Five Girls Get Suspended for "Hazing” Teammates
The girls dragged younger kids on dog leashes.


Updated on May 18, 2011, 5:33 pm ET
By Jane Farrell    Find in News    Related videos | articles | comments | share it

Female soccer players

Five girls on a soccer team in a Massachusetts high school have been suspended for a “hazing” ritual that involved blindfolding new teammates and dragging them along the playing field on dog leashes before throwing pies in the younger girls’ faces.

Needham High School also suspended the team’s coach for failing to report the incident. The coach’s daughter was one of those suspended. No one argues that the incident didn’t happen, but parents went to court anyway, saying that the teens should be allowed to play because the state tournament was coming up. Massachusetts has a statewide law requiring that high schools enforce antihazing policies.

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The parents of the suspended girls and the hazed girls presented a united front, saying that the episode was simply misguided teambuilding. Todd White, father of one of the younger girls, led the legal action to let the suspended girls play, saying that his daughter “loves these seniors, supports these seniors, and is mortified that in any way…their college careers are harmed.”

The names of all the girls were withheld from news stories about the incident, but in the high school and the community, it’s likely that most people know who they are.

A judge refused to lift the suspension, and the high school, using mostly replacement players, lost the state championship 7-1. (msnbc)

Jane Farrell is a senior editor at BettyConfidential.

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11 comment(s) on this article...
ChattyCathy
#1. ChattyCathy on 11/10/2010 - 3:38 pm (EST)
How bizarre! All the soccer players at my high school were brats.
violetgal
#2. violetgal on 11/10/2010 - 3:42 pm (EST)
Misguided teambuilding...yeah right. They should be ashamed.
booksorclothes
#3. booksorclothes on 11/10/2010 - 3:49 pm (EST)
What was the point of hazing other than to humiliate the new players? Keep the suspension. Just because you're on a team doesn't give you the right to be a brat.
ugogirl
#4. ugogirl on 11/10/2010 - 4:03 pm (EST)
#1-3, what a bunch of babies you are! it's all in fun, it's expected, and what's the big deal!!!!! pies in your face, how terrible, cut me a break. kids have to be kids, kids have to have fun, kids need to be challenged. the next thing you'll do is complain that the kids are obese!!!! but you won't let them play outside, run around, have fun and be kids!!! let nature take its course, let kids be kids, sometimes bad, sometimes good. if you don't let them have hard times and have challenges then they never learn to deal with problems or bad things and then they end up like you all, a bunch of wimpy, afraid of everything, don't look at me wrong babies!!!!
weetziebat
#5. weetziebat on 11/10/2010 - 4:11 pm (EST)
The only reason the parents of the younger players are going along with the whole thing is that these kids' life will be hell if they don't. You know how kids treat "tattlers."
bubbles0luv
#6. bubbles0luv on 11/11/2010 - 10:40 am (EST)
It's easy to see who was a competitive athlete in HS/college and who wasn't by these comment. As someone who did play soccer in HS and college I can say that YES there was hazing, YES as the parents and teammates stated here, it was in good fun. It's a bonding experience, there are people who take it too far, obviously, that's a different story. "Freshman Day" as it was called will remain one of my best memories followed by each time I got to pass the tradition on the the next round of freshmen. It's sad people want to take it away just because they don't understand it.
bubbles0luv
#7. bubbles0luv on 11/11/2010 - 10:40 am (EST)
It's easy to see who was a competitive athlete in HS/college and who wasn't by these comment. As someone who did play soccer in HS and college I can say that YES there was hazing, YES as the parents and teammates stated here, it was in good fun. It's a bonding experience, there are people who take it too far, obviously, that's a different story. "Freshman Day" as it was called will remain one of my best memories followed by each time I got to pass the tradition on the the next round of freshmen. It's sad people want to take it away just because they don't understand it.
bubbles0luv
#8. bubbles0luv on 11/11/2010 - 10:40 am (EST)
It's easy to see who was a competitive athlete in HS/college and who wasn't by these comment. As someone who did play soccer in HS and college I can say that YES there was hazing, YES as the parents and teammates stated here, it was in good fun. It's a bonding experience, there are people who take it too far, obviously, that's a different story. "Freshman Day" as it was called will remain one of my best memories followed by each time I got to pass the tradition on the the next round of freshmen. It's sad people want to take it away just because they don't understand it.
bubbles0luv
#9. bubbles0luv on 11/11/2010 - 10:40 am (EST)
It's easy to see who was a competitive athlete in HS/college and who wasn't by these comment. As someone who did play soccer in HS and college I can say that YES there was hazing, YES as the parents and teammates stated here, it was in good fun. It's a bonding experience, there are people who take it too far, obviously, that's a different story. "Freshman Day" as it was called will remain one of my best memories followed by each time I got to pass the tradition on the the next round of freshmen. It's sad people want to take it away just because they don't understand it.
bubbles0luv
#10. bubbles0luv on 11/11/2010 - 10:41 am (EST)
Oops, I don't know why it just repeated my post a million times. Sorry!

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