Last night the anthem was played 5 minutes early before the players were on the field at our home game. We are are a predominantly white community but do have a few black and hispanic students and players.
There was a lot of confusion as to what was going on so being friends with most of the administrators and AD's I went and asked, the explanation is that the district had received warnings of protests by certain schools and were not sure what would happen with the team we were playing. Our students trend to the conservative side and on USA night many were wearing Trump shirts as well as even old Reagan and Bush gear. The team runs onto the field holding a flag before every game. The fear was the other team kneeling and causing fights on the field as well as ugliness in the stands. As a parent I appreciate the concern for the kids safety even if as an American I am upset. As soon as the kids heard the Anthem playing they came out of the locker room and stood at attention. Unfortunately we got our ***** stomped 51-7 as they outweighed us on the line by an average of over 65 pounds. They had 5 300 plus players. And 6 over 250.
This was the explanation from our School Superintendent.
An explanation and apology. It is wonderful to live in a community that defends our country, our flag, our veterans, and our service men and women currently defending our country. Lebanon students, staff, and community shows it love for our country through many activities, lessons, and celebrations throughout the school year. Last night, in an effort to avoid any situations that might place people, including our kids and Northmont kids, our fans and Northmont fans, our athletes and Northmont athletes, and both coaching staffs in any danger or the subject of ridicule, we made the decision to play our National Anthem 3-5 minutes earlier than usual. The intent was to try and remove student athletes from both teams from the opportunity of protesting using the National Anthem as the source. We had received information that protests were being planned by some some high school athletes (across the state and nation) and we did not want our student athletes or the visiting student athletes to conduct themselves, in that manner, at our home stadium.
Our concerns were threefold:
1. We know this issue is currently volatile. We were concerned about the fan reaction towards any of our players or Northmont players who would use the National Anthem as a course of protest.
2. We were concerned about a protest creating a hostile environment among adults and distracting from the game or leading to physical/verbal altercations.
3. We were concerned for any post-game altercations for our student athletes and Northmont student athletes.
Again, we were simply trying to remove our student athletes from the potential of something happening. There was certainly no disrespect intended. We were not trying to make a political statement. We thought, at the time, we were taking steps to keep people safe.
I will take full credit for the decision. Please do not blame our coaches, our student athletes, or other members of our administration. Our school board members were unaware of the decision, but I have since communicated with them. Looking back, we should have consulted more people on the decision. The entire focus of our decision was safety. We know how quickly these types of actions can get out of control and we were simply trying to avoid it. We now understand the gravity of that decision and will use it as a lesson for the future. Be assured that our Warrior Pride and Pride of Country remains as strong as ever. We're human. We made a mistake in what we felt was the best interest of all. On behalf of the Lebanon City School District and our Board of Education, I apologize to everyone who was offended by that decision. We ask for your forgiveness.
Todd Yohey
Superintendent of Schools
Lebanon City School District
