Referees barricaded in locker room after high school football game

Seven high school football referees say they were barricaded inside a locker room after the Grove City vs. Central Crossing game at Grove City High School on Sept. 10.

The report filed to the police states Grove City’s principal reported on Sept. 13 that the vending machine at the school’s recreation center was moved in front of the girls’ locker room, the locker room assigned to the officials.

After the visiting Central Crossing Comets defeated Grove City 19-14, officials said an assistant coach from Grove City “charged them in a very threatening manner” and “was very combative” according to the report.

The referees said the coach had to be restrained by fellow coaches.

The referees, of the Central Ohio Football Officials Association, then went back to the locker room to do a post-game review.

As the referees went to leave, the discovered the door was barricaded shut by the vending machine. After knocking on the door for 15-20 minutes to no avail, one the officials started to open the door by force and the seven referees were able to squeeze out of the door through a small gap.

One of the referees, Keith Dalton, told WGNTV that both Grove City High School’s principal and head coach have issued an apology and that the assistant coach who berated the referees was suspended for one game.

A spokesperson from the South-Western City School District, the district Grove City and Central Crossing are both in, emailed a statement to 10TV.

“On behalf of Grove City High School and the South-Western City School District, we sincerely apologize for the locker room incident following the September 10 Grove City HS vs. Central Crossing HS football game. We do not condone this behavior and are extremely disappointed in the actions of those who perpetrated this incident and emphasize that they are not representative of the ideals or standards to which we hold our students, parents, staff, and community.

Grove City High School has apologized to the officials, OCC, and OHSAA for this incident. We have taken corrective steps to ensure that this will not happen again and that everyone will have a safe and positive experience at our athletic contests in the future.

We continue to investigate this incident and have engaged the Grove City Police Department in the investigation to determine who was responsible for this behavior. Conduct of this nature has no place in our school community.”