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. Hedoesnt have a senior season to put on hiscollege application., This guy comes to my job, says Andy.He says, Oh, Im in Mephamnow, maybe I should shove a pinecone up myass! I said, Thats notfunny. These guys on the team are gonna beharassed the rest of their fuckin lives., My son knows one of the boys who wasattacked, Mary says sadly. The coaches' lawyer and officials for the Bellmore-Merrick School District did not comment on the report's findings or its criticisms. This is a sore pointfor Mary. Everybody knew I got hazed in the lockerroom, he says. When athletes experience head trauma, they only recover a little, which might end their career early or other times people never recover. He had to tell people what happened to him," says Carol. How Tyrel Jackson Williams Brought TikTok Cringe to, Its sort of a newer version of the L.A. actor ride that Kyle is on the first two seasons, but its worse.. Youve got some Janning to do! Once rated one of the best academic high schools in the nation, Mepham High is now mired in scandal. On the second day, the incidents became brutal. As we mentioned earlier, the freshmans mother mentioned to coach McElroy the fact that the upperclassman was calling her son those insulting names. Everyone should be so lucky.''. 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. 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. He even threatened teachers. Since returning from camp, he has barely slept. In that case, new players at. Into the locker! "He was robbed of his innocence. Five football coaches at the center of the Mepham High School sexual abuse scandal will not be allowed to coach the team next year, the Bellmore-Merrick school board said on Wednesday. It looks like a tasty treat for any high school football fan. Thanks for contacting us. Brackets for the 2023 NJSIAA State Wrestling Championships in Atlantic It's, like, they're monsters," says Patty. A day later, the threeboys were suspended, and a student demonstrationerupted behind the schoolto the delight of theTV crews camped out there. On September 17, the Bellmore-Merrick Central HighSchool District Board of Education canceledMepham's football season. I told him what hazing was, he says.I did not explain to him that hazing wasgolf balls, broomsticks, and pinecones.Reichsteins son was unharmed; three otherfreshmen werent so lucky. He wrestled instead. 1999, McAlester High School, Oklahoma: A football player suffered a head injury after he was jumped by older teammates in a locker-room hazing. Andbecause we were the group with Amos, our team isetched in his memory.. No. How a tragic boating crash is connected to the family of Alex Murdaugh One afternoon after practice, they air theirtheories, the chief one being that the lineman musthave been traumatized as a kid. When the allegations surfaced in early September, the three accused teenagers were suspended from Mepham High School's football team. But its notthe only time I hear neighbors, even parents, floatthis notion. 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. I heard the kidliked it.. Both coaches still don't understand why they're being blamed for what happened last summer at Mepham High School's football camp. Most students, the girls say, have not gotten caught up in the anger and recrimination that have divided their parents. Keep yourmouth shut, the letters read, andnothing will happen to you or your family.. 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. 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. Reichstein called Didden, whose reply, according toReichstein, was that there was no hazing at Mepham,because if there were, wed cancelfootball season. (Didden and his attorney didnot return repeated calls.) And I can't ever get that back from him," says Patty. West Jersey Football League all-stars: United Division, 2022. No one understands this better thanMark Alter, the lawyer for the alleged ringleader.The fact that its egregious allegationsdoes not necessarily mean its not a juvenilecase, says Alter. These parents are now lobbying for a national hazing law, one with severe penalties. It is understandable that everyone can not make the team but it is a terrible thing to cut children by telling them they did not have enough room on the team or are not ready to be on it. Students moved from one cabin to another without the coaches' knowing, the report says. Once each school year, older Mepham students would beat up younger ones on school grounds in a ritual called ''Freshman Friday,'' the grand jury found. 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. And he told us that they were keeping them up. The coaches, however, say that, in attempt to deal with Carney's threats to another member of the team, they put Reichstein's son in the cabin closest to them, and asked an upperclassman to keep an eye on both boys. 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. 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. Subscriber Exclusive. "Not once. More than 60 players attended the camp, including the boy's best friend Patty and Jimmy's son who was also just 13. Go to the back of theline.. The two boys join their sister tobring the Communion offerings forward as the mournerssing Be Not Afraid.. It devastated us. A day later, the three alleged victims are stillhaving broomsticks thrown at them from cars in theparking lot. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Over the next few days, the broomstick assaults were repeated. "The kid who just made the tackle," says Cannestro, identifying one of the players on the tape. Perhaps most prominent among the group are Victor and Kristina Reichstein, who have criticized the school's principal, John F. Didden, and the team's head coach, Kevin McElroy, from the beginning. 49 - 18 W. In the case of my four month concussion, there are residual mental and physical problems. Watch this highlight video of the Mepham (North Bellmore, NY) football team in its game Recap: Mepham vs. Long Beach 2022 on Oct 15, 2022, Watch this highlight video of the Mepham (North Bellmore, NY) football team in its game Recap: Mepham vs. Sewanhaka 2022 on Oct 29, 2022. ''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. They hit his headon the porcelain and he got a concussion. Reichsteins wife,Kristina, then begged Didden to make an example of thelineman. Coach speaks out for first time on LI football team hazing allegations Including intelligent heated gloves, soothing foot rollers, and classic cabbage-shaped servingware. He said his surgery was a success, but he needs time to heal before he can tour again. My first reason I believe athletes with bad grades shouldnt play sports, For years, the use of performance-enhancing drugs has haunted all levels of sport, baseball taking the majority of the publicity. We said, 'Are they hurting you?' And one of the leaders selected joined with two other varsity players to sodomize these children. Dont eventhink about sleeping at camp, he said. The incident angered the victim's mother, who. They speak ofbroomsticks, pinecones, and golf balls. I dont evencare what they did.. He did more for me than any coach ever. The kid that did it, I feel so bad forhim, the boy says. Atlantic City Football 2022-2023 - NJ.com Whether its being in thelocker room, making sure everybodys on the samepage, rallying the troops, or making sureeveryones focused on the task at hand., How do you weed out the undisciplined players?On any high-school team, the seniors give you alittle bit of a hard time, he says. By the end of three exciting days in Atlantic City, 14 champions will emerge at the NJSIAA/Rothman Orthopaedics State . The Bellmore-Merrick Board of Education voted unanimously tonight to cancel this year's football season at a Long Island high school that had been reeling from allegations that three older. Students ''don't know who to blame,'' said Allie. Not, 'Coach, things aren't good over here.' He taught us not to run away from ourproblems., How old were these kids, 16, 17? saysAndrew Longaro. Because if these attacks are acceptedas hazing, then the school is responsible. But the victims told their parents they were screaming at the top of their lungs. Then it became a football school. He said, 'Well, your son was just online and saying he can't take it anymore. "He was after my son morning, noon, and night. At Mepham High School on Long Island, the entire football season was canceled after players admitted to sadistically hazing fellow teammates. Please enter valid email address to continue. "Standing up and giving a 'rah, rah' when my son and the other boys are hurting in this way is so disrespectful. "He was screaming. Where does it end?". "They couldn't be further from the truth," says Cannestro. Hisfriend was a captain on the team, he maybe was gonnaget a scholarship. McElroy was practically a secondfather to Zereoue when the running back moved to ahome for wayward boys in Bellmorearriving, toMephams good fortune, at the start of hishigh-school career. This wasn't just something that happened when the lights went out.". That hasnt satisfied parents whocomplain about the lost scholarships, the deflatedhomecoming celebration, and the fund-raisers for othersports, all of which depend on football and are nowruined, theyre saying, because of a couple ofmessed-up kids. Students have pushed their bodies to the limits, causing extreme injury that will hold them back from sports in the future. ''We don't do it in front of them,'' the teenager said, referring to the victims. And people who might have had the chance to prevent this incident are not being held accountable.''. All that has led these parents to ask the same kind of questions asked after the shootings at Columbine: How much did the school know about their student assailants, and who should be held responsible? But others angrily argue that not enough attention is being paid to the victims' ordeals. Half that shit they didisnt even that bad.. But it really happened., McElroys lawyer vehemently denies almost everyaspect of Bergers story. Theyre a beautiful family. The team did it along with some guidance from my assistant coach and the parents. I think hes adirtbag. Future of Sayreville football coaches may hinge on supervision We wanted them to be tried as adults, but we lost that battle. The conversation easily shifts to a defenseof Coach Mac. Thursday, November 6, 2003 Posted: 1537 GMT (11:37 PM HKT) Story Tools. The priest declares that the father had nothingbut life ahead of him.