VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A new chapter, that's what the new Kempsville High School varsity baseball coach is describing his new role after the team forfeited its season back in May due to ongoing racism and hate speech toward players on the team.
"Everybody who walks through the doors knows that they are welcome and that they are not going to experience what was experienced earlier by some of our players on the baseball team," Principal Melissa George, said to a crowd of players and parents Wednesday night.
Watch: VBCPS Superintendent calls racism allegations at Kempsville High 'disappointing'
George who is the principal of KHS, was open about what happened toward the end of last school year involving players on the team.
She told families the school is ready to change what the culture of the baseball program has been in years past and so is the team's new coach.
"As we start to write this next chapter for the Kempsville baseball program I want to stress that wins will not be our main priority," Luke Stice, the new head coach, said. "Our main priority will be maintaining the love and respect of the game, teammates, coaches, opponents, and the community."
Watch: Kempsville High baseball team forfeits remainder of season
Stice who partly grew up in the Kempsville area will be taking over the reins when it comes to the ball field.
He's served two years as the Chief's JV Coach and said when the incident from last school year was brought to his attention it was brand new to him.
"We had a very diverse JV team so just throughout the whole process I let them know that I was here for them, preparing them for what was going to happen in the community and at school," Stice said.
George said during the interview process, Stice was the only candidate who stood and said he wanted the job and wanted to help heal the team.
The varsity team forfeited its season in May due to hate speech and racism that had been going on for years toward players.
In previous coverage, News 3 was told two assistant coaches were no longer with the team.
Wednesday morning VBCPS told News 3 the former head coach is no longer with the school division but could not explain why due to personnel matters.
Watch: Racism, hate speech, harassment evident on Kempsville baseball team
Some of the players at Wednesday's announcement said after they met their new coach that they felt this was a step in the right direction.
"I definitely feel like we should be moving forward, keep the past in the past," Terrance Davis, a rising senior, said. "The new coach hopefully he'll not necessarily fix the team but push us in a way where we're all connected and play as a team."
Watch: Parents touch on Kempsville racism issues at VB School Board meeting
Davis said Stice was his coach when he was on the JV team and felt he was caring for players on and off the field.
Principal George did say at the end of last school year, the administration met with all the coaches to go over updates to the school's no-tolerance policy.
She also said an assistant principal will watch over athletics to provide consistency when it comes to discipline.
