Pewaukee high schooler says fans heckled him for being Italian during soccer playoff game

 

WHITEFISH BAY, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A student verbally attacked during a high school soccer playoff game for being Italian has landed some of the opposing team, fans and adults in Whitefish Bay in hot water. 

The Whitefish Bay school superintendent told us he views student competition arenas as an extension of their classrooms, so when the accusation of slurs came into his office, he took it very seriously. 

Saturday, tension was high on the soccer field. Pewaukee's "Striker," Gaetano Asciutto, a senior, pumped his team up ahead of the match. 

The regional final soccer game pitted Pewaukee against Whitefish Bay Asciutto, who's been playing soccer since he was three, was ready. 

"I've always been a fast player on the field," said Asciutto.

Asciutto's had years of practice, but nothing could've prepared him for what he heard from the fans' student section. 

"The first 10 minutes of the game I heard some Italian slang, disrespectful words from the bench," said Asciutto. 

Fans shouted at the Italian-American player to show his green card. You see him here talking to the ref, who moved the hecklers away from the sidelines, but the heckling got worse. 

"I understand they were like chirping me, like saying like, 'oh, nice touch.' That's kind of like normal stuff from the student section, but when they brought in the racial aspect, that was really, really offensive," said Asciutto. 

And it wasn't just fans. An investigation by Whitefish Bay determined some of their own student athletes took part. 

"I've been playing for 14 years, almost 15 now, I'm almost 18, but I've never heard anything like racial like that," said Asciutto. 

Whitefish Bay's superintendent says, "appropriate discipline was provided for those who violated school district policies."

"They were definitely trying to get in my head. I mean they weren't in my head with like just saying comments on like my touches or like I missed a pass. I've dealt with that for years, but they did get in my head when they got the like racial aspect involved. Especially from the player's side, that really ticked me off," said Asciutto. 

The Asciutto family's appreciative of both school districts for investigating the matter promptly and taking action. Mostly, they say they just don't want to see this ever happen again.