A New York high school girls basketball coach claimed he was scapegoated after players on his team yelled anti-semitic slurs at an opponent.
Bryan Williams, who was just terminated from his position at Roosevelt High School (RHS) in Yonkers, NY, claimed that the school unjustly fired him after a disturbing incident last week.
During a game against The Leffell School (TLS), members of RHS yelled anti-semitic slurs at members of Leffell’s team. TLS is a private Jewish school in Hartsdale, NY.
Players reportedly yelled “I support Hamas, you f–king Jew,” and “Free Palestine” as the game progressed.
Robin Bosworth, a senior for TLS, wrote an op-ed in her school’s newspaper in which she described the terrible incident.
“I have played a sport every athletic season throughout my high school career, and I have never experienced this kind of hatred directed at one of my teams before,” Bosworth said.
After getting word of the incident, the Yonkers Public Schools Interim Superintendent Dr. Luis Rodriguez and city Mayor Mike Spano issued a joint statement apologizing for what happened.
“The Yonkers Public Schools, along with the City of Yonkers, sincerely apologize to the students and community of The Leffell School for the painful and offensive comments made to their women’s basketball team during a recent game with Roosevelt High School,” the statement said.
However, Williams doesn’t seem so convinced that it happened in the first place.
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“I personally did not hear any of it on the court,” Williams said. “I do not condone what was allegedly done … I do not condone that. I focus on my team and what we have to try to do to win and be successful…They needed a scapegoat, and I was it. They needed a fall guy.”
Williams further added that by firing him, the Yonkers school district treated him “unfairly.”
“I can’t say who did what,” Williams said. “All I was focused on was my team and how we’re playing, what we need to do to be successful and win. We were winning by a lot, so I was shocked because, again, I don’t think my girls would do that.”
Williams may be right in saying that he didn’t hear anything. But that doesn’t mean his players never spoke these insults.
Oftentimes, players will talk trash loud enough for their opponents to hear the insult, but quiet enough so they don’t get noticed by referees or opposing players. It's possible that what happened here.
Furthermore, Williams could be right in saying that he’s shocked his players said these things. But again, I find it hard to believe that many members of TLS’ team would all be lying when they said they heard anti semitic slurs from RHS players.
It’s an unfortunate situation for Williams to find himself in. However, if something major goes wrong with your team, getting fired is often a consequence - on any level. That’s a risk he took when he got the job, and it looks like he had to pay it.
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