Oak Ridge student held accountable for outbreak of racism at El Dorado County football game

A student who harassed a high school girls’ soccer game with racist voices over the weekend has been identified in El Dorado County and “is being held accountable,” according to the principal of Oak Ridge High School.

The Oak Ridge High School girls’ soccer team met Buchanan High School in Clovis for the Norcal Championships Saturday, with school officials and El Dorado Union High School saying an “unexplained and totally unacceptable outburst occurred by a single individual on the Oak Ridge side of the stands as the game moved” From extra time to penalty kicks.

Buchanan Girls Soccer coach Jesara Gillette said on Facebook that one of their Hispanic players was being barked by someone in the Oak Ridge stands and that a black player on the team was subjected to monkey sounds and gestures. The team posted videos of both incidents.

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| Video below | This is the incident when players made fun of animal noises.

But despite the harassment, Gillette said game officials and Oak Ridge management met and decided not to take any action other than a “warning”. Oak Ridge went on to win the match.

“Our players were both physically and emotionally upset following the incident,” Gillette said in a statement. “This gave a huge competitive advantage to our opponent and directly affected the end of the match.”

School and district officials said the school will work to ensure that the behavior is classified as hate speech and that full disciplinary action is taken as permitted by the Education Act.

“This incident disgusts our learning community and embarrasses our entire school. There is no place for this type of individual behavior anywhere in the community,” Oak Ridge High School Principal Aaron Palm said in a statement.

School officials said discussions of the incident will take place in Oak Ridge classrooms, along with school-wide opportunities to reflect on what happened that has been identified for the entire student body.

The California Interscholastic Association (CIF) said in a statement, “It is unacceptable for those who attend a game to take away from the hard work of student-athletes to participate in a championship event. The CIF prohibits discrimination or any acts that would be disrespectful or contemptible toward a school. member, student athlete, or school community.”

Palm said in a follow-up letter to parents Monday night that the student responsible for the harassment was identified after the game.

“After the suspension, the game stopped. At the moment, it was impossible to determine who made the sound,” Palm said. “The matter was discussed by the referees, the CIF Director, the Oak Ridge Principal and a representative from Buchanan High School. The referees decided that the final shots from the penalty shootout should be completed.”

Palm’s letter went on to say that Oak Ridge’s subsequent victory felt “hollow”.

He said the team’s goalkeeper apologized to the African-American player for the time being and the entire team apologized to Buchanan’s team after the match.

“Our girls played an excellent match and showed the best possible sportsmanship,” the letter said. “They should not be associated with crowd noise in any way.”