Indiana HS volleyball team deals with 'monkey' taunts from player: 'We're devastated by it.'

INDIANAPOLIS – The parents of Pike High School volleyball players are disappointed, outraged and hurt by taunting gestures they felt were racist from an opposing player at a match Saturday.

Several Pike parents took to social media in the two days following the match against New Palestine and in interviews with IndyStar to express their displeasure with the incident. Pike athletic director Kendra Champion-McAloon confirmed Monday she met with Pike principal Troy Inman to discuss the results of an internal investigation.

“I don’t want to go into a lot of details, but one of our players made a report and we’ve been in contact with New Palestine and were told that they are investigating and taking it seriously,” Champion-McAloon said Monday. She added Tuesday morning the school was reporting the incident to the Indiana High School Athletic Association. The IHSAA confirmed it received that report Tuesday afternoon.

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A video from the match Saturday obtained by IndyStar appears to show a New Palestine player scratching or beating her chest after a timeout and on the court with her teammates before play restarted. Another New Palestine player appears to tell the player making the gestures to stop. A Pike freshman player, working the game nearby as a line judge, interpreted those gestures to be racist and later left the court.

“I didn’t know what happened to her during the game,” Pike coach Gene Murray said. “But what she was describing when she was line judging, the monkey gestures, you can see in the video. That’s what upset her so she stopped.”

Pike’s varsity volleyball team is almost entirely made up of Black players. The Red Devils are 17-10 and begin sectional play Thursday at Perry Meridian.

New Palestine, in a statement from athletic director Al Cooper and principal Jim Voelz released to IndyStar Tuesday afternoon, said it has disciplined the student “in accordance with the school’s Athletic Code of Conduct” following a thorough investigation that included reviewing film from the game and “speaking to coaches, players, parents, community members, and MSD Pike administrators who attended the event.”

“We strive for our student-athletes to represent New Palestine High School and our town with commitment, character and class,” the school said in the statement. “Unfortunately, we fell short of this goal this weekend. As an athletic department and school administration, we see this as a teachable moment. Actions and words matter. We hold our athletes and coaches to a high standard and expect them to treat all fellow competitors with dignity and respect. We thank our community for its support and look forward to a great rest of the season.”

Champion-McAloon said she hopes reporting the incident to the IHSAA will potentially lead to schools taking a proactive stance on discussing racism.

“We want to do everything we can,” Champion-McAloon said. “I don’t know how to stop this and we’re devastated by it, but we want to do everything we can to make it better.”

Parents of Pike volleyball players vocalized their feelings with the situation on various social media channels over the weekend and in interviews with the IndyStar. Sabrina Dryden, whose daughter Khori Dryden is a senior outside hitter at Pike, said there needs to be a strong message sent that “hate in Indiana high school athletics will not be tolerated.”

“It shouldn’t be quietly shoved under the rug,” Dryden said.

The Indiana High School Athletic Association commented on the situation:

“The Indiana High School Athletic Association is aware of the incident that occurred during a New Palestine-Pike volleyball match last Saturday. We have been in contact with administrators at both schools, and believe that appropriate disciplinary action and proactive measures to correct unacceptable behavior are underway. As educators, we must use this as teachable moment. It is never appropriate to make fun of, taunt, threaten, or belittle anyone over race, religion, nationality, or any other difference. Instead, those differences are to be respected, celebrated, and championed. We look forward to the day when we do not have to have this type of conversation. Until that day, however, we must continue to educate the young people we serve.”

IndyStar public engagement editor Oseye Boyd contributed to this story.

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana high school volleyball team reported racist monkey taunts