AURORA — Two Smoky Hill boys soccer players were disciplined after racial slurs were spewed at a Pine Creek player during a 5A state quarterfinal game last Saturday.
The racial slurs were aimed at senior forward Yaya Cisse, Pine Creek’s leading scorer and a black student from the Ivory Coast, according to Pine Creek coach Ben Corley. Cherry Creek School District spokeswoman Tustin Amole confirmed that an incident occurred during the game.
“One of the backs was saying, ‘Watch the (N-word), watch the (N-word),’ ” Corley said. “Yaya was saying they were making references to Ebola and HIV and calling him a slave.”
According to Amole, one Smoky Hill player was disciplined for making the comments and the other for not reporting it. Neither player was identified nor was the discipline each player received.
“I know for teenagers, sometimes there’s a propensity to trash talk … but obviously there’s a disconnect there in terms of what is appropriate,” Corley said.
The Gazette first reported the story.
Smoky Hill coach Kersten Mullan and athletic director Preston Davis didn’t respond to messages left by The Denver Post. But according to Amole, after the incident, Mullan held a team meeting and told her players that “no game is bigger than personal character and integrity.”
During the game, one of Pine Creek’s players complained to officials about what was being said to Cisse at halftime, Corley said. According to the Colorado High School Activities Association, the officials told CHSAA they didn’t hear anything during the game.
“When the officials don’t hear it, they really can’t do anything about it,” CHSAA spokesman Bert Borgmann said.
At the end of the game — a 4-1 win by Smoky Hill — Corley said when he was comforting a crying Cisse, one of Smoky Hill’s players came up and said, “Hey man, forget all that stuff I was saying, I was joking. I can’t wait to see you in club.”
Corley hopes going public will shed light on curbing this behavior in the future.
“For me, it’s more about trying to speak up about something that’s obviously inappropriate. In 14 years coaching at Pine Creek, that’s the first experience I’ve had with something that blatant when it comes to that racial verbal abuse type stuff,” Corley said.
Joe Nguyen: jnguyen@denverpost.com or
