When the East Haven Yellow Jackets took the field against Milford's Jonathan Law Lawmen, there were fewer players on the roster for the season opener. Four East Haven football players have been suspended for the season after getting caught at a weekend party where 23 students were arrested for underage drinking.
"There were members of the sports and from what I understand cheerleading up at the high school who were at the party, and apparently the school's taking disciplinary action," East Haven Police Sgt. Gary DePalma said .
Coree Limoncelli said her son was one of the players who was kicked off the team, and she's furious. Limoncelli was arrested for breach of peace and threatening after she started throwing things in a meeting with the school's athletic director.
Her son is innocent and she doesn't understand the punishment handed down by the school, she said.
"I could see a suspension for three or four games, but they just took away these kids' lives. They've been practicing since the second month of the summer maybe, every day, die-hard practicing. They've been playing football since they were 5 years old," Limoncelli said.
East Haven High School has a set of rules for their athletes posted on its Web site, and there are punishments when those rules are broken.
Rule number one: "No athlete may be under the influence or be in possession of, or use alcohol or drugs at any time during the season. Penalty for infraction of this rule is immediate dismissal from the sport for the remainder of the season."
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"I think it's unfortunate, and I understand that parents are unhappy, but we all know that the rules are there, they're written, everybody knew about them, and the boys were irresponsible," said Carmen Parlato, an East Haven parent.
