Soccer team leaves field amid racial taunts

It’s hard enough to maintain your poise in the fast-paced world of competitive sports. It’s even harder when you have to fight prejudice at the same time.

That is what a group of young girls from Elgin’s Larkin High School faced last week when they traveled to St. Charles East High School for a freshman girls soccer match, according to school officials.

During the game, a group of fans supporting St. Charles East started making racially tinged remarks about the Larkin players, who are predominantly Hispanic, Larkin Principal Jon Tuin said.

Larkin coach Elizabeth Bravo asked her counterpart at St. Charles East to do something about the taunts, Tuin said.

When the taunts continued, Bravo decided to end the match.

“It was the coach’s decision,” Tuin said. “The coach said ‘We’re done,’ and I totally support her.”

Elgin Area School District U-46 declined to make Bravo available for comment.

A spokesman for St. Charles Unit District 303 said the district takes the matter seriously and is looking into whether any students were involved. If any were involved, they could face disciplinary measures.

“We do not tolerate this type of behavior,” spokesman Jim Blaney said. “We need to make sure we determine what was said and who said it.”

Blaney said East High School will accept the forfeit, which would normally be counted against Larkin’s record.

Tuin said he appreciated the gesture, as did the girls on the squad.

“When I told them St. Charles was going to take the forfeit, they were excited,” Tuin said. “That’s huge on their part.”

Tom Ross, athletic director of Jacobs High School in Algonquin, said he hasn’t seen anything like the Larkin-St. Charles East game but that dealing with inappropriate fans is a perennial struggle.

“I think we lose sight of what we’re all there for,” Ross said. “You’re there for the male or female athletes to play a contest. People think it’s much more than a high school game.”

Ross added that the Fox Valley Conference, which includes Jacobs (Larkin and St. Charles East are not members), is working to do a better job of enforcing its rules about good sportsmanship and appropriate fan behavior.

Tuin said that unfortunately, it is not the first time Elgin athletes have faced racial taunts at athletic contests.

“I’ve been at basketball games where people say ‘You mow our lawns,’” Tuin said. “It’s just hard to believe that that would happen.”