H.S. Coach Uses Hand Holding for Punishment

By Michelle Garcia

FOOTBALLX390 (PHOTOS.COM) | ADVOCATE.COM

A high school football coach allegedly made two players hold hands and run together as punishment during a recent practice, and is coming under fire for the action.

Officials from the Aurora Public Schools say they are investigating the claims that Coach Grant Pippert told freshmen Rafael Merced and another student to hold hands and run together after a brief altercation. The two were taunted by their teammates, who called them derogatory names. Merced told KMGH-TV News that he felt the experience was humiliating.

Aurora Public Schools spokeswoman Paula Hans released a statement saying, "We are investigating these allegations to determine if they are true. We are speaking with players, parents, and staff who may have been involved."

The coach's behavior can lead to a warning, suspension, or firing, Hans said.

Merced's mother, Tasha Martinez, said the coach "apologized for making them hold hands and said he used it as a means of team-building."

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Name: Liberto64
Date posted: 10/24/2009 4:21:53 PM
Hometown: Spain

Comment:
A coach has had a bit of brain?
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Name: David
Date posted: 10/21/2009 9:11:02 PM
Hometown: Houston

Comment:
For those of you that don't have a problem with what the coach did, you need to reread the article. This isn't about teaching the two boys to feel empathy for what gay people go through. This was done to humiliate the boys, and to reinforce the idea that two men holding hands is something to be mocked and made fun of in the worst possible way. To misconstrue this as something 'gay positive' is absolutely ludicrous. The teammates were yelling anti-gay verbal taunts at them.
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Name: bluecollarado
Date posted: 10/20/2009 11:09:31 AM
Hometown: Denver

Comment:
The coach did this knowing well that the team would be calling them derogatory names. This would be the equivelant of making them wear black face and the team calling them n*****s. He accomplished nothing but reinforcing gay stereotypes. How do you think this made any gay kids on the team feel?
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Name: Ken
Date posted: 10/20/2009 10:07:49 AM
Hometown: Malden, Mass.

Comment:
To Conor in Ireland: Yes, the Advocate should be covering stories outside of the U.S. that are relevant to the Gay community, but like most American media outlets, the coverage of news seems to stop at the borders. There is a dismal dearth of foreign news in the American media. Thank goodness for the BBC, the CBC and other foreign news on the web.
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Name: Conor
Date posted: 10/20/2009 9:46:57 AM
Hometown: Cobh, Ireland

Comment:
I would have expected that the Advocate would already have covered the story of Ireland's first openly gay athlete, and the popular support he is receiving in the country for coming out (read the story at irishcentral.com). But I guess a story about some obscure South Carolina politician saying something "offensive" about Jews is much more important to Advocate readers.
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Name: Bob Smullen
Date posted: 10/20/2009 9:09:03 AM
Hometown: Hackensack, NJ

Comment:
Conor, I doubt most Americans would have a clue as to what hurling is. For such a large country, we Americans are quite provincial. But I hope the Advocate does cover this story. As for the American football coach, I would love it if all the ball players decided to hold hands and do their laps. My oh my, then what would Coach do?
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Name: W.F.
Date posted: 10/20/2009 8:46:22 AM
Hometown: New York

Comment:
In a weird way, I like this. I doubt the coach had anything other than using homophobia to humiliate two of his players, and that's nothing new. I'm guessing, though, that those players got a good taste of how even the simplest expression of affection between two men can bring derision and shame to them. It's a great, great lesson for them on how hard it is to be out.
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Name: Mike
Date posted: 10/20/2009 8:30:19 AM
Hometown: Chicago

Comment:
Don't see anything wrong here except for the Coach not reprimanding the students who were taunting the two holding hands. Where's the punishment for that?
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Name: SteveMD2
Date posted: 10/20/2009 12:11:30 AM
Hometown: Baltimore

Comment:
In the society we live in, the coach was indirectly using the "punishment" to make them seem like fags to the machos around them. The only thing he should be coaching is teaching dogs in the pound to not dump in their food.
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Name: Conor
Date posted: 10/19/2009 10:27:07 PM
Hometown: Cobh, Ireland

Comment:
Huge story in Ireland today about one of that countries All-Star hurlers, Donal Og Cusack, 32, coming out as gay in his autobiography. How come the Advocate hasn't covered this?

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