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Published Friday, Oct. 14, 2011 | 4:23 p.m.
Updated Friday, Oct. 14, 2011 | 5:53 p.m.
Western High School football canceled
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KSNV coverage of Western High School ending the football program after allegations of hazing among teammates surfaced, Oct. 14, 2011.
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The Western High football team’s season ended Friday when school officials announced they were forfeiting the final three games after multiple players were suspended for being involved in an on-campus hazing incident.
The hazing, which was confirmed to the Sun by students and players, would have left the already short-handed team with about 14 eligible players. Instead of promoting underclassman from the junior varsity or freshman teams, it was determined those younger and undersized players would be at risk for injury.
Western was supposed to play Durango Friday, two-time defending state champion Bishop Gorman next week and Sierra Vista to close the season on Oct. 27. About seven or eight players were suspended because of an incident that occurred Wednesday, according to students.
Now, the remaining players are left with handling an abrupt end to their season. For the seniors, it’s likely the end of their football playing days. Western finished the season with a 0-6 record.
“It’s a horrible feeling,” said senior Reggie Williams, one of the team’s top players, who said he wasn’t involved in the incident. “It’s terrible. We only had three games left in high school and it’s ruined because of a hazing situation.”
Western coach Fernando Carmona was unable to comment on the situation, but his demeanor was similar to his players: in complete dismay.
“I really don’t know how to explain how I feel. We were all shocked,” Williams said.
Players were informed of the decision at an early afternoon meeting. Western also canceled the season for its lower-level teams.
On Thursday, Western initially canceled its junior varsity game against Durango, saying it planned to promote several players to the varsity team because of the hazing incident, Trailblazers coach Gary Maki said. Athletes can only play in one game each week, meaning players couldn’t play in a Thursday junior varsity game and return for a varsity contest the next day.
A day later, however, Maki received another phone call saying there would be no game altogether.
“I would have liked to have had it,” Maki said. “It was a game I feel we could have won on the field. It would have given our players quality reps for a playoff run.
“The kids were disappointed. They wanted to play,” Maki continued. “I’m sure the kids over there were disappointed, too.”
Gorman was supposed to play Western next week for its homecoming game, but acted quick and scheduled Arbor View, which had a bye.
Arbor View lost to Gorman in last year’s semifinals, and Aggies coach Dan Barnson previously said his team wouldn’t be afraid to face the two-time defending state champions. It’s a good gauge for Arbor View, which will likely be the No. 2 seed from the Northwest for the playoffs and play Gorman again in the semifinals.
For players like Williams, the reality of the season coming to a premature close is still setting in. He will attend the Canyon Springs game Friday to cheer on some friends.
“Seeing everyone else play football and not being able to is tough because I love this game so much,” he said.
A fresh coat of paint and a fresh perspective are among the changes being made around Western High School.
Western is one of five turnaround schools that missed the marks set by No Child Left Behind and now faces the challenge of increasing student achievement.
The school is the third oldest in the district and its campus lies near Decatur Boulevard and Veterans Memorial Highway. The majority of students attending Western are minorities from disadvantaged homes. Western is known for having a rough past, but students are optimistic about the future of their school.
Change is apparent according to students interviewed in September.
“When I was in eighth grade, I was told I was going to get shot or stabbed when I came to Western,” said senior Kole Yanez, 17. “That might have been true 15 years ago, but now, you don’t see that here.”
Rules are tightly enforced on campus. The school keeps a strict dress code policy and cell phone use during class time is not permitted.
Halls are designated by grade level giving students a sense of ownership and community. Pride is clearly visible at pep rallies and sporting events. The newfound pride might just be he medicine needed to alleviate the 8 percent dropout rate, the highest in the district.
“It’s like building a house. You need a strong foundation,” said Neddy Alvarez, principal. “You need those strong relationships. When kids know we care about them, the learning will take place.”
- Year built:
- 1960
- Mascot:
- Warriors
- Principal (Year Hired):
- Neddy Alvarez (2008)
- Mission Statement:
- “The mission of Western High School is to promote scholarship, encourage good citizenship, and embrace our cultural diversity.”
- Enrollment:
- Approximately 2,400
- Notable alumni:
- Frank Hawkins, former NFL player
Capt. Nicole Malachowski, first female Thunderbird
Ronnie Vannucci, drummer of The Killers
Tom Collins, Clark County commissioner - School Report Card:
- 2010-2011
Compiled by Gregan Wingert
Sun reporter Paul Takahashi contributed to this report.
From: http://www.stophazing.org/definition.htm...
"Hazing" refers to any activity expected of someone joining a group (or to maintain full status in a group) that humiliates, degrades or risks emotional and/or physical harm, regardless of the person's willingness to participate.
I would say losing to Pahrump Valley in varsity football could be considered as such.
It shouldnt be called hazing when the so called victim was laughing with the rest of them the whole time. Its called a football team joking around and having a good time, they were not out to nor did they hurt anyone. They got caught on the school cameras having fun and this is what it turns it? Where were the coaches that were supposed to be supervising these kids on school property at night?
Now the suspended students are going to be expelled from Western? There is talk the school district will not allow these kids to ever play a sport in any school in Clark County - there is also rumor the seniors may not graduate? There is something exremely wrong with this picture - the kids need to tell their sides. Amazingly the school has not even meet with the parents of the suspended students face to face - all the parents received was a phone call or voice mail stating your son has been RPCd for a hazing incident!! The Deans office won't even return phone calls from the parents of the involved students - there is something wrong with this picture. CCSD should expose the whole story and not just their opinion. It is the CCSD OPINION that this was a hazing, there were no injuries, vulgar language no type of hitting - NO VIOLENCE occurred during this incident.
i would love to hear the details. Sucks for Western, specially their freshmen and jv teams. Why punish your freshmen team i dont get that? Sucks for Durango too. But oh my am i excited about them playing Arbor View...big props to Arbor View for having the balls to step up. Much respect.
And to whoever that was saying that Gorman's D couldnt stop Arbor View's offense, here we go. I said lets make a bet so put your money where your mouth is buddy. Gorman by +40 and AV scores no more than 14 while starters are in.
Janine, you are wrong. This is hazing, even if it was all "good fun". Let's look at this differently.
I was a teacher at Western last year and three years before that. I still have friends there. I am getting reports about how BAD it is at Western right now, no matter how much is being done to "turn around" the school. There is too much rigidity at Western. There is no type of fun for the kids at all. When you do this to a school, guess what happens? Kids react and find ways to have "fun", and the administration has to punish them for this type of "fun". By the way, I teach at Durango now. Our kids are disappointed and were warned about what is going to happen if hazing happens there. It is called a teachable moment.
Maybe the RJ and Sun need to make another trip to Western and check on this turnaround status. Because when you get people over at Western describing the entire turnaround school situation as a "nightmare", then it is time to start looking closer...a lot closer.
This so called "kids having fun incident" hurt Sierra Vista too. Thanks to these thugs - our team lost their senior night and our seniors lost the opportunity to play on our home field one last time through no fault of their own. My son is a captain and gets to miss his last senior game because some stupid kids had to take things entirely too far. With parents like you defending actions like that - no wonder they acted like this. Thanks a lot!
football momma hopefully somebody has a bye week that can take Western's place.
We had "initiation" in band when I attend high school here. For us, it was a rite of passage. So glad people were not so sensitive back then, because frankly, our society suffers from a lack of rites of passage.
and just so we are all in understanding here, it is not an act of hazing according to CCSD website and the Western student athlete handbook that is handed out to every player. All kids involved even the one that turned everyone in is on the football team and here are the definitions of hazing for ya'll:
Page 16 of the handbook:
Hazing is defined as any verbal or physical act that intimidates, degrades, disgraces, or injures any student; or forces someone to do ridiculous acts or suffer physical or emotional pain as an initiation to a group or program.
CCSD websites definition:
HAZING An activity in which a person intentionally or recklessly endangers the physical health of another person for the
purpose of initiation into or affiliation with a student organization, academic association, or athletic team of a school.
So unless they are going to change the rules this was not hazing because there was no initiation or affiliation into any group, team or organization.
And I may not have a student that goes to western, but I do have friends whos kids do go there and I will be at western Monday morning to make sure that these kids do have someone standing up for them.
To Footballmomma;
First off their is no reason for you to call these Seniors THUGS and stupid kids when you do not know them, one of them whom happens to be my nephew. These so called THUGS/STUPID kids are Seniors who have never gotten in trouble and were having a little bit of fun. Secondly where do you get off making the statement "with parents defending actions like that-no wonder they acted like this".
The school cancelled the last three games not these Seniors who by the way are just as disappointed as your son in not being able to play the last three games and have their chance at playing their last Senior game as a Western Warrior, with the chance to bring their SUPPORTIVE moms/dads on the field with them. As far as I'm concerned you not only owe these parents an apology but you owe these kids an apology. They were having some fun as SENIORS in their last year of high school. No harm no foul.
Western High School should have investigated the situation fully and found out why the Coaches were not watching the players during practice, they should be asking why a camera with the so called incident on it was erased.
Try getting all your facts before you go around calling these upstanding young adults STUPID THUGS and blaming their parents. This is a case of the school taking action before finding out the facts! Oh and one more thing Sierra Vista was not the only high school that had their games against Western cancelled.
James Reza, I heartily applaud your post. I went through several rights of passage "incidents" and I am better for it.
Thin the herd!
James Reza: I was in the same band so I know exactly what you are talking about. Some of the "initiations" were light-hearted fun and some of them were definitely cruel, demeaning, and nasty. As a matter of fact, when it came time for my "initiation," one of the older band members said she had already initiated me, so the group backed off. I did the same for a young band member the next year because "they" had something truly awful planned for her.
For TryMe: Did you read your own post? This by the definition of the Western handbook and CCSD is hazing. There was degrading. There was embarassment for one of their own. You are trying to justify it because the kid was already on the team? Please don't waste your time at Western. You will get ignored.
I love how the Aunt of one of the Western students said there was "no harm, no foul".....
3 games forfeited, seniors losing out on playing final games of the season, 4 high schools football season jacked up....not to mention the actual hazing incident....
How is that "no harm, no foul"? Looks like a lot of harm was done.
I would like to know more about the situation because my initial reaction is that it sounds like someone over-reacted resulting in innocent students bearing the brunt of the punishment. Anyone close to the situation willing to comment?
Demonhawk - for your info there was no degrading involved at all the "victim" actually is the one who started the "incident" and laughed the entire time - you don't know what happened...actually I can guarantee you that what did happen has probably happened between many siblings in their own homes.
Sinatra711 - you are right there is a lot of harm done all because the coaches were not doing their jobs supervising those kids in the lockerroom when it comes down to it the school is trying to cover up for their failure to follow their own rules and policies regarding "supervision of any and all athletes during practices and games". Now the suspended kids of a hazing in their files I would say that is causing a lot of harm.
Footballmomma - this incident does not even come close to the hazing incident that happened at Sierra Vista in 2006 where someone was actually harmed and metro was involved due to sexual misconduct - if you dont know the true facts be careful what you say.
Simply_put you are correct innocent students are being punished the "victim" in this incident has even said it was a joke all in fun - he was not harmed, he has stated that his parents won't listen to him and that the school has convinced his parents to take this as far as they can. In all actuality if this does go to court it will certainly be dismissed as a harmless prank since the victim himself has said the other players have done nothing wrong. His parents didn't even know about it until the school called them now if he had been harmed I am sure he would have told his parents about it. Again it all falls back on the school itself and their failure to follow their supervision policies. Had the coaches been wher they were supposed to be none of this would have happened.
For all of you who would like to know the whole story and show your support to these kids, please be at Western High School on Monday morning at 7am. Hopefully the media will be there as well so these kids can tell their side of the story and this can be put to rest.
Once upon a time there was a school with pride and a commitment to work ethic. I school that every other school circled the day they played them because they were in for a tough game. This latest problem just shows how far the western warriors have fallen. My heart goes out to the boys who still have that old western warrior work ethic.
GormanHomer: So true!! I graduated from Western and back then we had alot of pride and integrity. We did give other teams a run for the money. I know several of these kids and they have that same pride and commitment. These kids dont have the full support of the administration nor the student body. Western is referred to as the "Ghetto" school, but it is not the kids making it that way. These athletes have had to endure insults not only from other teams but from their own coaches. This alone is hard enough to deal with now they have to deal with false accusations like this.
Western was a fine school in 70's and 80's
Janine,
Have you ever considered how you would react if YOUR child happened to be the one tied up in the hazing incident instead of being one of the 7 caught on the wrong side of it? What was the whole point of the incident anyway, other than to isolate him and take away a personal possession? To me that doesn't scream "team building". Why do they have to "have fun" at someone else's expense? And have you ever heard of nervous laughter? Maybe the victim of this "fun" incident didn't know what else to do. What would have happened if he started crying or yelled stop? When these kids decide to play sports in school and put on a uniform with ANY school name they are now a representative of that school. Their grades and behavior reflect back on the school. Perhaps they should keep their "fun" antics at home and act like model students while they are at school, so they don't get "unjustly" accused of the misconduct you seem to think they are. So thanks again, 7 students who made a poor decision and don't want to take responsibility for their actions, for bringing negative attention to Western. Or, maybe your son is willing to admit he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and you are having such an issue with it because you think it will reflect negatively on your parenting skills.
There are a lot of good alumni at Western. The best thing for the school is for the alumni to start showing up at all Western events. Show the pride of the past. Instead of taking the family to a movie, go support an arts event or a basketball game at Western. Alumni can make a difference for all schools. It takes a village.
Janine, you just don't get it. You think that this is an OK action for students to do. You are what we call in the educational business as an "uncivil libertarian". You think kids have the freedom to do whatever they want with little punishment.
If Western and CCSD do not react to this situation, then they are justifying the incident as appropriate. Then, it will happen again and it could be worse that what actually happened at Western. You are a fool to think otherwise. The punishment that happened is appropriate and justified.
Go ahead and show up Monday morning. Do you think they are going to change it now? Again, you would foolish to think that way. It is done and over. They may listen to you whine about it, but after you leave, nothing will change. If you want real change, you should be down at the Flamingo offices complaining there, not at Western. And also, I could care less if you are an alumnus from Western. There were a lot of good alumni there, but I question if you were one of them.
Nice comment DesertObserver. You are absolutely right.
DesertObserver: You are correct school is no place for horseplay. These kids can admit that they shouldnt have been playing around. FYI I am supporting more than student I am supporting all of them including the victim. This should not be considered a hazing and the school is going overboard with their punishments. Expulsion? The victim asked who wanted to be taped up, it ended up being him. it was not brutal, it wasn't for any type of initiation, they were goofing off! It was his own tape, so basically he pulled it out with intent on taping someone up - it could have been any of the other kids in the room. He wasn't "laughing nervously" they were being immature kids, but hey what kid doesn't like being spun or pushed around on a chair with wheels? You see kids doing this all the time on YouTube and TV. He didnt tell them to stop.
When he said he had enough they let him up, he wasnt taped tightly he could still stand up, thats how loose the tape was. There were no red marks on him he was unharmed.
I am also supporting the two kids who are suspended that HELPED the victim take the tape off!! Why are they in trouble? For doing the right thing? What type of message is the school sending for punishing two kids for HELPING!! This incident is not that serious the victim himself has stated it was no big deal and when he heard who was being suspended he broke down in tears! He stated he doesn't think any of this should be happening.
Should these kids have been punished for this harmless prank? Yes, they should but the punishment should fit the crime. However, the schools proposed punishments would be more suitable had the incident been done with malicious intent, embarrasment, degragation or as an initiation onto the team, it was none of those.
Why is the school punishing the freshman, JV and entire Varsity Teams? There is no reason or just cause to forfeit their games and end their season. Wheres the logic in that?
All these kids feel bad that their actions have affected not only Westerns Sr night but other schools as well, they have remorse for their actions.
The school did not have to report it to the media as a hazing, making it sound like something horrible happened and that harm was done - the kids were seen by a janitor goofing off and it was reported. The coaches didnt even know it was happening, why? Because they were not there supervising the kids which is never mentioned on the news either. Not only did the kids make a bad decisions the coaches did too by not providing the supervision they were supposed to.
Punishment should be dealt fairly and justly - expulsion is way to extreme.
To Nicole Bringuel and other Western supporters I think Footballmomma's point was that this is not just affecting Western. Other schools players and families are being penalized because of the Western students' actions. The other schools and families have a right to be upset by the actions of those students and the effect on the other teams' seasons. I hear you saying that she needs to get her facts straight and defending the Western students but they made poor decisions plain and simple and poor decisions have consequences. Constantly turning the poor decisions and actions of your students around and blaming the teachers/ coaches/ school is not teaching them any responsibility. If someone robs a store, but there was no one there to stop them is their behavior then justified?? Even if the original intention was all in fun it was taken too far and blaming the school instead of asking your students to take responsibility is irresponsible in itself.
Comparing the Western students' disappointment to that of the other schools' players who did nothing wrong but are losing their final games/ senior nights/ homecoming etc is just wrong.
The internet is a wonderful tool. It allows us to share our opinions and feelings - its also wonderful because messages/emails/social postings are printable, such as conversations between the victim and the suspended team mates - these conversations tell a whole other side of the story that you do not have knowledge of. It was not the coaches decision to end the season and ruin other schools Sr night events - upper administration made that decision. There were enough eligible players on the varsity team to finish the season - there was no reason to end the season at all. The punishment is not suitable to the crime and eventually these conversations will be made public. This incident could have been handled within the school, it did not have to affect the whole community as it has. I agree punish the kids not the entire Clark County School District this has been mishandled and mislabeled from the start.
Gormanhomer, you couldn't have said that any better. It takes a village and alumni can do a lot of good just by showing up and taking pride in their colors. I haven't met a proud Western HS alumi from the last two decades except for Lawrence Guy (now with Green Bay Packers) But i've met many from the 70's and 80's that are proud to have graduated from Western. That has to change. If you can't take pride in your own then why will anyone else. Players, students, parents, alumni and community. Look at Palo, Gorman, Vegas, Basic, Moapa Valley, McQueen up north, Liberty is starting too, they have a lot of those listed above
Footballmama2, while I empathize with the other schools and students my point was that Footballmama should not be calling these young men Stupid Thugs without even knowing them. I can understand that the other schools are affected by this incident and many many students will be unable to have their Senior nights or homecomings.
My comment to clarify about "no harm no foul" was that the student who was in the chair was a willing participant who was a member of this football team and therefore this was not an initiation on to the team and that it was 7-9 teenage boys goofing around. Do I feel that they need to be held responsible for their actions in a moment of misjudgment, yes, but as Janine has stated there are two sides to every story, the administration could have handled this incident internally without affecting the other schools, senior night and homecoming games. I was not pushing off blame to the coaches or administration I was merely pointing out that the coaches were not doing their job in supervising these students during a school function which was football practice. What is not being said is how this incident being labeled as "hazing" will affect these students for years to come. Should they have been expelled, IN MY OPINION, no. Should they have been not allowed to play in the remaining games maybe not but again no one is saying how these teenagers feel remorse, are willing to accept responsibility for their actions, how this will affect their chances of getting into college if this goes on their record as a hazing incident and the fact that they have to face their entire school and being labeled as the guys who ruined Senior night. Being expelled from the school and possibly the district is taking this to an extreme. I know that I will be up there Monday morning to show my support to these teenagers and how they are being mislabeled and the punishment does not fit the "crime".
I love how the "supporters" of these Western kids are trying to blow off this thing as "no big deal" and "kids being kids"....
based on the video & comments I've read, the kids also STOLE the victim's iPod as part of this "prank"!!! That's right, STOLE it.....hmmm, still think it's kids being kids?
I think the punishment fits the CRIME. If that was my Son, I'd demand that those kids get expelled too! I don't work hard everyday to buy my family nice things to watch other punks steal it from them.
I'm glad the school administrators did what they did. They need to teach these punks that crime doesn't pay.
Wonder why people call Western kids Thugs? Here you go...
http://www.lvrj.com/sports/fight-marred-...
....only 2 yrs later, the action of these kids continues. Today's Seniors were Sophomores back then, now look at how they conduct themselves. Not surprising...where are the parents, teachers, and coaches in all of this?
FYI - nothing was stolen, nothing was taken off his person - you cant go by what the media says as they dont know themselves
Sinatra711 - you should really read that whole article before jumping to conclusions:
"Ratner said the evidence didn't show a bench-clearing brawl. He said the video they had did not show evidence of Western players coming onto the field. It did show the Bonanza sideline clearly." Those were seniors on the varsity team they were not sophmores. Those kids in that incident graduated in 2009 and are not even part of the current team. The FACTS are a good thing to know - assumptions is where people go wrong.
I am a proud athlete and student at Western High School. It is really disappointing to read all these accusations from people who don't know the kids involved. How can you call them "thugs" when you do not know the full details to the incident. I am very close to ALL of the victims and I know there was no harm intended by any of them. The victim himself took it as a joke and laughed the whole time. This was taken way too far. Look at all the negative comments towards a school where the only pride is held within the athletes of WESTERN! People are ready to jump in with their false accusations, what ever happened to innocent until proven guilty? This is where the media, administration, and people who don't know the facts cause more harm then good.
We the student body now realize that harmless pranks are concidered hazing. Does that mean no more senior prank day? Because i have seen harm done, but yet little punishment. This prank was between brothers who every game to try their hardest to make the school proud of their team. It's hard to keep our pride strong when we don't have the full support of students, teachers,and administration and when we have to hear negative comments from opposing teams and parents. So in my eyes it is not just Western it is the whole school district. You would all be on the defenseif this was your school and you knew the kids and the situation first hand. And if this is called "hazing" what would you call a coach who punishes the team for losing. This is a shame... :(
Janine - My point was that the Seniors now were Sophomores back in 2009 when that bench-clearing brawl happened. Are you saying there was "no brawl"? They were mentored by thugs back then and became thugs themselves....as evidenced by their actions 2 yrs later.
It's sad to read parents & students passing this off as a "prank"...a "joke"...
Obviously, the victim's parents didn't think it was a joke or a prank and took issue with what happened to their child...that's what good parents do...CARE about their children. Not subject them to this hazing crap and then tell them to just "blow it off"...
I applaud the victim's parents for pushing for a hard punishment...these kids deserve it. Maybe they'll learn their lesson and not treat people like that...or as evidenced by what happened with their school 2 yrs ago...maybe it won't.
Western-Warrior,
It's nice to see a student with some school pride respond to some of the comments on here. I hope the situation is handled fairly, whatever the reality of it is. I wish you the best of luck with your academics and athletics this year.
I had the privileged of coaching at Western High last year and can tell you this was a bizarre and out of the ordinary experience. Coach Carmona runs a VERY tight ship. I can assure you, none of this was because the coaches looked the other way or condoned any such behavior.
I also know the athlete who was hazed and can tell you he is not a sissy, this is evident by him not even telling his parents.
Some things get blown out of proportion, keep in mind, I am not supporting the idiots that did this to him. They can look themselves in the mirror and hold themselves responsible for Western forfeiting the last three games.
I don't know if you at home realize, but these kids work so hard. Hours, among hours during the summer to get ready for football.
It is a shame a program, like Westerns, who is trying to rebuild gets faced with something like this.
Kids, you have to realize... it's not funny! Look what happened.
So, Janine, if you ever get back on this page. How did it go for you at Western today? Did you find it productive or a waste of time?
Actually it was very productive and a lot of truth has come out - there is much more to come. People should not over react as they have.
I am sure there is more to come. I am sure that the result will stay the same with the football team though. As for the rest, like expulsions, I really don't care. I work at another school now, and I am concerned with my students, not Western students. Actually, I find the whole thing amusing.
You are right. Some people here did overreact.