OLYMPIA, Wash. — Cut from leading his own team, a local high school basketball coach could be reinstated after a hazing incident involving some of his players.
Students are showing support for their coach outside Capital High School in Olympia on Wednesday.
Coach Doug Galloway was removed as head boys’ basketball coach there last month but he remains a physical education teacher and girls’ golf coach at Capital.
After dozens of students and parents complained that the district overreacted to the hazing incident at a team summer camp in June, the Olympia School Board is going to consider reinstating him.
Freshman Isaiah Springer-Black said he was in his dorm when he heard some yelling the night of the so-called hazing incident. He didn't see it, but friends told him some older players were "goosing" younger players in a dorm room, when the actions allegedly turned into what's been described as forced sexual contact.
"I think they were just messing around, but it went too far,” said Springer-Black.
The longtime coach wasn't there at the time of the incident. When he heard about the situation, he called police, school authorities and parents.
The school district decided to cut Galloway as the team's coach.
"He's a good coach and a good teacher, but in this particular case, proper supervision wasn't there,” said a district spokesman.
Sophomore basketball player Kyle Morgan calls Galloway a father figure. A group of students wore shirts on the first day of school Wednesday to the show their support for him.
"Just some kids got a little crazy,” said Morgan. "It's injustice. I don't think (he should) be blamed for what happened. I think the kids should be held accountable."
The school district said the students were punished academically and athletically, but when KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reporter Jeff Dubois pressed for more details, a spokesman wouldn't elaborate, citing privacy laws.
"I can't go into specifics or even say, compare one against the other. You know, I think appropriate action was taken in both cases,” said the spokesman.
No criminal charges are going to be brought against the students involved.
KIRO
