UPDATE September 27, 2023: Brooklyn head football coach Tim McFarland resigned on Sept. 25 after his team used antisemitic and racist words during a game against Beachwood three days earlier; more here.

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On Friday night, Beachwood hosted Brooklyn in a Chagrin Valley Conference high school football clash. However, words that were spoken on the playing field overshadowed the performances of the players.

In a letter to the Beachwood Schools community on Saturday, Superintendent Dr. Robert Hardis announced that a number of antisemitic incidents took place on the field.

Hardis stated that he learned late in the first half of the game that Brooklyn’s team was repeatedly using the word “Nazi” to call out a play. Game officials were notified, as were Brooklyn's athletic director and head coach.

The Jewish advocacy group StopAntisemitism called for the Brooklyn School District Superintendent to hold his coaching staff accountable.

According to Hardis, during halftime, "Brooklyn’s coach acknowledged using this word as the play call, apologized, and agreed to change it when the teams returned for the second half." Beachwood school leaders told the game officials that should the use of "Nazi" continue, they would pull their players off the field.

But while Hardis says that to his knowledge, "Nazi" was not used during the second half, members of Beachwood's team said that several Brooklyn players were using "a racial slur freely throughout the night."

Superintendent Dr. Ted Caleris released the following statement:

"On behalf of everyone in the Brooklyn City Schools family, we offer our sincerest apologies to the members of the Beachwood football family and school community for the hurtful, insensitive, and entirely inappropriate choice of language used during the first half of this past Friday night’s football game. Our football coaching staff expressed their regret to the Beachwood football family immediately during the contest, and took corrective measures in the second half, in finishing the contest. While to the knowledge of the Brooklyn City Schools, this language was not directed to any single individual, the choice in using it at all, was utterly and absolutely wrong. Brooklyn City Schools officials are looking more closely into this matter in order to determine what steps, if any, will be emerge as a result of this incident. The isolated incident does not represent the Brooklyn schools family on the whole, in our efforts to uphold tradition and pride of our diverse school community."