Football: Royal freshman team forfeits game amid bullying allegations

The Simi Valley Royal freshman football team forfeited a scheduled game against Newbury Park on Wednesday after an alleged bullying incident resulted in multiple Royal players being suspended for the game, Principal Keith Derrick said Thursday.

A spokesman for the Simi Valley Police Department confirmed that a police officer took a battery report from a Royal parent on Wednesday.

Derrick said school administrators learned of an alleged incident Tuesday night and began an investigation Wednesday morning. He said because “many freshman football players” were directly or indirectly involved in the incident, they were held out of the game.

“We take that stuff seriously,” he said.

He said he expects the team to resume its schedule next week when it has enough players to participate.

Twitter: @LATSondheimer