Sayville boys soccer season canceled due to hazing incidents
Sayville High School has canceled the rest of the boys soccer season due to hazing incidents. Credit: Erin Geismar
Sayville High School has canceled the remainder of the boys soccer season because of hazing incidents, according to a letter sent Thursday from superintendent Marc Ferris to parents.
The letter, obtained by Newsday, said that younger players were the targets of the hazing. The district has not released the names of the students involved or what disciplinary actions they are facing.
“This hazing behavior was systematic and ongoing throughout the season,” Ferris’ letter states. It adds that the conduct took place off school grounds and also went on in previous seasons.
Ferris, reached by Newsday Thursday evening, said that in at least one of the previous seasons the hazing incidents included “forms of racism and antisemitism.”
“The recent hazing incidents with the current Sayville varsity boys soccer team had nothing to do with antisemitism or racism,” Ferris told Newsday after meeting with parents of the boys soccer players. “Let me be clear that we canceled the boys soccer season because there was hazing on the team. We have a zero tolerance policy toward any kind of hazing in our district.”
“We also felt it was important to tell the community that there was a prior investigation where we uncovered antisemitic and racist incidents from previous years,” Ferris added. “Those incidents had nothing to do with the current team. However, in our letter to the community we felt it was important to let everyone know what we uncovered in both situations is not acceptable in our schools.”
Sayville was 5-9 overall this season and had two games remaining, including Thursday’s home match against Islip.
“This decision was made as a result of findings from an internal investigation that uncovered members of our Varsity Soccer team participating in hazing activities off campus that included acts of violence and humiliation towards younger players on our team,” Ferris’ letter reads.
He called the participation of students as “aggressors” and that team members were not comfortable reporting the misconduct “equally concerning.”
The letter described this pattern of conduct in the boys soccer program as "not a team culture that we can condone or accept as a school district."
“While these events took place off school grounds, it is our obligation as a school district to hold those who participated accountable and to send a strong message to our entire school community that hazing, discrimination, bullying, racism or antisemitism of any kind, in any possible form or Forum, is completely unacceptable and intolerable,” the letter said.
Sayville athletic director Ryan Cox and Golden Flashes coach Cory Santangelo referred interview requests to Ferris.
Ferris’ letter said that school extracurricular activities are designed to “create a strong sense of belonging for students in our schools” and that they empower students to be “instilled with the courage to stand up for what is right and advocate against what is wrong.”
“No program, regardless of win-loss record, status, or standing in the community will exist in our schools if it does not live up to these expectations,” the letter concludes. “We take no pleasure in making this decision. However, as a school district, we need to take a stand and send a definitive message to all our students and community members about how we will deal with these situations moving forward.”
WIth Gregg Sarra
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
