Tuesday morning the Star Tribune had a story about eight players from the Burnsville girlsí hockey team who have been suspended for hazing, but their coach is disputing the severity of their punishment.

From the accounts written in the Star Tribune new varsity players on the girls team were ìkidnappedî by returning varsity players and taken to a sleepover. The parents of the new varsity players were apparently contacted so theyíd know what was going on and itís reported that some of them videotaped the kidnappings.

Once at the sleepover the girls partook in other activities that the coach calls harmless.

The coach isnít arguing the fact that the girls violated hazing policies the school has, but more so the punishment. The girls are getting a harsher punishment than had they gotten together and drank a few beers.

What is acceptable hazing and why is it so wrong? Why has so much changed in the last few years that what used to be called an initiation is now hazing.

Iím not condoning what the girls did, but I also donít see whatís wrong in some structured initiation rituals that have meaning.
When I was in college the college put an end to a harmless initiation of new players wearing the helmet to class on the day of an intrasquad game to let other classmates know the season was starting.

The school felt it embarrassed players, but the reality was we looked forward to wearing our helmets to class because it meant we made the team and were now considered part of the team.

This act did not harm any of us and it was part of the teamís tradition, but the school was taking a hard stance on ìhazing,î but in the minds of many this wasnít.

My recommendation is for the state high school league and other officials to come up with acceptable rights of initiation, because like it or not kids will always come up with some way to make new members of a team feel like they are part of their team.

Some might say these kids should just be nice to these new players and include them in their daily activities, but for the most part they already do. Itís not like these high school kids are meeting each other for the first time. Itís the fact that these kids who have been playing sports their whole lives together try out for a varsity sport and not everyone makes the team.

In some instances one twin may make a team while the other doesnít. The best of the best are the only ones that get their names on the varsity roster and they should know thatís something special.

Initiation rituals should give those involved a feeling of acceptance and a feeling of pride. Some teams Iíve been associated with had a team dinner where returning letter winners handed the new players their varsity jersey.

Other things can be acceptable in my opinion like the new members of a team carrying team equipment bags like stick bags or a bag of batting helmets.

If the state high school league and schools donít work together kids will find other activities such as drinking parties for what they consider initiation but in reality is hazing.

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