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New Mexico coach suspended week without pay after hazing incident

University of New Mexico (UNM) vice president of athletics Paul Krebs (L) and women's head soccer coach Kit Vela speak to reporters during a news conference in Albuquerque. (August 20, 2014.     REUTERS/Joe Kolb)

University of New Mexico (UNM) vice president of athletics Paul Krebs (L) and women’s head soccer coach Kit Vela speak to reporters during a news conference in Albuquerque. (August 20, 2014. REUTERS/Joe Kolb)

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico women’s soccer coach Kit Vela has been suspended for a week without pay and most of the team is suspended for one game over a hazing incident.

Athletic director Paul Krebs tells the Albuquerque Journal he expects Vela’s suspension to begin immediately, but university policy dictates she has 10 days to appeal.

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Krebs says assistant coaches Jorge Vela and Krista Foo will receive letters of reprimand.

School officials say last Sunday’s hazing involved seven true freshmen and two were taken to the hospital for excessive alcohol consumption.

[MORE: New Mexico AD acknowledges hazing  |  Grainey]

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Twin sisters Danielle and Devin Scelsi quit the team Monday, withdrew from school and returned to their home in Orange County, California.

On Tuesday, Krebs announced the team’s season opener Friday at Texas Tech was canceled.

Players will be suspended one game on a rolling basis, so that the team can still field a team.

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“We’re trying to make closure to the discipline,” Krebs told the Albuquerque Journal. “Obviously, you don’t make a statement and everything heals. … All the players have already missed a game, but we’re going to require all the players, except the true freshman, to sit out another game.

“We’ll do it much like professional soccer, where they sit five, six or seven at a time. But they have to do it in the next two weeks. It will have to be staggered so we can field a team.”

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