Orlando Coach Resigns Following Soccer Hazing Incident

ORLANDO, Fla.- A high school soccer coach has resigned under pressure after a 15-year-old player was dropped on her head in a hazing incident. Cori Valleau, 29, said Saturday she quit as girls' soccer coach and a dean's office assistant at Bishop Moore High School after being told she would be fired otherwise. She blamed her departure on the hazing incident during a road trip to Miami on Jan. 7. Carol Brinati, a spokeswoman for the Diocese of Orlando, which runs the school, said the resignation was accepted Friday but she declined to elaborate. Three teammates were suspended from playing in the state playoffs after a Bishop Moore investigation concluded students had acted improperly. A freshman goalkeeper said she was held upside down after she refused to sing songs and perform push-ups as veteran players demanded. The 15-year-old said teammates dropped her as they tried to dunk her head in a toilet bowl. The girl's mother said her daughter suffered slurred speech, blurred vision and difficulty sleeping. The mother complained she was not notified by the school and only heard about the incident after her daughter complained of headaches. The diocese has apologized to the girl's family.

(AP article here)