During a girls varsity basketball game at Westford Academy (WA), an act of racism occurred from the WA student section that was directed towards a Wayland player. As a result, Wayland Superintendent Dr. Omar Easy decided to withdraw all games against WA for the upcoming spring season.

On Jan. 28, racist comments were made targeting a player on the Wayland team from several WA students in the fan section. The students who taunted the player are also student-athletes from other sports.

“In conversations and investigations with the superintendent there and other folks from Westford and the district attorney, I discovered that the students who were making these racially charged statements to our student, were also student-athletes from other sports which makes it a little difficult,” Easy said. “At this point, I’ve already sent the memo to Westford that I am not comfortable with our student athletes or any of our students playing Westford going forward.”

Although the officials never stopped the game, the WA administration did resolve the problem afterwards.

“The referees did not do anything as I do not believe they heard the insults,” assistant girls varsity basketball coach Michael Brown said. “I briefly spoke with them to make them aware.”

The player on the Wayland team was impacted by the comments, but she had her teammates to support her.

“I am very proud of the way my player handled the situation and how her teammates supported her,” girls varsity basketball coach Amanda Rukstalis said.

Westford students were temporarily suspended from attending games for two days as a consequence for the disrespectful behavior at the game.

“We do know, publically, that the principal did suspend the student fans from games for two days,” Easy said. “I am not sure if they’ve moved beyond that at this point, but I do know that they hired a company to come in and do justice work.”

In response to the situation, Easy sent out an email to let people know that WHS will no longer be playing against WA for the remainder of the school year. The decision was made in order to make sure all WHS students feel safe when playing sports.

“I am not comfortable with our student athletes or any of our students playing Westford going forward,” Easy said. “I strongly believe that none of our kids should suffer from any racial discrimination, against them because of the color of their skin. It doesn’t matter who the student is.”

Although it is uncertain at the moment about what would happen if WHS and WA were to face each other in playoffs, WHS will not be forfeiting.

“Our safety of our students was violated, so if it happens that we get to a playoff game, Wayland Public Schools have no intention of forfeiting a game,” Easy said. “At that point, I believe the MIAA will step in.”

This story was originally published on Wayland Student Press on March 3, 2022.