Buchanan, Sanger soccer teams await CIF action over racist taunts at title matches
The governing body for California high school sports continues to collect information about incidents of racial taunting aimed at visiting Fresno County teams during two soccer matches in Northern California before determining whether any punishment may be dealt to the host schools.
The California Interscholastic Federation “will not be concluding its review nor making any determinations until all necessary information has been received from the schools,” CIF spokesperson Rebecca Brutlag said in an email to The Fresno Bee on Wednesday.
Oak Ridge High School in El Dorado Hills, in the Sierra Nevada foothills east of Sacramento, says it has already identified and disciplined one student who racially harassed a Black soccer player from Buchanan High School by making “monkey” noises during her penalty kick at the Northern California girls championship match last weekend.
The incident occurred near the end of Saturday night’s Division I championship match between host Oak Ridge and visiting Buchanan, the Central Section champions from the Clovis Unified School District. Video clearly depicts shouted apelike or monkey noises emanating from the Oak Ridge stands as Ciara Wilson, who is Black, was taking a penalty kick in overtime of the tied game.
Buchanan athletic director James Gambrell told The Fresno Bee on Wednesday that Oak Ridge principal Aaron Palm called him earlier this week to notify him that the school had found the student who made the noises. Gambrell said Palm told him the school and the district would be applying their discipline processes in the case, but couldn’t say anything more specific due to student privacy rules.
In addition, Oak Ridge officials “did write a letter to the student athlete and her family, and the principal personally called her and her family on Monday to apologize, as well,” Gambrell added. “I’m grateful that the principal reached out to the family.”
Palm, in an email to The Sacramento Bee, confirmed that the student was disciplined. “I legally cannot share the discipline that a student receives other than to say they did receive it,” Palm wrote. “And this student did.”
Palm added that he offered apologies to the Wilson family both by phone and in writing.
Buchanan, Sanger high schools seek action after racist taunts
It was the second incident within a week of alleged racism involving Fresno County high school soccer teams in state championship matches. On March 1, when Sanger High School’s boys team and fans traveled to Concord to take on De La Salle High School, a private Catholic institution, people in the crowd reportedly made demeaning comments to the largely Hispanic Sanger contingent about mowing the synthetic field, wanting burritos and that the team’s players should learn English.
Those assertions came to light on social media in the aftermath of the match, which De La Salle won.
Sanger High athletic director Brian Penner did not respond to The Fresno Bee’s request for comment on Wednesday. Earlier this week, Penner told The Bee that “those sort of statements (from fans) are not right at any occasion. When they are directed at the community where our school is, it hits home.”
“I think on a bigger picture, this is an example of a problem that we need to continue to address,” Penner added. “We all need to be vigilant in making sure that our diversity is celebrated rather than dishonored.”
“We’re hoping that the correct people are held accountable (by De La Salle) for their actions,” Penner said.
De La Salle president David Holquin said his school conducted nearly two dozen interviews but were thus far “unable to corroborate” the allegations, according to a report by the San Jose Mercury News.
A spokesperson for the Sanger Unified School District said a meeting was expected Wednesday morning between representatives of De La Salle and Sanger high schools on the situation.
Earlier this week, Buchanan girls soccer coach Jasara Gillette said the team intends to return their medals and the runner-up plaque that were awarded after the title match.
On Wednesday, Gambrell added that Buchanan notified the CIF that it was protesting the outcome of the match.
“We hope they understand there was an inherent competitive disadvantage” for the Buchanan girls, who were emotionally shaken after the incident, he said. “The game was tied going into that point. But as soon as (Oak Ridge) got a competitive advantage, the game was decided.”
“CIF stands for fair play and equity, but from that moment on it was not an even playing field,” Gambrell said.
Eariler this week, in a statement issued following the Buchanan/Oak Ridge match, the CIF declared that it “prohibits discrimination or any acts that are disrespectful or demeaning toward a member school, student-athlete or school community.”
The Sacramento Bee reported that both the CIF state office in Sacramento and its Central Section office in Lodi are discussing disciplinary actions against Oak Ridge, including requiring travel in future postseasons instead of hosting home games.
Racism in high school sports not without precedent
CIF sanctions over racial taunting and harassment are not without precedent.
Last summer, fans and players at Coronado High School in the San Diego area threw tortillas at members of the losing team from Orange Glen High School, where the majority of students are Hispanic, at the conclusion of a championship game.
In the aftermath of that incident, Coronado’s coach was fired by the Coronado Unified School District. Within days, the CIF stripped Coronado High of the title and declared the championship vacated. The organization also barred Coronado High ‘s boys basketball team from hosting any postseason games at either the section, regional or state levels until the 2023-24 school year, among other sanctions.
While there have been murmurs about racist behavior associated with fans at various high schools across the state, racism in soccer has been especially prevalent in Europe, where Black players have been subject to taunts from fans in stadiums and harassment on social media for years.
A particularly striking incident – but by no means the only one – occurred in December 2020 when two elite Champions League teams walked off the field partway through the first half of a match between Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir, the Associated Press reported.
The walkoff by both teams was triggered after an official allegedly used a racist slur in reference to an assistant coach of the Turkish team. The match was continued two days later with a different set of referees.
In England, several Black players were subjected to racist posts on social media after their team lost to Italy in the European championship last year. And throughout the 2021-2022 season, players in England’s Premier League have kneeled before their matches and wore “No Room for Racism” badges on their shirts.
This story was originally published March 9, 2022 at 6:15 PM.
