Sofia LaSpina first Long Island female football player to score TD We love our community. NEW! They did not come to help me.Rullo quotes the parent of that child as blamingprincipal John Didden, who did not protect mychild., Four days later, Rullo and two other parents who spokereceive identical profanity-laced letters in the mail,warning that if they keep speaking out, theyllalso get the broomstick treatment. Carol said it appeared Conway had sentenced Sofia to the boot camp because he disliked the teens attitude. I think they hated me because I introduced the pull-up to their strength and conditioning program. Correspondent Peter Van Sant reports. She says Didden said no twice.Thats when Vic stood up and called Didden aliar. A problem arises though once try outs are over and the team is announced. The school also erred by putting the coaches in one cabin and leaving the players in other cabins, supervised only by an older teammate, the report says. Heand a group of kids have me surrounded. "I had a personal conversation with one of the victims daily, and not once did he indicate to me that anything was wrong," says Cannestro. ''It's got to end here. For many years, people have been debating about whether sports teams for kids should have selective tryouts. Know what is expected andacceptable. Be responsible. Some parents and athletes believe equal playing time for all sports and activities is deserved all through their middle school and high school careers. I'm grabbing all the medication out of my cabinet and looking for everything that I think he's gonna hurt himself. "He made that statement and from that day on, he's been, his family, harassed by letters and threats," says Carol. Terroristicthreats. When athletes experience head trauma, they only recover a little, which might end their career early or other times people never recover. A pack of teenagers congregates across the street from Mepham High School, smoking their . "My son came forward, did something that he did not want to do. The police call what happened in August at thePirates five-day training camp a series ofAbner Louimastyle sex attacks (though,curiously, no student interviewed by police has evenmentioned Louimas name). Travis Barkers Finger Is Now the Enema of Blink-182 Fans. Kids in the bunks didn't tell us. 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. And he was very excited," recalls Patty. At 1:21 p.m. last Friday, the Mepham High School football and cheerleading squads should have rushed onto Mepham's field for a "Something happened in between those practices every single time, to my son. Oct. 20, 2003. The coaches also showed 48 Hours a tape never before made public - one they say was recorded on the last day of camp. Athletes must commit time to practice and traveling. In this case the youth should be tried as adults because of the severity of the incident and the emotional and physical effect that it had on the victim, It was six o 'clock at the Friendswood junior high mustang field I was playing strong safety and I had to cover the extra receiver they brought out by the snap I was already beating my man and the next thing I know the ball was sailing my way straight to me. Berger produced the requiredslip of paper. The three attackers were charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse after they sodomized the younger players with pine cones, golf balls and a broomstick in August at a football camp in Preston Park, Pa. Password must be at least 8 characters and contain: As part of your account, youll receive occasional updates and offers from New York, which you can opt out of anytime. His broad shoulders are slumpedand trembling as he walks the coffin down the aisle ofSaint Barnabas Church in Bellmore, Long Island. We're going to all the sports stores. .component--type-recirculation .item:nth-child(5) { *Sorry, there was a problem signing you up. The grand jury says the five coaches who supervised the team were ''more concerned with being coaches of a football team than interested in the well-being of the players as students.'' We love our children. Sofia was sentenced to the boot camp and Carney to the detention center both in Pennsylvania. It devastated us. MEPHAM PARENTS TO PLOT ACTION - New York Post Jonathan Anderson gets one of the first qualities of great fashion that it has to feel a bit strange. } The fact thatthese studies show the prevalence of this conduct inmany hazing situations supports a conclusion thattheres no reason to believe that this wouldhave occurred outside of such a setting, or abelief that such conduct would reoccur., Besides, he notes, the juvenile-justice systemaffords kids a second chance. 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. Source: Football players to be tried as juveniles - CNN No. "Everybody says we should just know. says McElroy. Football is important to the high school experience and different familys history around the world. Im theprincipal, he said, and Illdecide who can go on the trip. The lineman wasallowed to go to camp. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. But they dont want to appearself-serving, he says. 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. Everyone laughs. Long Island high school rocked by lurid football hazing scandal ''People just want to move on,'' said one teenager, sucking on his cigarette. That kid wassick! says a player named Rob. I want to thank my assistant coach who is the baseball expert. JUDGE SLAMS MEPHAM HAZERS By Erin Calabrese January 15, 2004 5:00am A Pennsylvania judge imposed strong penalties yesterday on two teens who sexually abused younger players at a high school. They were later suspended from classes on September 18. They bashed him in his head, over his back, his legs, his arms," recalls Patty, who says her son was assaulted at least 3-4 times a day. asks McElroy. In the meantime, experts say violent hazings in high schools are becoming more frequent. Terms of Service apply. It's a couple of days.' Hasnt hebeen through enough? Mepham Football team - Long Island High School Sports - Newsday These parents are now lobbying for a national hazing law, one with severe penalties. , 2023-02-08, 18:25:23 How long has it been since you've licked a high school girls pussy daddy? Some kids even approach them and suggestthat the time has come to let bygones be bygones.Their logic is biblicalan eye for an eye.The linemans father died! The third player in the Mepham HS hazing scandal was sentenced to probation after he made a deal with prosecutors and provided information. It involved a fight amongteenage boys. The report criticized the Wayne County judge, Robert Conway, for his decision not to move the attackers' cases from juvenile to adult court. Once rated one of the best academic high schools in the nation, Mepham High is now mired in scandal. Meet the Long Island High Schooler Who Made History With a Touchdown Murdaugh defense team plans to appeal conviction The question has whirled aroundBellmore for weeks: Who would raise a child who woulddo this to another child? Dont eventhink about sleeping at camp, he said. The 15-year-old wide receiver became the first female football player in Long Island history to score a touchdown Saturday night, when. At a school-board meeting onOctober 1, packed with camera crews and angry parents,Superintendent Caramore tries to explain that hazingsimply doesnt happen at Mephamthatfootball was canceled not because of what the boysallegedly did but because their teammates neverreported it. Involuntary deviate sexualintercourse. On October 6, heannounced that that was his intention. In that case, new players at. Conway could have sentenced the three including Phil Sofia, 17, and Ken Carney, 16 to juvenile jail until they turned 21 or he could have given them probation. Because if these attacks are acceptedas hazing, then the school is responsible. (516) 569-4000, To donate or for more information, click here, Chamber, mayors office are no match for the Thunderbolts. ''Our issue is our children are being blamed,'' said Paule Pachter, one of the parents in the group. Anger, fear in wake of Mepham attacks Parents afraid after football MaxPreps is a registered trademark of CBS Broadcasting Inc. 2022 Fall Boys Football New York: Long Island Division II. Mephamsstudent body is pulled from the northern part of thecommunity, where there are $50,000-a-year jobs and theschool parking lot is dominated by Chevys and Fords. What LAppartement 4F Co-owner Ashley Coiffard Put on Her Wedding Registry. Nor did he suspendthe three alleged perpetrators, and as a result, theywere allowed to walk the hallways of Mepham High fornearly two weeks. Mepham High School football hazing case tore Long Island apart in 2003. All rights reserved. We love kids. mepham high school football scandal - tourdefat.com Considering the college scholarships that can be provided, the countless generations of players in certain families, and the homecoming activities would be pointless without it. One afternoon after practice, they air theirtheories, the chief one being that the lineman musthave been traumatized as a kid. ), I knew all those kids, saysanother boy, a JV player. Go to the back of theline.. Trust me been there done that, the most regretted thing about school sports for many are tryouts. At Mepham High School on Long Island, the entire football season was canceled after players admitted to sadistically hazing fellow teammates. However, it seems too important to let go. In the case of my four month concussion, there are residual mental and physical problems. The emotional impact on him is unbelievable," adds Carol. Nassau County Girl Scouts fundraise for victims of quake in Syria, Turkey at Masjid Hamza, Powered by Creative Circle Media Solutions. With FamousAmos on the squad, the team made the county playoffsall four years. MEPHAM COACHES BOOTED IN HAZING SCANDAL - New York Post display: block; JUDGE SLAMS MEPHAM HAZERS - New York Post Theyre investigating the possibility that some students were planning to attack their schoolmates. Mepham High School Football Coach Anthony Cracco's Sex Scandal Has Bellmore . Mepham High School football head coach Anthony Cracco says LaSpina is the perfect role model for anyone who wants to just play because she worked hard and never got discouraged, adding there's a . Signup for our newsletter to get notified about our next ride. And he stands where the priest stood and speaks,reading from crinkled sheets of paper rapidly, almostinaudibly, in a low monotone. Mineral ice and especially that he now had, from the first time, a cut," says Carol. They feel a sense of guilt and shame that holds them back from saying anything and we see this is the Mepham High School Football case. Tryouts are the worst thing about sports, they bring nothing but more stress to your plate. "He was absolutely screaming. Keep yourmouth shut, the letters read, andnothing will happen to you or your family.. He's back home on Long Island. !Effin this, effinthatyoure not coming on my team,youre done, youre done, youredone! And I started screaming at him.. Youre old enough to knowwhat youre doing., I had some friends who were older, saysMcDermott. For a select number of fortunate athletes, that dream becomes a reality when they commit to a school and sign their letter of intent. During his career, the prolific actor inhabited an array of troubled characters. He was 40 years old. A day later, the threeboys were suspended, and a student. Over the course of five days, their sons were brutally sodomized by their teammates. He strokes his sisters hair withone hand and slides an arm around his brothersshoulders. 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. But the happy boys these parents sent to camp last summer didn't return that way. On September 17, the Bellmore-Merrick Central HighSchool District Board of Education canceledMepham's football season. High schools on Long Island have led a crackdown on rough-housing since the 2003 Mepham High School football training camp hazing scandal rocked the nation. Meanwhile, Nassau police on Monday found a found a cache of weapons near the school including baseball bats and golf clubs. "The question should not be the coaches should have known. He was dyingto play for the Pirateshed gotten AmosZereoues autograph when Zereoue visited hisjunior high. At this point, though, those feelings have mostly worn off, replaced by a different set of reactions, from weary resolve to dark humor. I said, 'What's the matter?' 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. This is hard tosayI know he was a good coach and a lot of kidsliked him. The coach told Bergerhe needed a physical. Rick Scott Is Unfortunately Right About Novak Djokovic. We as coaches donot see this incident as hazing, he said,but as a criminal act., Coach Mac has an attorney, Joseph Rosenthal, who isshifting the blame right back to the parents.The coach is a very dedicated, sincereperson, the lawyer says. That decision ''let down and insulted the victims and their families,'' the report says. They had hoped that the three assailants (Phil Sofia, Ken Carney, and Tom Diasparra) would be tried as adults for the crimes. According to the report, two of the attackers held down one of the freshmen while the third sodomized the freshman with a broomstick coated with Mineral Ice, a pain-relieving ointment. Privacy Policy and A day later, the threeboys were suspended, and a student demonstrationerupted behind the schoolto the delight of theTV crews camped out there. "He came to me and said, 'I'm bleeding. In the bunks, 17-year-old players were assigned to watch over 13-year-old boys. OK? Life goes on in Bellmore, despite the sex-abuse scandal involving members of the high school football team that has roiled this Long Island community. "He was after my son morning, noon, and night. I cried," says Carol, who asked her friend, Jim Rullo, to make a speech on her behalf. 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. McElroy and his coaching staff claim they had no responsibility for a vicious alleged hazing incident at a training camp in Pennsylvania in August. Jason Statham and Aubrey Plaza do not seem like a match made in action-comedy-chemistry heaven, but it somehow works. McElroy hadnothing to do with this kid, Joe Rosenthalsays. But the school district, which canceled the football season last fall, has now, after seeing the grand jury report, relieved the coaches of their teaching positions at Mepham. I think the kids covered it up to saveCoach Mac and save their season., Tending bar at Docs is Rob McDermott, class of95. October 11, 2014 / 7:28 PM / AP. Berger says his friends persuaded him to stay off theteam. The Nassau Conference II showdown between these two unbeatens has . Whos going to give him thatmoney now? 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Canadian teacher with size-Z prosthetic breasts placed on paid leave, Buster Murdaugh got 'very drunk' with dad 2 months after mom, brother murdered: source, I'm a professional cleaner ditch these 4 household products immediately, Shoeless Ariana Madix awkwardly tries to avoid cheating Tom Sandoval, Prince Harry was scared to lose Meghan Markle after fight that led to therapy, Prince Harry says psychedelics are fundamental part of his life, Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant allegedly flashes gun at a strip club, Tom Sizemore And The Dangerous Burden of Desperation, Tom Sandoval, Raquel Leviss planned to tell Ariana Madix about affair. Afew miles awaysouth of Sunrise Highway, down bythe blue water of East BayBMWs and Lexuses fillthe lot at the rival high school, John F. Kennedy.This was Amy Fishers high schoolthe richschool. Now even they, however, have grown weary, wishing for a return to their old life. And I know the family of one of theattackers. However, some would argue to say high school football is too dangerous to keep around. Including intelligent heated gloves, soothing foot rollers, and classic cabbage-shaped servingware. Not a wink. But the victims told their parents they were screaming at the top of their lungs. They have become activists, who say that the incident is just part of a pattern of problems in the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District. It has been more than a month since school officials and prosecutors revealed that three older players were accused of sodomizing three freshmen with broomsticks, pine cones and golf balls in an attack in late August at a preseason football camp in Pennsylvania. But other voices emerge at the meeting, corroboratingthe victims contention that hazing is a fact oflife at Mepham. says Cannestro. Did a kid come and tell us? Mepham has big hill to climb against Garden City in battle of unbeatens We dont beat guysup., Some of his old teammates have gathered to buy drinksfrom him. Thats when Berger says Coach Mac lunged athimhis hand reaching the boys throat. Heresisted, and according to his version of events, heremembers a JV coach telling him to roll with it. The coaches say they were staying in another cabin less than 50 yards from the players, and if anyone screamed, they would have heard it. "We went out. 2023 Vox Media, LLC. After all, theywerent just studentsthey wereathletes.. We've received your submission. Once in high school, senior athletes have scouts that come out to see them play. The sentences are indeterminate, but will be reviewed every four months. Andbecause we were the group with Amos, our team isetched in his memory.. Watch this highlight video of the Mepham (North Bellmore, NY) football team in its game Recap: Mepham vs. South Side 2022 on Oct 22, 2022. Pertzborn and assistant coach Brad Rogeberg were made aware of the initial bullying on July 24, 2022, according to the police report. And he's looking for something in the house to hurt himself.' 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.. He was just frightened," says his father, Vinny. Should they also get paid the same amount even if another co-worker is better at their job? Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. But the school board was unswayed by the coaches defenders. Hisfriend was a captain on the team, he maybe was gonnaget a scholarship. 10/08/2022. If you do something wrong, youd better go home and pack your toothbrush because youll pay the consequences, he told the teen. He really was.". Half that shit they didisnt even that bad.. Sofia was sent to a boot camp, and Carney was sent to a juvenile detention center. No!! On a Friday morning in August, 60 kids were droppedoff for the bus ride to Pennsylvania. But one kid whogot it in the shitter, hes just like afag., Yeah, he says. He previously suffered a brain aneurysm on February 18, and was ultimately taken off life support. Three days after camp ended, Carol and Vinny's son asked for help. What's more, the 16-year-old ringleader of the assaults had his own history of disciplinary problems. When I was in ninth grade, says Lohman,my father died and my mother wanted to move toFlorida. 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. MINEOLA, N.Y. -- Mepham High School football coach Kevin McElroy said Tuesday he was "shocked" by allegations that members of his varsity squad sexually abused younger players and said he. More than 60 players attended the camp, including the boy's best friend Patty and Jimmy's son who was also just 13. On the second day, the incidents became brutal. What's gonna come out of this is another parent is gonna say, 'Oh, I'm gonna make sure there's no hazing at my school.'" This was a sexual attack!, Are we gonna argue about this? He even threatened teachers. It was just too outrageous," says Jimmy. 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. Kristina and Vic Reichstein stand upand say their son, a freshman, was threatened by thelineman during practice in July and August. "He said to him, 'Don't even think of sleeping at football camp. 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. Mepham High School Football Scandal - nymag.com I went to summerschool with them. The lineman, he says,was always starting fights. We got the ball first on kick off and we made a touchdown on the first few drives.On. some by the crimes, others by the cancellation of the season. As well as rebuking the attackers, the report criticizes the school system and the Pennsylvania judge who handled the cases. He alwayslistened. After Dax Shepard asked her about her musical chairs relationship situation. Students attend a pep rally at Mepham High School in Bellmore, N.Y.