The girls’ basketball game between the Yonkers, New York public high school, Roosevelt High, and the private Hartsdale, New York Jewish school Leffell was called off at the end of the third quarter due to antisemitic comments shouted by Roosevelt players against Leffell’s Jewish opponents.
“I support Hamas, you f–ing Jew,” a Roosevelt player allegedly told an opponent, according to the New York City Public Schools Alliance.
“Antisemitism during the Girls’ Varsity Basketball Game” was written by Robin Bosworth, a senior player who detailed the terrible behavior of the Roosevelt team.
Bosworth wrote that there was a lot more trash-talking and insults directed at Leffell players in the first half of the game compared to other games she’s played in, creating an almost hostile atmosphere. She said her team played intensely in the second half, allowing Roosevelt’s aggression to inspire them. However, everything changed when the opposing side’s rough play began to inflict injuries on squad members in the third quarter. The other team’s players began yelling antisemitic insults and swear words at them as the quarter came to a close.
John Tessitore, head coach of the Leffell squad, and his players decided to call it quits.
“Our team was playing on the road, and over the course of the game, a small number of players on the other side hurled nasty, antisemitic slurs against members of our squad,” Leffell’s head of school, Michael Kay said in a letter to the school community.
At one point, the players shouted at one another, and security stepped in. The referees confer, and then the teams unexpectedly shake hands before being escorted from the court.
The Yonkers district’s official confirmed that Roosevelt High School had voluntarily agreed to forfeit the game.
Roosevelt headmaster Edward DeChent expressed regret for the abhorrent actions of his pupils, as did Kyle Calabro, the athletic director.
