Aziz Abdur-Ra’oof knows hazing.
He received an up-close-and-personal view of it while at training camp with the Kansas City Chiefs in 1989. Abdur-Ra’oof played at Northeast High School in Anne Arundel County and was a star wide receiver at the University of Maryland in the mid-’80s. He was drafted into the NFL by the Chiefs and it was during his rookie year with the team when several veterans woke up the newbies from their sleep and took them to another room. The older players then started pouring grain alcohol down their throats.
But Abdur-Ra’oof caught a break when one of the veterans gave a signal to skip him and not do the hazing ritual.
“I never saw the purpose in hazing people. It doesn’t build a positive team culture, in my opinion.” —Aziz Abdur-Ra’oof
“I’m thankful that the player who signaled for me to be left alone had the courage to do so,” Abdur-Ra’oof says. “He went against what they were doing. He took a stand. I was happy that someone took a stand and was courageous enough to say ‘hey, no.’”
Hazing, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is an initiation process involving harassment. It’s basically a rite of passage in the NFL and other professional leagues that’s been around for a very long time. Dr. Jack J. Lesyk, a nationally renowned sports psychologist, is the director of the Ohio Center for Sport Psychology and has worked with the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team for three years.
He says the Cavaliers also use a rite of passage for rookies. They buy donuts for the team every day. That’s a long way from being forced to drink grain alcohol in the middle of the night.
“That’s harmless; that’s not harassment,” Lesyk says.
Hazing is a part of the “jock culture” that’s been prevalent for years. Hazing is the epitome of bad sportsmanship and, yet, young athletes often think this kind of behavior is okay. Serious incidents have occurred at nearly every level of every sport, and have hit close to our homes. Most recently, in places like Severna Park, Kent Island, and nearby Damascus High Schools. The question is why sportsmanship—or lack thereof—occurs at the high school level, and what can be done to address and improve it?
I NEVER SAW THE PURPOSE IN HAZING PEOPLE
“If they’re really not excelling by 13 or 14, they’re dropping out because they’re not getting playing time. There’s a trickle-down effect in that there is a seriousness at a younger age.”
—Dr. Jack J. Lesyk
Many sports professionals and insiders familiar with this subject agree that, especially in male sports, hazing serves as a sort of rite of passage or initiation. It’s often been felt as a way to be part of the team. In other words, you want to be on this team, then you must go through or endure certain actions.
Lesyk says that football teams and other male-dominated sports have always had hazing. Many believe that it’s just an expected part of the game, an accepted thing that not many like but still go through. The problem is that it’s gotten out of control and can be dangerous.
An incident last fall at Damascus High School led to a few junior varsity football players being charged as adults with sexually assaulting another with a broomstick. A season ago, several Kent Island High School junior varsity lacrosse players were charged with false imprisonment and second-degree assault. There were other news-making hazing incidents at Severna Park and McDonogh School in Baltimore County—an investigation that was eventually closed without charges.
“I never saw the purpose in hazing people,” Abdur-Ra’oof says. “It doesn’t build a positive team culture, in my opinion.”
These recent hazing incidents proved very rough in nature, yet athletes on many teams still accept it as part of sports culture. Could an athlete’s want for acceptance be partly attributable to the external pressures they face to perpetually succeed at successive levels of their chosen sport?
NO SPORT IS MEANT TO BE PLAYED YEAR-ROUND
Today, many parents seem almost desperate to obtain college scholarships for their children, and maybe even a shot at playing professional sports and earning plenty of money.
“I do think there’s a lot of pressure for the kids who play year-round because their eyes are on the prize. They want to sign a pro contract or get a scholarship.” —Bruce Cunningham
That’s why more and more parents are making their kids focus on playing just one sport all year long—to hone their skills. Plus, this often starts at a very young age. It’s not unusual to see baseball and basketball players competing with various teams away from their high schools in other seasons. Baseball players, not even in high school, will play on travel teams in the summer and fall while basketball players do the same.
Girls want those scholarships also. Softball players often compete in summer tournaments, and some even play on teams out of state while still living in Maryland, just to gain that desperately-wanted exposure to college recruiters.
This has slowly morphed into the norm rather than the exception in sports, and it’s something that’s confusing many associated with the business.
Bruce Cunningham, the sports director at Fox 45 television in Baltimore and a Severna Park resident, grew up playing different sports all the time and loving it. But he’s not a big fan of what’s happening now.
“The year-round sports thing, I think that’s ridiculous,” Cunningham says. “I played every sport they had. I think sports at that age—that should be a smorgasbord. No sport is meant to be played year-round.”
Cunningham also says there is more push on the kids to become great in one sport so they can do something better long-term, like play in college or the pros.
Lesyk says he definitely sees these changes with the children he works with. He says sports themselves—for kids—simply are different now. One reason for that is parents sometimes are pushing it rather than simply letting children play for love of the game, as the old saying goes.
“If they’re really not excelling by 13 or 14, they’re dropping out because they’re not getting playing time,” Lesyk says. “There’s a trickle-down effect in that there is a seriousness at a younger age.”
Lesyk tells of when he received a phone call from a father who had concerns that his son simply was not performing up to his potential in one sport. That’s why the father wanted him to see Lesyk.
The doctor then asked a simple question, “What is the child’s age?”
“Five,” the father said.
Lesyk and Cunningham both agree that too many parents are caught up in wanting to see their kids receive those college scholarships and that big-time pro deal.
“I do think there’s a lot of pressure for the kids who play year-round because their eyes are on the prize,” Cunningham says. “They want to sign a pro contract or get a scholarship.”
During the 30 years Lesyk has been doing his job, and up until about 10–12 years ago, he says that most children’s sports were not year-round. That has changed drastically in recent years. Kids and parents want these athletes to be seen and known—and faster than ever before.
Cunningham says kids see the boastful, look-at-me type of behaviors on network television like ESPN and think that it’s fine to behave in that manner. It’s common for high school athletes to post many of their own highlights on social media. The young athletes of today want to be noticed so much more than those of a generation ago—and that can lead to trouble, especially when it comes to sportsmanship as it was once known.
The hazing incidents now taking place seem to be more daring and almost vicious. Why is that? Maybe it’s because sports are more serious now. Lesyk says that parents are investing more money in trainers, camps, and travel teams, which leaves those who can’t keep up off to the side. As he said, they’re dropping out in bigger numbers.
95% of kids who play these sports at the recreation level will not make it to college or the pros
Plus, people don’t see the whole picture. Lesyk says Sports Illustrated recently published an article focusing on baseball, basketball, and football that shows 95 percent of kids who play these sports at the recreation level will not make it to college or the pros. Lesyk wants the children he works with to understand this and be ready for life after sports, even if that starts at 18.
“My focus is on developing good healthy kids who grow into good healthy adults,” Lesyk says.
Is sportsmanship getting better or worse? It does seem to be different, many agreed. Gerard Filosa has been a track coach at Pikesville High School in Baltimore County for 16 years and is a coordinator of the state track and field championships. He’s seen a difference attributable to social media and the way kids trumpet what they do.
“I notice kids being boastful at times, but I don’t know what kind of effect it has on the competition,” he says. “The one thing that’s changed is the exposure of boasting or even bad-mouthing. It used to be done inside the locker room…but now with Twitter and Instagram, the whole world is your platform.”
I THINK IT VARIES FROM SCHOOL TO SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY TO COMMUNITY
With the hazing incidents being exposed more recently, the red flag has gone up among schools, athletic directors, and others in charge, making them realize how crucial it can be to immediately get a handle on this behavior.
Kent Island High School Assistant Principal/Athletic Director Daniel Harding said his school made numerous changes. There’s now a study hall every day from 2:30–5 p.m. for student-athletes, which is monitored by staff. He says that lets the kids finish their homework with better supervision.
The school principal started taking steps to ensure there would always be a school employee to provide adequate supervision by the time the first student-athlete arrived. Harding says they simply shored up the supervision quickly after last year’s incident.
“I would say it’s taken a lot of stress and pressure off of the coaches,” Harding says. “If a coach is late to practice, he or she lets [us] know and somebody steps in.”
The Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association (MPSSAA), which runs public high school sports, has been working on sportsmanship for years, says Bill Reinhard, director of communications for the Maryland State Department of Education.
For example, they have a “Respect the Game” sportsmanship initiative which produces public-address announcements, sportsmanship awards, and three publications focused on the schools, the students, and the coaches. The MPSSAA also held a Student Leadership Conference in early June with workshops on subjects like preventing hazing, positive social media, and group dynamics.
“I think it varies from school to school and community to community,” Reinhard says on how to handle this. “With guidance from coaches and parents, most students will pay attention to good sportsmanship.”
“The one thing that’s changed is the exposure of boasting or even bad mouthing. It used to be done inside the locker room, but now with Twitter and Instagram, the whole world is your platform.” —Gerard Filosa
Abdur-Ra’oof is now an education consultant and works with Anne Arundel County middle and high school students. He feels that the problems with sportsmanship and issues like hazing can be lessened if young athletes are simply taught the right lessons.
“I think at certain high schools, [problems] do exist and slowly but surely in time, I think students will start to move beyond it,” he says. “I think the issue of group-think impacts them the way it does everyone else. If they talk and learn the right way and they can do it, [things will improve]. They just need to be shown the right way.”
