Coaches punished over MN dance team tournament behavior
Five Minnesota high school dance coaches were suspended for a year on Monday for the behavior of their teams during February's state dance tournament awards ceremony.
Head coaches from Chaska, Eastview, Eden Prairie, Lakeville South and Wayzata received a one-year suspension and will be required to complete "Why We Play" training before being reinstated, the Minnesota State High School League board ruled.
Athletic directors from those schools were also formally censured by the board.
The moves came in response to what happened during the Class 3A state tournament awards ceremony in February, when teams from those schools failed to take part in the ceremony because they thought the winner — Faribault — had copied its dance routine from an out-of-state team.
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League officials, responding to a grievance that was filed, had ruled prior to the tournament's start that Faribault's routine was not ripped off.
The five teams, however, protested by refusing to line up as called for during the ceremony. The teams were disqualified.
Coaches at the five schools have since faced local discipline. Coaches in Eden Prairie resigned.
High school league officials on Monday called the protests a "significant breach of sportsmanship."
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