A high school in Pennsylvania has canceled its football season after receiving reports of repeated hazing incidents among team members.
Middletown Area High School announced it would forgo its fall football season after opening several investigations into hazing reports that occurred in the school’s indoor training rooms, the school district’s superintendent wrote in a letter to parents on Wednesday. The school had previously opened investigations into the incidents but ultimately decided to cancel the season after discovering the hazing was more widespread than initially thought.
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“The kind of hazing that occurred in our facilities with this team is reprehensible. It simply cannot and will not be tolerated,” wrote Superintendent Chelton Hunter. “We know we must work to address the culture of this team, educate our student body about hazing, and put programs in place to help us ensure that this kind of atmosphere is never allowed to exist in our school facilities.”
Middletown officials opened investigations after obtaining footage of some football players restraining other teammates on the ground of the indoor training room and using a muscle therapy gun to “poke the buttock areas of the students who were on the ground,” according to the school. Officials identified the students responsible on Aug. 12 and removed them from the team.
The head football coach later resigned on Aug. 15, pending the school’s investigation, and officials referred the incident to local police.
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Administration and athletic officials will work to find alternative opportunities for the cheerleading team and marching band, as several of their events will be canceled because of the football season changes.
“Again, I know this is difficult news,” Hunter wrote. “We’ll work to bring our school community together in a positive manner as we move forward into the new school year.”
