Parents accused of hurling racist abuse at rival players
“This is unacceptable, and stands directly against our school system’s commitment to common decency and sportsmanship,” the school’s superintendent said
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Your support makes all the difference.A school in Colchester, Connecticut is condemning parents who reportedly yelled "racial taunts" during a girls high school basketball game.
According to school superintendent Jeffrey Burt, the school is investigating "allegations of offensive comments and negative behaviour" by parents at Bacon Academy over the weekend during a basketball game.
The school found that "this behaviour did take place and included racial taunts by some adults aimed at opposing youth players."
“This is unacceptable, and stands directly against our school system’s commitment to common decency and sportsmanship," he said in a statement.
The superintendent offered an apology to Ledyard High School's basketball players and their families for the harassment.
“On behalf of Bacon Academy and our community, I offer our full and sincere apology to the Ledyard High School basketball players who were the targets of this abuse, as well as their families — this behavior does not meet the standards we promote in the Colchester schools, and we must do better. This is why we are examining this incident and taking the opportunity to review and improve the climate and culture of our entire school community,” he wrote.
The Hartford Courant reports that some Bacon Academy parents were shouting the "n-word," prompting one parent to be escorted out of the game. The police were called to respond to the harassment from the Bacon Academy parents.
It's not the first time Bacon Academy has been embroiled in a scandal concerning racial abuse. In March, Bacon Academy's girls basketball coach John Shea was accused of allegedly making a racist remark about the New London basketball team during a huddle.
Mr Burt told the paper that he wouldn't comment on personnel issues but that trainings were taking place.
According to the school, some of the Bacon Academy players – who did not hurl slurs at the opposing team – are now facing harassment on social media.
"We ask for the online harassment of these students to end immediately," the superintendent said in a statement.
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