Napa High School football program investigated for player hazing

Napa police are investigating suspected hazing incidents within the Napa High School football program in the weeks leading up to the Big Game against rival Vintage High this year and in 2015.

No arrests have been made and police haven't disclosed details of the allegations, which school officials reported to police on Nov. 19 after a student disclosure.

Napa police Capt. Jennifer Gonzales said investigators have confirmed that “there were multiple assaults” both years.

The alleged misconduct consisted of players assaulting teammates by holding them down and hitting and grabbing them, police said. None of the confirmed assaults required emergency medical attention.

Investigators believe the assaults were a form of hazing within the football program. There are about 140 students in the football program, 63 on varsity and the rest on junior varsity and freshman squads.

“It was an isolated group within that program,” Gonzales said. “Within that, victims, offenders and witnesses are comingled … We have to interview everyone and find out where they are on that food chain: are you involved, and if so, to what degree?”

Police were still interviewing players Thursday and hadn't determined exact numbers of incidents, victims or offenders. No names have been released because everyone involved is a minor.

No Vintage students were involved, nor were any non-football-playing Napa students.

School officials said no disciplinary action has been taken against any students or staff.

“If anything arose as a result of the investigation that there was an immediate danger, of course we'd take immediate action,” said Napa Valley Unified School District spokeswoman Elizabeth Emmett. “There is no indication there is any ongoing danger.”

Hazing, often considered innocent team-bonding fun, can turn humiliating, violent and abusive. Since 2006, hazing has been illegal in California, a violation of assault statutes. Depending on the severity of the assaults, charges can be filed as misdemeanors or felony cases.

Although school officials often handle student disciplinary or behavior problems on their own, they also are mandated reporters, meaning they are legally obligated to report suspected physical, sexual, emotional abuse or neglect of anyone under age 18.

The annual Big Game between Napa and Vintage occurs at the end of the high school football season, usually in the first week of November. The hazing incidents weren't necessarily related to the rivalry game itself, Gonzales said, but occurred at the same time, as competitive pre-game community spirit was at its high point.

Sonoma County school officials said they are always on the lookout for hazing or other initiation rites.

“At Montgomery, we put our coaches through a Positive Coaching Alliance seminar that talks about that,” Vikings athletic director Dean Haskins said. “We talk about it in the preseason coaches meeting.”

Each seasons' coaches get a refresher every year about what to look for.

“We always try to have good locker room supervision, before and after practice,” he said.

Initiation rites can be as benign as making the freshmen carry team equipment or doing scut work at practice.

“Those little things we try to nip in the bud,” Haskins said. “We say, ‘No, that's not how we do things.' … You look for behavior, how they communicate with one another. You try to stay as visible as possible in high-risk areas, like the locker room.”

Rudy Porchivina of Novato, whose son John was a standout football player at Casa Grande High School in Petaluma, has become something of an expert in hazing.

He has visited 70 college campuses speaking about how to deal with the troublesome issue.

Porchivina experienced - and participated in - hazing in the Marine Corps and at San Jose State in the Phi Delta Theta fraternity.

What was once considered an accepted and relatively innocent rite of passage on high school and college campuses is now viewed through the lens of bullying and potential legal action.

“A big part of the hazing problem is that what is good clean fun to one guy can be a horrifying life-changing event for another,” Porchivina said. “One parent's definition of hazing is another parent's definition of horseplay.

“Hazing can run the gamut from people being made to feel bad, and we've also heard of broom handles being shoved up someone's behind.”

It is the result of a power structure on a team, in a military unit or a college club, where generally older participants exert their control over younger, newer members.

“It's almost like a disease,” Porchivina said. “You can have a program that's running great, with great supervision, and you get an infection and it can very quickly sicken the whole program. It can be tough to understand why it happens and tough to root it out.”

You can reach Lori A. Carter at 707-521-5470 or lori.carter@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @loriacarter.