The varsity boys soccer team said that trash talking went too far at a recent home game when a Framingham soccer player directed a racial slur at two Brookline players, sophomores Elijah Elmore and Tonnis James.
Although the referees said they did not hear or see what occurred, this event marked a pivotal moment for the team, creating an even stronger bond between the boys.
“We were all pretty shocked at first and took a step back,” Elmore said. “It was overwhelming because it was like trash talking to another level. There’s a difference between trash talking and bringing other things into the game like race. Trash talking is all part of the game, but racial slurs are definitely not.”
Other teammates shared similar reactions when they first heard what had happened out on the field.
“I was outraged and disappointed that the referees did nothing about it,” senior and co-captain Dimitri Makrigiorgos said. “When I saw that the opposing player wasn’t going to be carded, I was upset, but I knew that the best thing was to try and calm our players down and not let the situation get worse.”
Although these varsity players agreed that this was a disgusting act, many referenced a few other times this season when similar situations surfaced on the field. Despite these issues, the players said they learned with time the importance of staying focused in the game, regardless of other factors.
“It’s really all psychological- the other team just wants to try and get in your head by calling you names, and then you start calling them names back,” senior and co-captain Alejandro Brown said. “You can’t get caught up into it though. You just have to be yourself and play your best, that’s what’s most important.”
While some have said that this incident was a bump in the road during the season, junior Ben Gerber agreed that this experience led them to improve for future games.
“We’ve grown so much as a team already,” Gerber said. “Even though we lost that game, we’ve learned from it and are focusing on our next game against them. I know that we can be even better when we play them again.”
The boys varsity soccer team said that they were able to finish the game by staying strong and looking at the brighter side, making them a more united team for the rest of the season.
“I was proud of the way my team rallied around the teammates who had been insulted,” Makrigiorgos said. “Initially, many of the players defended him, and after the game we all talked about it with our coach. We really made a positive experience out of this because we all had each other’s backs.”
Other teammates agreed that players on the team are like brothers.
“At the end of the day, I know that my team would have my back 100 percent,” Brown said.
Although the team has overcome this challenge and is looking ahead, a few actions need to occur in order to fully move forward.
“We did report the incident, and told the Framingham coach what happened,” coach Jeff Katz said. “We know the behavior standard that we hold our players to, and we want to protect them as best as we can.”
members of the team said they learned a lot from this experience, ultimately making them not only stronger players, but stronger individuals as well.
“This whole experience shows how far trash talking and the game can get,” Elmore said. “I have to be careful and everyone has to be careful with what they say, because there is definitely a fine line between trash talking and racial slurs.”
Tasoula Burk can be contacted at [email protected].
