Girls’ Soccer Game Was Abandoned After Fans Chanted Trump-Inspired Abuse

So this is pretty awful.

Last week a game between the girls soccer teams from Elkhorn and Beloit high schools in Wisconsin was abandoned after racist abuse referencing Donald Trump was chanted in the direction of Latina players.

A group of young people in the Elkhorn section— who may have been elementary school students— is said to have chanted “Donald Trump! Build That Wall!” at Beloit players, several of whom were Latina.

A statement from the Elkhorn school district detailed what they knew about the incident and said an inquiry was underway.

At this time we can confirm that three elementary aged students who were sitting near Beloit fans said “Trump, build a wall”. Later in the game two high school students stated back and forth “Trump” four to five times. It has been reported that the game was stopped. Our investigation confirms that during the game, the game officials addressed one of our fans who yelled at a player, “you suck!” after a Beloit player allegedly made an inappropriate gesture toward the student section. We are awaiting further word from officials regarding what they heard and saw in relation to this interaction. As previously stated any unsportsmanlike conduct or derogatory comments are not acceptable and not in line with our district’s values. This is not acceptable and as a district we will address the behavior of those responsible, but will not release specifics of student disciplinary action taken. We apologize to the Beloit players, fans, and community that were hurt and offended by the comments and words of a few of our students.

Haide Reyes, mother of one of the Beloit players, said her daughter came home from the game emotionally distraught.

She said I’m a little tired, but my heart hurts a lot, because they said bad things about us. I saw her, she was crying and she goes down to her room. I asked her if she was hungry and she said, ‘No I’m OK I want to be in my room.’ I was sad and I was angry, too.

Beloit head coach expressed bewilderment at the chants and said he and other members of the coaching staff consoled players after the game.

I could just see the hurt and pain on their faces and know that this was obviously something that they hadn’t seen before. You know, it was from a small pocket of the Elkhorn fans, but those words are things you can’t take back. Seeing the impact on those kids is something I’ll never forget as a coach.

Cecilia Ramirez, coordinator for the Latino Service Providers Coalition in Beloit, summed up what most of us think about the incident: “I feel like this should not be happening. I mean, it’s 2016.”