Massachusetts HS Football Team Used Anti-Semitic Terms during Play Calls

A Massachusetts high school football program has come under fire after players allegedly used anti-Semitic terms for play calls during its first game of the season last week.

Duxbury High School’s football team allegedly used anti-Semitic terms, including “Auschwitz,” as they called plays on the field during a March 12 game, according to a report from The Patriot Ledger.

The school’s superintendent, John Antonucci, released a statement through the public relations firm Ellis Strategies after the incident and said that through a district investigation that the football team used “anti-Semitic and potentially other inappropriate and derogatory languages” during a recent game.

“We have been in touch with many members of the community, parents, and the Anti-Defamation League regarding the seriousness of the allegations,” Antonucci said in the statement. “We are continuing our investigation and will have further comment at a later time.”

New England Anti-Defamation League Director Robert Trestan spoke with Antonucci, according to the Ledger’s report, and terms like Auschwitz, a Nazi concentration camp in Poland during World War II, was one of the terms used to call plays in the game.

“You need to determine what was said, who was responsible, and how long it had been going on,” he said, according to the Ledger.

Among the questions is how long the anti-Semitic terms have been used and if they were codified in playbooks, Trestan said. He added that when the investigation is over, the school district needs to be transparent, the Ledger reported.

Duxbury has already announced the football team’s next game has been canceled. It was the first game of the season for the football team after the 2020 fall season was postponed due to COVID-19.

“On behalf of the staff and players of the Duxbury High School football team, I want to extend my apology for the insensitive, crass, and inappropriate language used in the game on March 12th,” longtime Duxbury High football coach Dave Maimaron said in the statement. “Using the term was careless, unnecessary, and most importantly hurtful on its face – inexcusable.”

To read the full report from The Patriot Ledger about the Duxbury football team, click here.