Sayreville War Memorial High School in Middlesex, N.J., has cancelled the remainder of its 2014 freshman, junior varsity and varsity football seasons amid serious hazing allegations, reports Warner Huston for Breitbart.
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On Monday night, Middlesex County school superintendent Richard Labbe stated that an extensive investigation by local police revealed that there “were incidents of harassment, intimidation and bullying that took place on a pervasive level, on a wide-scale level, and at a level in which the players knew, tolerated and in general accepted.”
Labbe also conducted a closed-door meeting with players and parents Monday night. The response was less than favorable.
Several parents claimed that the team should not be penalized for the actions of a few players. Additionally, parents of cheerleaders and marching band members voiced extreme displeasure over the ban, as their children’s activities will also be canceled in the wake of the canceled football season.
This is not the first instance in recent memory in which a high school suspended its football program; in 2013, Lunenburg High School in Massachusetts temporarily suspended all football team activities while local police investigated racist graffiti targeting a member of the team. However, Lunenburg lifted the ban upon discovery that the graffiti was a hoax carried out by the target’s mother.
Sayreville won back-to-back-to-back New Jersey state championships in 2010, 2011 and 2012.