Allendale-Fairfax Football Coaches Face Hazing Charges
A player for the Allendale-Fairfax High School Football Team has filed hazing charges against his football coaches. Rising senior and transfer student Shakur Chisolm claims he was injured during a hazing ritual orchestrated by the coaching staff.
During a trip with the whole team, Chisolm, along with several other members of the team were brutally beaten. Chisolm allegedly suffered cuts and bruises and needed medical attention. The beating came to an end when a teammate broke the fight up with a stick. More than 50 students plus the coaching staff attended the athletic camp in Orangeburg.
This was reportedly not an isolated incident and has been happening for years. Several of the new team members stated they were beaten by upperclassmen using boxing gloves, belts, and even bare fists.
Chisolm escaped during the ritual and ran to tell one of the coaches about the incident; however, the coach reportedly told him to go back to bed and ignored his pleas for help. Chisolm then hid in another bedroom until he was found and beaten by his teammates as part of the “initiation.”
Chisolm wrote on Facebook regarding the incident, “Some people say it wasn’t that serious but if it wasn’t that serious why it had to be 20 to 30 dudes jumping on me? Why when I was yelling stop they didn’t?”
“Everyone know the difference between playing and serious but when numerous of males fist all balled up repeatedly beating on you and you telling them to stop and they won’t that’s not playing,” he added.
Chisolm also stated that team members were told afterwards not to discuss the hazing ritual.
“This resembles a gang-like initiation,” one of Chisolm’s attorneys said. The family is seeking the resignation of the head coach immediately, and intends to file charges against the whole coaching staff. They added that they did not intend to go after students.
No criminal charges have been filed, although the family wants an independent, third-party investigation due to the hazing injury.
Chisolm, who has been recruited by Clemson University and other college programs, said he plans to withdraw from Allendale-Fairfax and decide where he will attend school and whether or not he will play football during his senior year.
