‘Offensive’ hazing seen on video cancels high school football season, PA district says
A high school football team’s upcoming season has been canceled due to “widespread” hazing, the Pennsylvania district’s superintendent announced on Wednesday, Aug. 24.
Multiple videos captured the hazing involving the Middletown Area High School football team, according to Dr. Chelton Hunter, Superintendent of the Middleton Area School District.
“Cell phone video, taken by players, shows a group of students restraining two of their teammates and using a muscle therapy gun and another piece of athletic equipment to poke the buttock areas of the students who were on the ground,” Hunter said in a statement on Aug. 22.
The players were fully clothed and no one was physically penetrated, though Hunter still refers to it as “completely unacceptable, offensive and highly inappropriate.”
As the district continued to investigate, it learned the hazing involved more students than previously known, Hunter said Wednesday when the season’s cancellation was announced.
The superintendent said the video has been shared with law enforcement. Police and the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office are investigating the videos, which have been removed from Facebook and Instagram, according to WHP.
The district was first made aware of the video on Friday, Aug. 12. Three days later, head football coach Scott Acri resigned from his position, the school district announced.
Assistant coach Robert Brodish became the acting coach for the upcoming season, which was ultimately canceled.
Students involved in the hazing will be disciplined, as will any staff members who were aware of the incidents, according to the superintendent.
“The kind of hazing that occurred in our facilities with this team is reprehensible. It simply cannot and will not be tolerated,” Hunter said. “We know we must work to address the culture of this team, educate our student body about hazing, and put programs in place to help us ensure that this kind of atmosphere is never allowed to exist in our school facilities.”
The Middletown Blue Raiders play in the Mid Penn Conference and finished the 2021 season with a 6-5 record.
Middletown is about 10 miles southeast of Harrisburg.
This story was originally published August 24, 2022 at 2:44 PM with the headline "‘Offensive’ hazing seen on video cancels high school football season, PA district says."