This browser does not support the Video element.
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Durham Public Schools is investigating after two Page High School students said they were taunted about their fathers' deaths during a playoff soccer match at Jordan High School.
Senior goalkeeper Eric Winkler lost his father to cancer, something he said the opposing team's fans learned on social media. According to several players, students from Jordan followed them on Instagram before Thursday night's match.
Winkler said students asked him where his father was several times from the sidelines. The comments continued after the match ended.
“Even if it is the national championship, state championship, conference championship, any game, there’s no need to bring it up,” he told WGHP.
Winkler said he told a referee to listen to the comments being made off the field, but wasn't sure that the official heard them.
“I just want to bring awareness to this so it doesn’t happen to anyone else in the nation,” the high schooler said.
His teammate, Mason Powell, said the students also taunted him about his father, who took his own life several years ago.
“There’s allegations against him for embezzlement and money laundering and it was a very public affair,” Powell said.
He said he heard students chanting, "Where's the money?" and singing the song "Take the Money and Run."
“The louder they get, the worse it gets. It starts to affect the way you play, the way you feel, the way you act,” he said.
A spokesperson with Durham Public Schools said Jordan's principal was interviewing spectators at Thursday's match. The school issued a statement saying they were looking into the allegations of hurtful, personal statements made by spectators.
The North Carolina High School Athletic Association also issued a statement:
Powell said that he can brush the taunts off, but he worries about the impact similar harassment might have on other students.
“I know that if somebody isn’t as thick-skinned as I am, or as used to it as I am, they could take it to heart and hurt themselves or others and there would be a tragedy on our hands,” he said.