Edinburgh cancels remainder of football season, citing low numbers and player safety

Edinburgh has canceled the remainer of its high school football season, citing a low number of players and player safety.

Edinburgh superintendent Jim Halik said the team was down to “12 to 14 healthy players” this week after starting the season with around 20 players.

“After careful consideration, due to a limited number of players, the remainder of the Edinburgh High School football season has been canceled,” Halik said in a message to IndyStar on Wednesday. “This decision was not made lightly. The safety of our student athletes continues to be our highest priority. It’s so hard to at a small school to have enough players for a team … the decision was strictly based on the safety of the players.”

Edinburgh was scheduled to play two more regular season games, including a game at Class A second-ranked North Decatur (6-1) on Friday.

It has been a turbulent season for Edinburgh, which canceled its homecoming game on Sept. 19 after a formal harassment complaint was made to Halik and principal Kevin Rockey by one of the players against two other players.

“We have zero tolerance on any harassment,” Halik said at the time. “It doesn’t matter what kind or what it is.”

The mother of the player who filed the complaint later told IndyStar that her son, a sophomore, was taking classes online after he was sent a video of two teammates saying “kill all n------" and a Snapchat message warning him not to come to practice because some players were planning to “jump” him.

IndyStar is not naming the family or the student who faced harassment due to concerns about their son’s safety and well-being. The students involved in the video were suspended for 10 days and removed from the football team.

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649. IndyStar K-12 education reporter Caroline Beck contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Edinburgh cancels remainder of football season, citing low numbers