Recent reports of discrimination and racism across MN sports teams

Recently, there have been many reports regarding discrimination and racism within Minnesota high school sports. 

On the evening of February 15th, the St. Louis Park Boys hockey team was up against New Prague. Throughout the game, racist remarks were being yelled from students and supporters of New Prague towards the athletes at St. Louis Park.

SLP Athletic director, Andrew Ewald, released a statement explaining that he was very disappointed in New Prague high school and the way that the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) had handled the situation. He added that St Louis Park would no longer compete against New Prague.

“I think that schools handled it well by not competing against them, and if we continue to not compete with teams like that, then change will come,” Jade Hutton, junior, said. 

New Prague’s actions toward St. Louis Park are nothing new, and other complaints have also been made against them recently. 

Cooper High School also spoke out and said they received racist and unwelcoming remarks while competing against New Prague.  Cooper’s superintendent, David Engstrom, spoke out, saying that his school is incredibly frustrated with the MSHSL and strongly advised them to take this situation more seriously. 

News of this event spread quickly, and when it reached HHS students, they were not surprised. These situations occur far too often in both sports and everyday life.

“These actions were completely unacceptable, and these types of words should never occur in sports,” Jacob Rothman, junior, said.  

Rothman was not the only one from HHS who felt that way. 

 “I feel like the only way to truly make a change and impact is with the parents because these kids are getting taught the wrong values somewhere, and it is all a pattern that will keep going if not changed soon,” Araya Pettiford, senior, said.

Many feel that the community’s adults are responsible for setting strong examples for students through punishment and teaching more positive values.

These events occurred not long after it surfaced that a player on the Minnetonka High School Girls Varsity basketball team was racist towards other students at her school, specifically her teammates. The player’s mom was also the head coach of the Girls Varsity team, and there was a report that she also used hateful and derogatory words towards others in the school. She did end up stepping down from the team in the effect of this. 

Discrimination and racism are everywhere, including sports. Calling each other out and holding others accountable can lead to a step in the right direction.