School officials in California have confirmed that eight members of the South Tahoe High softball team were forced by their coach to drink soda out of a cleat after striking out in a May 1 game. James Tarwater, superintendent of Lake Tahoe Unified School District, deemed the incident a “young coach’s mistake.”
“It was meant as a joke and obviously it went too far. People learn from mistakes. She does a good job pulling the team together, morale-wise and support-wise,” Tarwater said.
Of course, there’s at least one parent that is pissed off.
“I was not happy about this. She should have thought about this and acted with better judgment. This is a safety issue. Each year there is a horrible story of someone killed because of hazing.”
Let’s not get crazy here, no one is going to die from drinking soda out of shoe. Puke? Perhaps. But to the complaining parent’s credit, they’re not calling for the coach’s head and have reportedly accepted their apology.
“I don’t want her to be fired. That was never my intention,” the parent said. “She deserves a second chance. We’ve all made mistakes. We all deserve second chances; that’s the American way.”
Ah, yes, second chances. Reminds me of the time Charles Barkley forced teammate Armen Gilliam to drink tequila out of Manute Bol’s cup. Coach Jimmy Lynam still allowed Sir Charles to play the next night.
Coach makes players who strike out drink soda out of softball shoe [Tahoe Daily Tribune]
