool with them. The lineman, he says,was always starting fights. Go to the back of theline.. "He was after my son morning, noon, and night. ", Are they lying? He gave his son a cellphone. A grand jury report later described how they used duct tape to pull off their children's pubic hair, how they forced them and another boy they sodomized to kick each other in the groin, and then threatened to beat and kill all of them if they told anybody. Scandal at New Jersey High school reopens hazing debate He never brought this incident toMcElroys attention; he must have brought it tothe JV coachs attention. 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. 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? On the second day, the incidents became brutal. The issue of blame, however, continues to polarize parents and promises to loom larger as the criminal case moves ahead. This incident could have been foreseeable by the coaches, and possibly the administration, if the coach reported anything to the principal and athletic director. So it just goes on and on. Go ahead. 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. L.I. Village Split Over Decision To Forfeit Game Over Hazing The abuse occurred day and night, and young players were attacked repeatedly and forced to sodomize each other, the report says. It's the biggest week of the year for high school wrestling fans. Everyone in the pews has heard how the father had beendevastated by the criminal charges his son was facing.Aggravated assault. He had to tell people what happened to him," says Carol. Because if these attacks are acceptedas hazing, then the school is responsible. Relatives of the victims, 13 and 14 at the time of the attacks, expressed satisfaction at the outcome.

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