NEEDHAM, Mass., Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Several members of a Massachusetts high school girls' soccer team were suspended for allegedly hazing younger team members, authorities said.
The suspension by Needham High School angered the girls' parents, who asked a judge to allow their children to play in Tuesday's state tournament game, The Boston Globe reported.
The judge refused and the game went on without the suspended players as Needham lost 7-1.
The hazing allegations concerned "an initiation ritual of new team members" on Friday evening, Oct. 29, after the team had won a share of the Bay State Conference title, court documents said.
The hazing victims had been blindfolded and led around on dog leashes, then hit in their faces with pies, WBZ-TV, Needham, reported.
Parents of students on the girls' varsity soccer team received an e-mail from Needham High's principal, Jonathan D. Pizzi, last Friday, saying administrators were investigating "an alleged incident of serious misbehavior."
Massachusetts enacted a law in 1985 requiring secondary schools to adopt anti-hazing policies and distribute them to all students, the Globe said.
"Any incidents of hazing need to be dealt with firmly," Tom Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, said.
