Pee Wee teams to quit over racial insults

Hudson fans wore Afro wigs, blackface, allegedly hurled epithets at foes

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Pee Wee football faces racism
Oct. 26: WKYC-TV's Bill Safos reports on aPee Wee football game with white people wearing blackface and afro wigs as they played a team with black players..

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updated 1:07 p.m. ET Oct. 27, 2006

HUDSON, Ohio - Teams in two Cleveland suburbs are quitting a youth football league because of racially insensitive actions by fans, coaches said.

Shaker Heights and Euclid planned to leave the North Coast Youth Football Conference after the championship game this weekend.

The president of the Hudson Hawks Youth Football Association, John Elffers, has apologized for fans who wore Afro wigs and painted their faces black at a playoff game Sunday. Shaker Heights coach Jeffrey Saffold said Hudson fans also used a racially offensive word during Sunday's game and at two other times.

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Mac Stephens, the commissioner of Euclid's three teams, said they are pulling out of the league, partially because of the Hudson fans. But he said he's also unhappy with the league's board, of which he is a member, and its unresponsiveness to complaints about officiating.

"I had never seen the blackface or Afro wigs," Stephens said. "To be honest, I was a little surprised when I heard about it."

Elffers said in a written statement that the Hudson fans' actions were foolish and insensitive but not intended to insult or offend. He said Hudson's teams have played in the league for 15 years and have not received previous complaints about the costumes, even against other teams with black players.

Paul Samide, a Hudson fan, said they have worn black wigs and face paint for years because of the team's nickname, Black Hawks.

The league has 1,200 players ages 7 to 11 on 50 teams.