Teton football players take responsibility after hazing incident
TETON, Idaho (KIFI) – Friday night’s rivalry football game between Teton and Sugar-Salem won’t be played.
Teton High School’s football team has chosen to forfeit the matchup after a hazing incident that occurred during a team dinner on October 1.
According to Teton Valley News, the team met together for a dinner at a private home when some younger players crossed the line.
The district said no injuries were reported, and team members stepped in and stopped the activity before it could continue.
“As a school and a community we need to show students that the way to grow IS to accept accountability, make repairs, and move forward a better person,” Teton District 401 Superintendent Brian Ashton wrote to Local News 8.
The dinners are organized by parents to help players bond outside of school.
While only a few players were reportedly involved, the team decided to take responsibility for the incident.
Led by their team captains, they “wrote a letter of apology, signed it and invited coaches and admin back in,” Ashton stated.
According to Teton Valley News, the coach said many players didn’t initially understand the seriousness of the situation, but quickly recognized that hazing has no place in their programs.
In a letter to parents, Principal Kristin Weston and Assistant Principals Marshal Givens and Patrick Hogan wrote, “We have work to do, lessons to learn, harm to repair, and relationships to restore, and our kids can do it. We love every one of them and care deeply about their well-being. Coaching them through the right conversations and behaviors will take all of our efforts. While we’re disappointed by what happened, we’re confident that we can learn and grow from these mistakes.”
The school administrators said that the incident should encourage “broader conversations” in the community about how students behave on their own, how does peer pressure and technology influence behavior, and how do you react when you observe “something that makes you uncomfortable, but feel like you can’t say anything?”
The players chose to forfeit tonight’s game, but by applying the lessons learned they may yet emerge winners.
“WE are Teton in the good times, when we’re celebrating and winning,” the principals wrote, “and WE are Teton in the challenging times, when our kids need our support most.”
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