![\"Wilson](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/LPT-L-HSWP-POLY-WILSON-1014-7.jpg\")
Wilson head coach coach Zac Polmanteer leads his team to a 11-6 win in a Moore League boys water polo game against Long Beach Poly on Tuesday October 13, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)<\/p>\nLONG BEACH \u2014 The Wilson High School boys water polo team is being investigated for a hazing incident during an out-of-town tournament last weekend, according to the Long Beach Unified School District.<\/p>\n
An email sent to parents in the Wilson water polo program by head coach Zac Polmanteer said some athletes were hurt after being physically struck by their teammates. It was described as humiliating and physically harmful acts that were shocking and unacceptable.<\/p>\n
Wilson (16-9, 4-0) has had two matches since the allegations came to light.<\/p>\n
The Bruins defeated Long Beach Poly 11-6 in a Moore League game Tuesday, using several players from the junior varsity team that were moved up to varsity for the game.<\/p>\n
Wilson forfeited a nonleague game against Loyola on Wednesday. It was recorded as a 5-0 loss, per CIF Southern Section rules.<\/p>\n
\u201cLong Beach Unified is investigating a hazing incident involving members of Wilson High School\u2019s Boys\u2019 Water Polo Team during an out-of-town tournament last weekend,\u201d Long Beach Unified School District spokesperson Elvia Cano wrote in an email. \u201cHazing is not allowed and has no place in our schools or athletic programs. Wilson High School continues to reinforce expectations for student safety and respectful conduct. Because this is an ongoing investigation and the details involve confidential student and employee information, the District is limited in what it can share about the individuals involved and any specific actions taken at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Polmanteer did not respond to the Press-Telegram\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n
Wilson head coach coach Zac Polmanteer leads his team to a 11-6 win in a Moore League boys water polo game against Long Beach Poly on Tuesday October 13, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)<\/p>\n
On Monday, Polmanteer sent a lengthy email to parents, titled \u201cStatement on Hazing,\u201d that shared a detailed timeline of events.<\/p>\n
Polmanteer\u2019s email said the hazing incident took place Friday, Oct. 9, at approximately 10:30 p.m., after the team\u2019s curfew, in a hotel room in San Jose. The varsity team was in San Jose to participate in the Memorial Cup tournament.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring this gathering, multiple student-athletes were subjected to humiliating and physically harmful acts,\u201d Polmanteer wrote. \u201cSome athletes sustained injuries from being physically struck by their teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOut of respect for the students and families involved, I will not disclose further details,\u201d Polmanteer continued. \u201cThis level of behavior is shocking, unacceptable, and completely contrary to everything we stand for as a program.\u201d<\/p>\n
Polmanteer told parents the hazing incident would be met with disciplinary action, which would include suspensions from school and water polo.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, as we process and dissect the individual accounts of these events,\u201d Polmanteer wrote, \u201cthe school administration and coaching staff have devised consequences and an action plan moving forward to ensure that these events never occur again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Polmanteer wrote that restorative justice practices will take place with affected families.<\/p>\n
\u201cI take this matter extremely seriously,\u201d Polmanteer explained in the email. \u201cThe responsibility entrusted to me as Head Coach of this program extends far beyond the pool. I care deeply about the young men in this program, their development, and their safety. No athletic accomplishment, competitive result, or tradition will ever take precedence over their well-being. We will confront what happened, hold ourselves to a higher standard, and work to ensure that our program is better because of how we respond. I will continue working closely with school administration to ensure that appropriate actions are taken and that the students and families affected are supported throughout this process.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wilson\u2019s next scheduled game is Tuesday, Oct. 20, at home against Lakewood in a Moore League finale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LONG BEACH \u2014 The Wilson High School boys water polo team is being investigated for a hazing incident…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":497340,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[7,5479,7636,2044,192598,131,133,132,137,127,136],"class_list":["post-497339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-california","tag-high-school-all-sports","tag-high-school-news","tag-high-school-sports","tag-high-school-water-polo","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-sports","tag-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=497339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497339\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/497340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}