at Garden City. Berger says his friends persuaded him to stay off theteam. In 1994, Wesley Bergerwas a Mepham freshman, a football player with a shelfof trophiesMVP for the peewee league,fastest-runner and best-tackler awards. asks McElroy. But they dont want to appearself-serving, he says. Not a wink. Theres a no-cut policy. In recent years, the Pirates havent done aswell, losing roughly as many games as theyvewon, but the coach remains a local legendafather figure who welcomes players to his house forbarbecues with his teenage daughters in attendance.Its not surprising, then, that McElroy and theadministration would be the first stop on thewhos-to-blame tour. False imprisonment. Were happy as can be, said Carol, an aunt of one of the victims. ", "Did a parent come and complain to us? They hit his headon the porcelain and he got a concussion. Ke Huy Quan Continues His Winning Streak at the Independent Spirit Awards. display: block; 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. Everyone laughs. The coaches, who slept in a cabin away from their players, said they knew nothing of the violence until a parent complained to school officials. Over the course of five days, their sons were brutally sodomized by their teammates. It stated that, at the camp,. His broad shoulders are slumpedand trembling as he walks the coffin down the aisle ofSaint Barnabas Church in Bellmore, Long Island. Also it brings down students self esteem. The crime scene evidence that convicted Alex Murdaugh We got the ball first on kick off and we made a touchdown on the first few drives.On. !Effin this, effinthatyoure not coming on my team,youre done, youre done, youredone! And I started screaming at him.. Criminal coercion. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive email correspondence from us. In my mind, the school made a major error innot suspending these three allegedperpetrators, says Robert Kelly, an attorneyfor two victims. But my son says nobody knew he would cross theline., Andys son plays lacrosse. CNN. These towns lost seventeenpeople in the World Trade Center attacks.Theyre places whose kids go to college locallyand then settle here and raise families. Nothing.". And McElroy neverprevented him from playing on the varsity team. I said, You wantto lock me in a locker and laugh for an hour, fine.But Im not down with urine, dude., At the beginning of his junior year, Berger says, heshowed up to start the season. A day later, the three alleged victims are stillhaving broomsticks thrown at them from cars in theparking lot. 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. All the while, older players watched and laughed. 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.'" 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. Including dishwasher-safe Japanese porcelain, two sets of French-made knives, and a sleek kettle. You could just seehe had so much anger in him. Terms of Service apply. She says Didden said no twice.Thats when Vic stood up and called Didden aliar. It's the biggest week of the year for high school wrestling fans. A failure can be a downward spiral or a setback turning into a benefit. ''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. "He was after my son morning, noon, and night. The question has whirled aroundBellmore for weeks: Who would raise a child who woulddo this to another child? On 11/4, the Mepham varsity football team won their home playoff game against Elmont Memorial (Elmont, NY) by a score of 14-7. Because if these attacks are acceptedas hazing, then the school is responsible. Here's why food advocates are worried they cant afford it. In the southern reachesof Long Island, nestled between the bucolic SouthernState Parkway and the fast-food joints and cardealerships on Sunrise Highway, the four small townsof Bellmore, North Bellmore, Merrick, and NorthMerrick make up a solid community of working- andmiddle-class families. Instead, thevictims were laughed at in the halls, calledfaggot and broomstick boy.The superintendent, Thomas Caramore, shielded theschool from inquiries at first. Was there anything that indicated they were injured or traumatized? "My son came forward, did something that he did not want to do. Now the Reichsteins have written the stateDepartment of Education, demanding an investigation. Kids in the bunks didn't tell us. } We dontalways understand, and we dont alwayssee. He attempts a little levityIknow he shared his hopes for the Yankees with theLordbefore straining for profundity:The great artist has finished hisportrait. He urges the mourners to say a prayerfor the family. All the negative attention has galvanized them, they said. They demanded that the boy be barred from camp but were rebuffed, they said. But then come the off-color jokes about broomsticks and pine cones from his friends. Some parents and athletes believe equal playing time for all sports and activities is deserved all through their middle school and high school careers. Oct. 20, 2003. After all, theywerent just studentsthey wereathletes.. He was benched for two years as the lawsuit creptthrough the legal system. "He [my son] called several times. Trust me been there done that, the most regretted thing about school sports for many are tryouts. I cried," says Carol, who asked her friend, Jim Rullo, to make a speech on her behalf. What's more, the 16-year-old ringleader of the assaults had his own history of disciplinary problems. Of course this thing escalated tosodomy, Berger says. All five lost their coaching positions. It is in the best interests of our students and the success of our program that the present coaches not be re-appointed, said Bellmore-Merrick school-board member Norbert Billig. I went to summerschool with them. The lineman, he says,was always starting fights. He was one of four captains chosen by CoachMac his senior season. In the case of my four month concussion, there are residual mental and physical problems. A day later, the threeboys were suspended, and a student. As we mentioned earlier, the freshmans mother mentioned to coach McElroy the fact that the upperclassman was calling her son those insulting names. no.". My sons not. ''People just want to move on,'' said one teenager, sucking on his cigarette. Students should not have to tryout for school sports. On 10/29, the Mepham varsity football team won their away conference game against Sewanhaka (Floral Park, NY) by a score of 27-12. He said his surgery was a success, but he needs time to heal before he can tour again. But these parents say the risk to their children was greater. When the allegations surfaced in early September, the three accused teenagers were suspended from Mepham High School's football team. "They have to be lying.". Husband of woman murdered with an ax convicted 40 years after her death You know, what could be going on? The grand jury has been investigating the attacks for months to determine whether the coaches should be indicted and what led to the assaults. On 10/22, the Mepham varsity football team won their home conference game against South Side (Rockville Centre, NY) by a score of 49-18. 2023 Vox Media, LLC. says McElroy. Thursday, November 6, 2003 Posted: 1537 GMT (11:37 PM HKT) Story Tools. And don't you dare tell,'" says Kristina, who lobbied to get Carney thrown off the trip. ), I knew all those kids, saysanother boy, a JV player. Now even they, however, have grown weary, wishing for a return to their old life. They had hoped that the three assailants (Phil Sofia, Ken Carney, and Tom Diasparra) would be tried as adults for the crimes. Reichsteins wife,Kristina, then begged Didden to make an example of thelineman. But the happy boys these parents sent to camp last summer didn't return that way. When people talked aboutMepham, they talked about Famous Amos. The father died on October 5a daybefore news broke that the lineman may be tried as anadult for some 26 felonies stemming from events thattook place over several late nights in August atMephams football-training camp in Wayne County,Pennsylvania. "He was laying in bed with a big butcher knife in his hand 'cause he was scared. That washazing! Correspondent Peter Van Sant reports. No! You\'ll receive the next newsletter in your inbox. Go ahead. When I was in ninth grade, says Lohman,my father died and my mother wanted to move toFlorida. And the report provides the most detailed glimpse yet into the weeklong football camp and the assaults that took place in two cabins last summer. 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. He did more for me than any coach ever. Anotherparent, Jim Rullo, delivers a prepared statement onbehalf of the victims families. This is hard tosayI know he was a good coach and a lot of kidsliked him. He had to tell people what happened to him," says Carol. The kid that did it, I feel so bad forhim, the boy says. ''Despite these warnings and policies, the players all expected hazing to take place in one form or another at the camp,'' the report said. ''They continue to try to bury this thing and pretend they did everything they could, and that's just not true.''. 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. some by the crimes, others by the cancellation of the season. And would you let it happen a second and third time? Students ''don't know who to blame,'' said Allie. These parents are now lobbying for a national hazing law, one with severe penalties. But are they really fortunate? There's supervision, like any other school event.". At this point, the victims would have already suffered numerous attacks. Hes been introuble before, that kid. Mineral ice and especially that he now had, from the first time, a cut," says Carol. Murdaugh defense team plans to appeal conviction Instead, they were treated as juveniles. The morals, the attitudes, of a Mepham student,are different, suggests another Kennedy player,Danny. This wasn't just something that happened when the lights went out.". When trying to become a professional athlete, one must start playing sports as early as possible (Ferguson 34).Playing sports comes with many sacrifices. '', Report Says Hazing Culture Led to Attacks On 3 Athletes, https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/11/nyregion/report-says-hazing-culture-led-to-attacks-on-3-athletes.html. In the meantime, experts say violent hazings in high schools are becoming more frequent. I was by far the besthalfback on the team, Berger says, now 23 butstill angry. We're checking it off. 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. Carol said it appeared Conway had sentenced Sofia to the boot camp because he disliked the teens attitude. A Pennsylvania judge imposed strong penalties yesterday on two teens who sexually abused younger players at a high school football camp sentencing one to a military-style boot camp and the other to a juvenile detention center. 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. 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. "He didn't go to school for a long time. Keep yourmouth shut, the letters read, andnothing will happen to you or your family.. Its all fun and games, saysMcDermott. "We have a clip of the JV football scrimmage," says McElroy, who believes it proves that there was nothing obviously wrong. In an earlier proceeding, the three attackers, charged as juveniles, admitted to the assaults. The parents are organizing to demand that the school administration be held accountable for allowing the incident to occur, they said. ''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. This guysstill the head coach., Its a fact of lifein Bellmore and Merrick that the farther south you go,the more money youll find. OK. On September 17, the Bellmore-Merrick Central HighSchool District Board of Education canceledMephams football season. Two of the kids are underclassmen, littlekids, he says. He told Pennsylvaniapolice that he couldnt release informationabout a student without a subpoena. But it really happened., McElroys lawyer vehemently denies almost everyaspect of Bergers story. 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. Should they also get paid the same amount even if another co-worker is better at their job? Kevin Minnick | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com | Dec 7, 2022. 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.
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