High School Football Players Suspended for Alleged Hazing

Twenty-one students have been disciplined for the incident, which reportedly took place during an out-of-state team trip.

Students at an Inland Empire high school have started a petition to push school officials to lift the suspensions of 21 students who were punished for alleged hazing during an out-of-state trip by the football team.

When members of Chino Hills' Ayala High School varsity football team traveled to St. George, Utah for an away game, some students reported an alleged hazing incident took place at the team hotel, Chino Valley Unified School District spokeswoman Julie Gobin said in a statement, without saying what the incident was.

The 21 students allegedly involved have been suspended from one to five days while the administration looks into the incident.

"The safety of our students is of primary concern. As a district, we have zero tolerance for hazing or bullying of any sort," Gobin said.

The players denied the allegations, and some are now worried about losing their scholarships for college.

One suspended football player said via phone that the incident was not hazing and that the players were just "horsing around."

Many fellow students at the high school stand in solidarity with the players.

One student, who went by the name "Courtney," started a Change.org petition, using the hashtag #FreetheBulldogs, which has since garnered 60 signatures.

"Some of them are being hurt by their scholarships and their football careers," Courtney said. "I don't want to see that happen." Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}

Student Sema Morris said his friend was a victim of the alleged hazing incident. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}

"I hope that the embarrassment for him will eventually go away," Morris said. "I just hope all the bullying will stop."

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