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UAlbany lacrosse coach reports repeated racial abuse of players

Marr vows to go to national coaches association to address verbal abuse directed at minority players, including Native Americans

By Mark Singelais
April 25, 2024

ALBANY — University at Albany men’s lacrosse coach Scott Marr said he’s had enough. ... After one of his Native American players reported hearing a racist comment from an opponent during last Sunday’s match at Merrimack, Marr said he’s going to speak to the Intercollegiate Men’s Lacrosse Coaches Association about a problem that Marr said has persisted for years.

“This is not the first time this has happened,” Marr said following Thursday’s practice. “This is more than this one incident. This is an unfortunate incident, again, that happened on Sunday. I’m really just disappointed in some coaches around the country who are not talking to their players and (are) creating a culture of that kind of stuff to even happen, to be honest with you.”

Marr thanked Merrimack athletic director Jeremy Gibson for dismissing a Merrimack player, a senior, from the team following the incident. Merrimack hasn’t responded to requests for comment. ... Neither the Merrimack nor UAlbany player have been identified. Marr didn’t reveal the nature of the comment that was relayed to him by his player. ... “It’s not so much what they say, it’s how you see their reaction and you feel the pain and you feel them in that moment,” Marr said. “They’re shaking. They really are. It shakes them to their core when these things are said to them. Unless you’re a minority, you don’t feel that.”

UAlbany graduate midfielder Jake Piseno, who plays for the Haudenosaunee Nationals in international competition, said he isn’t the player who heard the comment. The Great Danes have several Indigenous players on their roster. ... “It obviously is heartbreaking and it kind of stinks that was a part of the game,” said Piseno, whose father’s side of the family is Purpecha, indigenous to Mexico. “But I think we’re moving on and it’s made us stronger as a team and as a family. And I think that not just for Indigenous people but for everyone, it’s treating everyone with respect and I think that’s what has brought us together.”

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Mark Singelais
STAFF WRITER
Mark Singelais covers Siena basketball, UAlbany lacrosse, horse racing and other sports. Contact him at 518-454-5509 or msingelais@timesunion.com.}