Seth Vigdor
A month after word came out about a hazing scandal at Conestoga High School, three 17-year-old football players at the school have been charged in connection with a hazing incident where they allegedly violated a 14-year-old freshman with a broom handle.
The AP reports that the unnamed students were charged as juveniles with “assault, conspiracy, unlawful restraint, terroristic threats and other offenses.”
The football team apparently had a tradition called “No Gay Thursday,” where all “gay” behavior was allowed. According to the report, the coaches were “unaware” that this was going on since they were generally not in the locker room. Deadspin detailed some of Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan’s description of the incident.
Authorities said the assault occurred after underclassmen were told to strip to their underwear and clean the team locker room at the school in Berwyn, about 25 miles northwest of Philadelphia. The 14-year-old stripped to his boxers, but when he decided he wanted no further part of it and tried to leave the locker room, he was blocked, held down and attacked, the prosecutor said. The 14-year-old was arrogant about making the varsity team, and that rankled the older players, Hogan said. ‘It just happened to be a perfect storm of this ‘No Gay Thursday’ tradition and them not liking this freshman and taking it out on him in a pretty horrible way,’ he told the AP.”
Hogan would also go onto say that “some players would avoid the locker room on Thursdays, and some quit altogether because of the hazing.”
Let’s be honest here, hazing incidents at high schools and colleges are far more common than we hear about. High school and college football dominate a lot of small towns in America and certain “star” athletes are given preferential treatment because of it. It’s part of the sick society that we live in at times. I call BS on the coaches not ever hearing about this, but I digress.