Girls team banned over alleged slurs

The Clarence Middle School girls lacrosse team has been suspended from competition for four games over allegations they directed racial slurs at an opposing team in upstate New York.

Clarence superintendent Geoffrey M. Hicks announced the suspension Monday following an investigation into the incident from last week's game against Sweet Home Middle School from Amherst, N.Y.

Hicks said that while no Clarence player admitted to using a racial slur, "there's enough here to warrant a reaction on our part."

Jeanmarie Mitchell, the mother of an eighth-grader on the Sweet Home team, told The Buffalo News that two black players and two biracial players were subjected to a racial slur during the game.

"[My daughter] told me they looked her right in the face and dropped the N-bomb," Mitchell said. "She was almost in tears."

The Clarence team members, who are seventh- and eighth-grade students, also will participate in a cultural awareness program.

They will be allowed to continue practicing during the suspension period, which equates to about two weeks.