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‘Where’s your passport?’
That is the chant that rang out from the student section at the conclusion of a high school basketball game in central California Tuesday night.
According to the Santa Maria Times, fans from Righetti High, which lost the game 74-57, directed the taunt at the team from rival St. Joseph, which includes one player from France and three from Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory.
Here’s the video, courtesy of the Santa Maria Times sports editor:
The woman in green, who seemed to be shedding tears at the end of that clip, was identified as St. Joseph principal Erinn Dougherty by the Santa Maria Times. She was seen yelling at the crowd and confronting Righetti assistant principal Ted Lyon.
Dougherty drew strong support on Twitter TWTR, +2.22%.
“Ugh, her face at the end destroyed me,” wrote one commenter. “Heartbroken for those students and parents on the receiving end of this abuse. Righetti students, coaches and staff in attendance need to be held responsible. Shame on them.”
St. Joseph coach and athletic director Tom Mott played the incident down, when he was asked about it by the Santa Maria Times after the game.
“Kids are going to do whatever they’re going to do and our guys enjoy playing in great atmospheres like this,” he told the Santa Maria Times. “Anything our crowd or their crowd does is just part of the game.”
