HERRIMAN — Three Herriman High School football players have been suspended from the team for the rest of the season for a violation of team rules, school officials said.
The suspensions for the three juniors began with Friday's homecoming game.
"There is a statement that talks about what is expected of an athlete at Herriman High School, and we had some young men violate that, team rules, and they were dismissed from our football team,” Principal James Birch said.
The principal declined to provide details about the alleged violations of team rules, but he said they were serious.
"We are trying to teach them self-discipline,” Birch said. “We are trying to teach them to work as a team, to set goals and to be a better, productive person in society.”
Birch said he knows what losing players for disciplinary reasons midway through a season can mean for the team and the players. He was a coach for more than 20 years.
"That is one of the pleasures of being a coach, getting that letter from the kid 10 years later saying, ‘Thank you for this. This lesson that you taught us has worked well for me in my life,’” he said.
Birch said the school has a duty to stand up to wrongdoing.
"What other institution affects society as much as the schools do? We directly affect the quality of life in our community. What we prepare here goes out in our community,” he said.
Because the players are juniors, they will be able to try out for the football team next year.
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