Highland and Wasatch High School lacrosse fight under investigation after alleged use of racial slur
May 11, 2021, 6:44 PM | Updated: May 12, 2021, 9:56 am
Photo: Wasatch Academy
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah High School Sports Association is now looking into an allegation of racism at a lacrosse game between Highland and Wasatch High Schools.
Highland parents: Wasatch students shouted racial slur
Parents from Highland High School allege white players from Wasatch High School yelled at a Highland player of color, using a racial slur.
The alleged racism happened after a bench-clearing fight between the teams. That fight started over two Highland players and a Wasatch player who tumbled to the ground after a denied goal, with 10 seconds left on the clock. As the Wasatch player tried to get free, the play turned physical.
Parents and athletes said several Wasatch High bench players started yelling at the Highland player during that brawl.
“During the fight, three players yelled out to get that (racial slur), and went after one of the black players on the Highland team,” said Lex Scott, reading from a complaint submitted to the Black Lives Matter Utah Chapter.
Scott said parents reached out to them to report the incident.
Coaches try to break up dispute
Video of the incident provided to KSL.com appears to show coaches from both teams trying to break up the fight.
A father of one of the Highland players told KSL.com his son and his son’s teammates felt angry something like this could happen apparently “without consequences.”
Utah’s chapter of Black Lives Matter posted a video of the fight on Facebook. They said they received civil rights complaints related to what happened.
In a separate post, the group condemned the “racist parents” at Wasatch.
“Shut your racist mouths and realize that you can no longer mess with Black children. Stop being racist FULL STOP,” the post read.
