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Macomb High Soccer Coach Suspended

Eli Blasi
/
From the petition to Reinstate Coach Moore As MHS Men's Head Soccer Coach

After a roughly three hour closed door meeting, the Macomb Board of Education agreed to suspend head coach Jeff Moore without pay for the balance of the 2014-15 soccer season.

Moore was temporarily suspended last week after allegations of hazing surfaced.

An on-line petition drive was quickly launched in support of reinstating Moore. The petition stated there was no hazing – that players chose on their own to engage in an activity called “the pit” as a way of bringing the team together.

The petition said,

"’The pit’ refers to when two players call each other out (they are both in agreeance) to a wrestling match, while the remainder of the team forms a circle around the match as a sort of boundary. In essence, it's teenage boys being boys by wrestling each other in an organized way.”

Half-a-dozen parents, including Western Illinois Universitymen’s head soccer coach Eric Johnson, spoke in support of Moore during Monday night’s Board of Education meeting. They said the activity took place away from the practice field. None of them felt that the players were hazed, and they said Moore would never allow hazing.

But after a lengthy closed door session, board members decided Moore should be required to complete a prescribed education course about hazing before he’s eligible to be reinstated.

Further board action could be taken if he fails to successfully complete the course.

Rich is TSPR's News Director.