Both told stories of defending their school when they were teased by students outside the district and cited the ''Mepham Pride'' buttons that they and many classmates have taken to wearing. Anyplayer that wants to be on the football team can be onthe team. There's supervision, like any other school event.". Vic and Kristina have done The Early Show and20/20. In the case of my four month concussion, there are residual mental and physical problems. Children have strived for years to make their parents, teachers and coaches proud of them. 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. That blond buzzcut, the baby face, the meager beginnings of agoateehes only 16, too young to beburying his father. Soon after the first revelations of the attacks, the Reichsteins reached out to newspapers and television stations with their story. But its notthe only time I hear neighbors, even parents, floatthis notion. Now the . But one kid whogot it in the shitter, hes just like afag., Yeah, he says. But the happy boys these parents sent to camp last summer didn't return that way. This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. But are they really fortunate? Also, sleep-away sports camps will no longer be authorized by the school district, Billig said. He taught us not to run away from ourproblems., How old were these kids, 16, 17? saysAndrew Longaro. It was just too outrageous," says Jimmy. Expect to be held accountablefor your choices and actions. Be truthful.From The Mepham Way, Mepham HighSchools honor code, 48 MINUTES OF HELL, A LIFETIME TO REMEMBERSlogan on a Mepham Pirates football T-shirt. Dont eventhink about sleeping at camp, he said. In 1994, Wesley Bergerwas a Mepham freshman, a football player with a shelfof trophiesMVP for the peewee league,fastest-runner and best-tackler awards. "Everybody says we should just know. Youre old enough to knowwhat youre doing., I had some friends who were older, saysMcDermott. Of course this thing escalated tosodomy, Berger says. The Mepham-Garden City football game this week could be a juicy one. And he's looking for something in the house to hurt himself.' It has been 11 years since three football players, ages 15 to 17, from Mepham High School in Bellmore, New York, were criminally charged with sodomizing teammates during a preseason. 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. "These boys were like 6 feet 2 inches and 6 feet 4 inches, and roughly 250 lbs. 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. Parents are paying up on school meals again. (CNN) -- Five football coaches at a Long Island high school lost their jobs Wednesday night in fallout from an alleged . MERRICK, N.Y. On a crisp autumn night, hundreds packed a school auditorium, but not for a pep rally, for Mepham High School's football season was canceled before it even began. If they have failing grades as well, the colleges are sending their students into the world without a real chance at becoming professional athletes, and without an actual education. Involuntary deviate sexualintercourse. He knows the mainkid, she says. Andbecause we were the group with Amos, our team isetched in his memory.. 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. By the end of three exciting days in Atlantic City, 14 champions will emerge at the NJSIAA/Rothman Orthopaedics State . In practice, theyd put meon the B squad and Id tear up the Asquad. He says he stayed on the team for twoyears but was allowed on the field only once,returning a kickoff 50 yards. 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? He said his surgery was a success, but he needs time to heal before he can tour again. You could just seehe had so much anger in him. The parents are organizing to demand that the school administration be held accountable for allowing the incident to occur, they said. 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. But for the victims' families, the report came as a vindication, they said. I want to thank my assistant coach who is the baseball expert. Relatives read from the books of Matthew and Wisdom.And then the linemanwhom classmates call abully, who would shove kids hed never even metinto lockers as they walked bystands suddenly,stepping out from his place in the front, and walksback eight rows to give a bear hug to his littlebrother, seated next to his mother (who was divorcedfrom the father). The question has whirled aroundBellmore for weeks: Who would raise a child who woulddo this to another child? Once the season started, eight players tackled him inthe locker room and lowered him into the toilet; thistime, he says, it contained urine. Kristina and Vic Reichstein stand upand say their son, a freshman, was threatened by thelineman during practice in July and August. 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. McElroy hadnothing to do with this kid, Joe Rosenthalsays. On 11/11, the Mepham varsity football team won their neutral playoff game against Long Beach (NY) by a score of 14-0. Its the kind of bar where people stillsmoke and no one cares. A pack of teenagers congregates across the street from Mepham High School, smoking their . Wesley?Wesley was a nasty rat bastard! Due to the poormoral character of your children, Kristina saysCaramore told the parents, this investigationis not moving forward. She stood up and askedDidden twice if any child had been threatened beforethe camp incidents. 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. David Woycik, a lawyer for the victims, said, My clients were relieved that [Sofia and Carney] will be out of the community and off the streets and they are pleased the judicial system worked to a certain extent.. Four members of the faculty were either fired or forced out because of the scandal. "We went out. He said, 'Well, your son was just online and saying he can't take it anymore. A minivan with two others whizzes by, music blaring. Those kids are running at full speed. That washazing! Clutching their schoolbooks in their arms, Allie and Sarah said they actually felt tremendous pride in their school these days. The coaches also showed 48 Hours a tape never before made public - one they say was recorded on the last day of camp. A day later, the three alleged victims are stillhaving broomsticks thrown at them from cars in theparking lot. Of course not. "You didn't monitor him very carefully, obviously," says Patty of what happened to her 13-year-old son. Now when they talk about Mepham, they use the wordssodomy and hazing. Everyone laughs. At first, shock and disbelief prevailed. 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.'' The crime scene evidence that convicted Alex Murdaugh "He said to him, 'Don't even think of sleeping at football camp. As she accepts her Someone to Watch award on stage. How could we have known?". The superintendent, while admonishing the team for notcooperating with the investigation, has also putforward a tidy defense of McElroy and the principal,Didden. 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). We got the ball first on kick off and we made a touchdown on the first few drives.On. A day later, the threeboys were suspended, and a student demonstrationerupted behind the schoolto the delight of theTV crews camped out there. The issue spans to not only the professional level, but the high school and collegiate divisions as well. He triedseriously to treat him as a regular kid, like nothingever happened. 1999, McAlester High School, Oklahoma: A football player suffered a head injury after he was jumped by older teammates in a locker-room hazing. no.". So, no., But, you know, says McDermott, ifthey wanted to do it? Hed just beat upon peoplehed be walking by andboom! ''There's no question that they knew hazing had gone on for years, and they allowed it to go on,'' said Robert Kelly, a lawyer for two of the victims. In the bunks, 17-year-old players were assigned to watch over 13-year-old boys. The conversation easily shifts to a defenseof Coach Mac. After all, theywerent just studentsthey wereathletes.. The grand jury has been investigating the attacks for months to determine whether the coaches should be indicted and what led to the assaults. 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. Offscreen, he was one himself. 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. 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. A pack of teenagers congregates across the street from Mepham High School, smoking their cigarettes and clowning. "He's victimized because I asked him to do a favor in this. Theyre sick of reporters, andtheyre worried about the lineman. This guysstill the head coach., Its a fact of lifein Bellmore and Merrick that the farther south you go,the more money youll find. High school coaches should not be required to give equal playing time to all players who make the team. We wanted them to be tried as adults, but we lost that battle. The coaches, who supervised the trip, say that they had no idea any of this was happening during the camp. When people talked aboutMepham, they talked about Famous Amos. Did I do anything to those kids?" There were no screams like that.". He had to tell people what happened to him," says Carol. The morals, the attitudes, of a Mepham student,are different, suggests another Kennedy player,Danny. When the school board canceled the football season and suspended the coaches, the community actually split -- between those who supported the victims' families, and those who wanted to save the coaches and the season. In my opinion, a good education is so very important for our countrys youth, especially the athletes. Please enter valid email address to continue. Mepham High School football hazing case tore Long Island apart in 2003. 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. at Garden City. He really was.". Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. I believe that exclusive tryouts should be held for children because they are extremely good for their mental health in three ways: tryouts teach kids humility, in that they arent always going to be selected, they help kids learn to work harder, and they boost kids confidence. Just because someone shows up and participates, doesnt not mean they deserve the same treatment as everyone else. Nor did he suspendthe three alleged perpetrators, and as a result, theywere allowed to walk the hallways of Mepham High fornearly two weeks. Students have pushed their bodies to the limits, causing extreme injury that will hold them back from sports in the future. Thursday, November 6, 2003 Posted: 1537 GMT (11:37 PM HKT) Story Tools. And McElroy neverprevented him from playing on the varsity team. And one of the leaders selected joined with two other varsity players to sodomize these children. All the negative attention has galvanized them, they said. He never judged us, saysDave Lohman, class of 94. 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.. The coaches would have to be everywhere at thesame time, says Dave Hill. October 11, 2014 / 7:28 PM / AP. Touring the world with friends one mile and pub at a time; ut austin undergraduate majors Newsletter . The transition to college is not a walk in the park, but add a rigorous summer conditioning program, two-a-days everyday, and the pressures of coaches you have yet to impress, and you have a recipe for disaster. I cried," says Carol, who asked her friend, Jim Rullo, to make a speech on her behalf. Im theprincipal, he said, and Illdecide who can go on the trip. The lineman wasallowed to go to camp. "He came to me and said, 'I'm bleeding. No!! When members of a high-school football team on Long Island were accused of sexual attacks, the community was appalled . When parents came to an emergency meeting on September16 with the principal and superintendent, they heardnot mea culpas but accusations. Not a lot of kids are good enough to play in the top college sports programs in the country. 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. It looks like a tasty treat for any high school football fan. It stated that, at the camp,. At last nights meeting, one player called the coaches caring role models, and team captain Dan Cosenza hugged McElroy. Duct tape was yanked from the victims' bottoms and pubic areas, and two of the victims were forced to smear Mineral Ice on their testicles, and then kick each other there, the report says. Parents demanded:Shouldnt they have been there to stop theseboys? My sonthinks its just a bad thing that went too far,too fast., Andy mentions what some people are sayingthatwhat happened at camp was part of a pattern of hazingat Mepham. The report criticized the Wayne County judge, Robert Conway, for his decision not to move the attackers' cases from juvenile to adult court. One was sent to a boot camp, another to a juvenile treatment facility and the third returned home on probation. Signup for our newsletter to get notified about our next ride. Mepham was known mainlyfor its wrestling program until Coach Mac arrived in1986. Ultimately, its gonnabe a civil case. Abner Louima sued the New YorkPolice Department for $155 million, eventuallysettling for $8.75 million. Sometimes its hardto tell what bothers the people of Bellmore andMerrick moreallegations of sodomy or the abruptend of football season. (Smith/AP) Last week's criminal charges involving six New Mexico high school football players alleged to have sexually . 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 the victims told their parents they were screaming at the top of their lungs. Trust me been there done that, the most regretted thing about school sports for many are tryouts. 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.) When several parents received threatening letters after speaking out about the incident, emotions ratcheted higher. However, it seems too important to let go. 49 - 18 W. The abuse occurred day and night, and young players were attacked repeatedly and forced to sodomize each other, the report says. This was a sexual attack!, Are we gonna argue about this? "He was laying in bed with a big butcher knife in his hand 'cause he was scared. The grand jury criticizes the school district for not providing adequate supervision during the weeklong camp, and says the district should adopt a zero-tolerance policy toward violent behavior. There's coaches. Berger says his friends persuaded him to stay off theteam. And people who might have had the chance to prevent this incident are not being held accountable.''.