Ursuline High School in Ohio cancels football season amid lawsuit alleging violent hazing

Ursuline Catholic High School in Ohio has benched its powerhouse football team for the rest of the season after a player’s mother filed a federal lawsuit claiming her son and others were physically and sexually abused by their teammates during a nine-day football camp.

A Catholic high school in Ohio has benched its powerhouse football team for the rest of the season after a player’s mother filed a federal lawsuit claiming her son and others were physically and sexually abused by their teammates during a nine-day football camp over the summer and the coaches did nothing to stop the brutal hazing.

Top administrators and team coaches at Ursuline High School in Youngstown also “failed to take the appropriate actions to address the misconduct” and were acting “solely for the glory of its football team alone,” according to the civil rights lawsuit, filed Sept. 2 in the Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division.

“It’s just boys being boys,” assistant football coach Timothy McGlynn told the mom when she reported the abuse allegations to him, the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit, filed under Title IX, a federal law that requires schools that receive federal funds to put safeguards in place to protect students from sexual predators, was filed anonymously by the mother of the incoming freshman player. It names the school, its principal, the assistant principal, the head football coach, two assistant football coaches and the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown, as well as 11 unnamed players and their parents. The players are all minors.

The school’s president, the Rev. Richard Murphy, announced in a letter to parents Friday that “the season could not continue” and that he had suspended head coach Daniel Reardon and placed McGlynn and another assistant coach, Christian Syrianoudis, on administrative leave. Murphy also said the school is cooperating with the investigation into the hazing allegations.