Ayala has reinstated 20 of 21 players suspended due to hazing allegations; New Jersey High School cancels football season after reports of hazing

AYALA UPDATE, Oct. 11 — St. George, Utah, police confirmed Friday that they are investigating a report of hazing there last month involving the Ayala High School football team.
The case has been assigned to one of the detectives and is currently active, St. George police spokesman Derek Lewis said via email Friday.
“Since the case is active, I cannot release any details,” Lewis wrote.

AYALA UPDATE, Oct. 9: The case of Ayala High School football players involved in a hazing incident last month in St. George, Utah, is ebbing toward completion.
According to officials from the Chino Valley Unified School District, 20 of the 21 student-athletes suspended for the Sept. 18 incident before a road game against Snow Canyon High School in Utah have been reinstated. An expulsion hearing has been scheduled later this month for the only student not reinstated.

I’m not comparing the Ayala situation with this one because not enough facts came out about the situation at Ayala, but give credit to the New Jersey school district that used zero tolerance when handing out discipline. Last week Ayala reinstated 18 of 21 players that were suspended two days before facing Damien. Players were suspended during Ayala’s bye week.

NEW JERSEY SCHOOL CANCELS FOOTBALL SEASON AFTER HAZING INCIDENT: A central New Jersey town is reeling after its high school football team, which has won three sectional titles over four years, had its season cut short by allegations of bullying, intimidation and harassment among players.

Sayreville school officials made the announcement Monday night during a meeting with the players’ parents. The district already had canceled and forfeited a game that was scheduled last week between Sayreville War Memorial and South Brunswick and announced that the Middlesex County prosecutor’s office was investigating the allegations.

“There was enough evidence that there were incidents of harassment, of intimidation and bullying that took place on a pervasive level, on a wide-scale level and at a level at which the players knew, tolerated and generally accepted,” Superintendent Richard Labbe told reporters Monday night. “Based upon what has been substantiated to have occurred, we have canceled the remainder of the football season.

More on New Jersey hazing incident: The investigation at a New Jersey prep football powerhouse that has led to sex crime charges against seven teens prompted an almost unheard-of sanction — the cancellation of the beloved program’s season — that shook this solidly middle-class town and reignited a broader debate over dealing with hazing.

Authorities have released few details about the allegations against the seven Sayreville War Memorial High School students, but the school’s superintendent called the abuse so pervasive he had no choice but to call off the season — a decision that has angered team parents but drew applause from advocates who called it the kind of bold stand necessary to confront hazing.