Ethnic taunts follow Fox Chapel player
Ahmed Abu-Elmagd is a typical American teenager. He likes to golf with friends in the summer, and he's an avid basketball fan whose hero is Michael Jordan.
But when it's Abu-Elmagd's turn to play basketball, he must contend with large groups of high school students harassing him about his ethnicity.
Fox Chapel coach Ben O'Connor said the harassment has "gradually worn down" one of his best players.
Abu-Elmagd, 18, is an Egyptian-American. He's one of the leaders on Fox Chapel's boys basketball team (20-6), which plays Bethel Park at 8 p.m. tonight at Chartiers Valley in the WPIAL Class AAAA boys semifinals.
Abu-Elmagd has been playing with thick skin this season. He began to hear taunts from opposing teams' student sections Dec. 15, when Section 2-AAAA rival McKeesport visited Fox Chapel.
The Foxes won, 51-50, and some Tigers fans taunted the Fox Chapel senior with chants of "Borat."
Abu-Elmagd ignored them, but when Fox Chapel's players watched the game tape, they were able to hear the taunts again.
"It was blatantly obvious," Abu-Elmagd said.
Abu-Elmagd's father was born and raised in Egypt before moving to this country. His mother was born and raised in New England. Abu-Elmagd was born in Atlanta.
During the Class AAAA quarterfinal game Saturday against Central Catholic at North Allegheny High School, students in the Central student section taunted Abu-Elmagd with chants of "USA, USA, USA."
WPIAL executive director Tim O'Malley said taunts against a players' ethnicity violate the sportsmanship policies the WPIAL already has in place.
"The member schools against whom Fox Chapel has competed -- it's their responsibility to make sure it doesn't occur," O'Malley said.
The taunts did not occur at every game. Abu-Elmagd said the games in which he received the most harassment were when Fox Chapel played section rivals Plum, Central Catholic and McKeesport.
Parents of his teammates suggested he do something about the harassment.
"I never wanted to take any action, because I never wanted to take anything away from the team," Abu-Elmagd said.
Abu-Elmagd thinks Fox Chapel's success has played a part in the harassment.
"They want to get in my head," he said.
Abu-Elmagd averages 13 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals per game. He started as a sophomore under coach Harry Jenkins and played alongside his brother, Adam, who was a senior.
Last year, during Ben O'Connor's first season as Fox Chapel's coach, Abu-Elmagd was a role player who moved into into the starting lineup toward the end of the season.
He said he wasn't harassed by opposing teams' student sections in either his sophomore or junior seasons.
Chuck Crummie is Central Catholic's athletic director and boys basketball coach. He said he heard the taunts during the game Saturday, but he didn't think twice about them because he was too busy coaching.
"I honestly think it's more of a funny thing," Crummie said. "(The students) think it's funny. I don't think they're trying to be mean or vindictive."
Abu-Elmagd said he does not think the taunts are a result of racism, and he does not want to single out the students of McKeesport, Plum and Central Catholic.
"I think it's more a misunderstanding of what our country is about," Abu-Elmagd said. "I don't think, deep down inside, if you took each one of them aside, that they would say they truly felt what they were saying was right."
He added, "Our country, as we all know, is based on diversity."
O'Connor said Abu-Elmagd never has reacted to the taunts.
"It's sad that he has become numb to it," O'Connor said.
O'Connor said he first realized the severity of the problem during Fox Chapel's game at Plum on Jan. 5. After the Fox Chapel victory, some students in the Plum section began taunting Abu-Elmagd as the Foxes walked toward their locker room.
Plum athletic director Bob Alpino said he was not aware of a problem.
"I'm not going to say that our students didn't say anything," Alpino said. "I stood by our students, and I wasn't aware of anything."
Alpino said it's "embarrassing" that Abu-Elmagd would receive any harassment.
Crummie and Fox Chapel athletic director Michael O'Brien also condemned the taunts. O'Brien said it would be difficult to stop all taunting.
"How do you control 275 kids?" he said.
Abu-Elmagd thinks that high school athletes of any ethnicity should not have to deal with harassment.
"I have been strong enough to deal with this issue and not let it affect my play," he said. "But I do think it is something that can be controlled at the high school level."
