Cape & Islands News

Teammates filled player's water bottle with toilet water

Teammates fill water bottle with toilet water

Player required to get hepatitis shot

Sports officials at Wixon Middle School in Dennis plan to conduct sportsmanship workshops following an incident in which one or more members of the girls soccer team filled a fellow teammate's water bottle with toilet water.

A Hyannis radio station, WXTK-FM, reported that the student had to receive a hepatitis shot in the wake of the incident.

In an Oct. 2 letter to parents of members of the girls soccer team, athletic coordinator Stu Fyfe wrote, "As you may or may not be aware; there was a recent event involving some of the players that compromised our team's ability to work as a team."

Fyfe's letter didn't provide details of the incident.

On Friday morning, Carol Woodbury, superintendent of the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School District, said she only knew of one student who perpetrated the incident.

"There was only one student who filled the water bottle," Woodbury said.

The superintendent declined to discuss what if any disciplinary action was taken, citing student privacy. She said no action was taken against Fyfe or the team's coaches in the wake of the incident.

Woodbury said the school district didn't get in touch with the police about the incident.

"This was handled like any other incident," she said. "There's a protocol we follow. Once we find out what the facts are, disciplinary actions can be taken against individuals, and that sometimes involves the police. I don't believe this particular incident needed it."

In the Oct. 2 letter, Fyfe wrote: "The coaches and I, together with school administration, have worked with the individuals involved and their parents to address the incident.

"We believe now it is our responsibility to work with all the players to develop skills to be able to move on from this unfortunate event and finish out the season successfully," he wrote.

For the remainder of the soccer season, Fyfe wrote, he and the coaches will conduct classroom workshops on sportsmanship, team building and leadership

"You may also notice an increase in my presence at practices and games, as well," Fyfe wrote. "I am there to support the coaches, the team, and help reinforce the team building concepts covered in the classes.... Thank you for your continued support of the team."

"Sometimes students do things that are unacceptable," Woodbury said Friday. "This is an ongoing thing with children. You're always teaching them how to treat other people."