Players from a Houston, Texas, area high school football team were shown in a video hitting their opponents with belts in the handshake line after a victory last Friday.
After a 77-0 victory over Cleveland High School, several Willis High School football players are seen in a video, some with belts in their hands, slightly hitting their opponents on their backside as they make their way through the line, usually used to promote sportsmanship between players and coaches.
“We are deeply disappointed by the unsportsmanlike conduct displayed by some of our football players following last week’s game against Cleveland. This behavior does not reflect the values of our district, and we are committed to ensuring it does not happen again. We have been in communication with the UIL and have submitted our proposed disciplinary actions for review,” Willis Independent School District said in a statement.
According to ABC13, the stunt has gone viral on TikTok and is called the BTA challenge, which stands for “belt to (expletive),” where players use belts to spank their opponents.
The students involved did not play in the first half of Friday’s victory over College Park and were ordered to perform community service.
Cleveland Independent School said official complaints have been made to the University Interscholastic League and the District Executive Committee, which governs and makes rules for all secondary schools that participate in athletics in the state of Texas.
“The district is aware of a video making the rounds on social media involving the Willis High School varsity football team and their inappropriate actions towards our varsity football team following last Friday night’s game. Please know that this situation has been addressed by CISD earlier this week,” Cleveland Independent School said.
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
