LISBON, Maine — Many parents of students on the Lisbon High School football team consider the field is where their children thrive. Yet, what happens behind closed doors may tell a very different story.
Recent allegations show that first year and freshman players were frequently subjected to assaults, such as being hit with leather belts, thrown into trash cans and locked inside of a cage.
Those incidents became normalized in what lawyers at the Drummond Woodsum law firm called "a culture of hazing." Earlier this month, school administrators hired the firm to conduct an independent investigation into the football team.
Before that investigation was over, Superintendent Richard Green chose to suspend the team's activities. Not only did that end the season early, but it automatically activated a two-year ban with the Maine Principal's Association.
It was a decision that parents and children in the school's community are devastated about. "These kids don't even understand why they're in trouble," a mother of two football players said.
Like many of the parents NEWS CENTER Maine spoke to, she chose to remain anonymous to protect her children.
She said this all started because of an incident that happened off school grounds, but because football players were involved, they've now become scapegoats.
When her son was interviewed by law firm investigators, she said questions were focused on locker room activities. However, she said many of her son's answers were taken out of context. For example, when he spoke about the area lawyers referred to as "the cage."
"My son said, 'Yes, I've been behind that door once.' The lawyer acted shocked and said 'Oh my god, how did you get out?' I feel like he made my son a victim."
She said her son told her "the cage" was not a real cage, it was moreso a small room in the locker room that locked. Like many of the activities mentioned in the report, her son considered the use of it light-hearted and consensual.
The report called that exact attitude one of the biggest problems.
Lawyers said adopting the belief that these harmful incidents can be considered "horseplay" is dangerous and leads victims to stay silent.
Another anonymous parent NEWS CENTER Maine spoke with said it is definitely concerning that bad things may be happening within the team, but he believes without it the kids will only get into more trouble.
He said football is not just an outlet in his household, but the way he keeps his kids in line.
Those thoughts are echoed by other parents, who believe more oversight should have been the immediate solution and suspending the team should have been the last resort.
"Do you think it's better to cancel sports and have these kids hibernate in their rooms, versus getting out there and being on the field and being active? What do you think is better for their mental health?"
Superintendent Richard Green said he stands by his choices. When the allegations were first made, Green said he didn't consider any other options than to suspend the team because his No. 1 priority was to protect students from harm.
"We didn't really know the scope of what we were dealing with, so no, it really wasn’t a consideration," Green said.
That being said, Green doesn't want the suspension to last longer than this season. He said he does not believe they deserve a two-year ban and the district plans to appeal it with the Maine Principal's Association.