‘Humiliating’ sports hazing scandal rocks elite California high school

A top-ranked California high school water polo team is embroiled in a hazing scandal after players allegedly harassed teammates in a hotel room during an out-of-town tournament, leaving some injured and triggering a school district investigation.

A leaked email from Long Beach’s Wilson High School coach Zac Polmanteer to parents detailed the alleged incident in the San Jose area last weekend, according to the Long Beach Post, which obtained the email.

“Multiple student athletes were subjected to humiliating and physically harmful acts. Some athletes sustained injuries from being physically struck by their teammates,” Polmanteer wrote.

The coach did not disclose the number of students involved or the extent of the injuries from the attack.

The Long Beach Unified School District confirmed it was investigating the incident, saying hazing had no place in its schools or athletic programs.

“Hazing is not allowed and has no place in our schools or athletic programs,” a district spokesperson said. “Wilson High School continues to reinforce expectations for student safety and respectful conduct.”

The district said it was limited in what it could disclose while the investigation continued, citing confidential student and employee information.

The team had secured two victories on the first day of competition before most of the players reportedly gathered in a hotel room on Friday night.

The coach said he was informed the following day of noise complaints and warned players about breaking curfew and their general conduct. He did not learn of the alleged hazing until the team returned to Long Beach on Sunday evening.

“This level of behaviour is shocking, unacceptable, and completely contrary to everything we stand for as a program,” Polmanteer wrote.

Players who travelled on the trip were interviewed individually on Monday by the school’s athletic director and several water polo coaches.

The email said school administrators and coaching staff devised consequences, including suspensions from school and water polo, alongside a plan to prevent similar incidents.

“Hazing is a cultural problem, even when only a handful of athletes directly participate,” Polmanteer wrote.

He said players and parents were required to sign agreements explicitly prohibiting hazing as a condition of participating in the program.

The fallout was apparent on Tuesday when Wilson faced Long Beach Poly, with 13 players listed on the team’s September roster absent from the lineup, including the majority of the seniors who had previously made up the Bruins’ starting squad.

It remained unclear how many absences were linked to disciplinary action over the alleged hazing, injuries or other reasons.

Polmanteer referred to a “situation that occurred at school” when asked about the absences, but declined to say whether the missing players would return this season.

Wilson ranked fourth in the CIF Southern Section’s first playoff rankings of the season, last updated on September 28.

Wilson High School and the Wilson Boys Aquatic Foundation have been contacted for comment.

The incident comes amid a separate high-profile case involving California high school water polo. Former Harvard-Westlake player Lucca Van der Woude was arrested over allegations involving teammate Aidan Romain.

In a lawsuit filed in March, Romain accused Van der Woude, the son of a Hollywood director and a former Olympic water polo prospect, of months of racist harassment and sexual abuse while they played together on the Los Angeles school’s team. Van der Woude gave a deposition in the case in August.

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