Three varsity boys’ soccer coaches at a Fairfax County, Virginia, high school have been fired after a student was singled out and injured during a practice earlier this month in an apparent hazing incident.
In a message to West Potomac High School soccer families, Principal Tanganyika Millard said that after an April 21 practice, a “parent reported a student was injured after being singled out to run through a ‘gauntlet/tunnel.'”
Head coach Ahmad Sasso and two other coaches were fired after the incident. Millard said in her message that she met with the team to discuss what happened.
The extent of the student’s injuries is unclear.
“West Potomac athletic programs follow the tenets of the Positive Coaching Alliance, which is to provide students with an athletic experience that is caring, challenging, competitive, affirming and positive. Negative words and actions are in direct conflict with the environment we seek to create and maintain for our student athletes,” Millard said.
Sasso and the other coaches are contractors and not school system employees.
“FCPS does not tolerate this kind of treatment of our students,” a school system spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “As soon as the principal was aware, the appropriate action was taken.”
Millard wrote that the school is working with assistant coaches to ensure a smooth transition. The team has four regular season games remaining, according to an online schedule.
