There were tweets posted Friday night containing an email from Scottsdale’s Saguaro High School principal Ann Achtziger to members of the school’s football team. This was confirmed by the school district and Achtziger. The email was sent from the principal to Saguaro’s Head Football Coach Zak Hill, assistant principal/athletic director Matthew Harris, Head Coach of Sports Performance Jonathan Castillo, and Special Teams Coordinator Nick Offenberger.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The content of the email involved Achtziger being upset about certain players on the football team using language she did not like and playing inappropriate music containing that language on campus.
However, she used the N-word, pronounced with a hard ‘R’ twice while describing the language in the email.
There are members of Saguaro’s football team who are not happy with this situation, which may very well cause a multitude of transfers to occur in the coming weeks/months.
With my time covering high school football and witnessing the talent that Saguaro possesses, the reigning 6A champions are in danger of not repeating.
Saguaro’s transfers begin
Saguaro’s sophomore and first-team All-Region safety Zeth Angel Thues announced that he was transferring from the school as a result of the situation at hand.
I want to thank all my Saguaro coaches for giving me the opportunity from day one , it was an honor to wear that black n Yellow . With the situations being put into play, it is in mine and my family’s best interest to take my talents back west closer to home. #26 out pic.twitter.com/654hpYYp29
— Zeth Angel Thues (@ZethThues26) December 24, 2023
While conducting an interview with Thues about his transfer, he explained that he wanted to stay at Saguaro and finish what he started, but he and his family decided that transferring was their only option after the email was leaked.
Despite his success and the team bringing in a championship earlier this month, Thues felt as if Saguaro was no longer the right place for him.
“The truth will come out,” Thues said.
While not yet officially announced, several more Saguaro players are strongly considering or have made up their minds to transfer ahead of the next school year.
Saguaro has been a football powerhouse for decades. They have brought in 14 state championship wins, just one shy of the most in the state. Several players from the school have gone to play in the NFL, including former Arizona Cardinal players Christian Kirk and Byron Murphy.
Saguaro HS ➡️ Red & White
Christian Kirk, D.J. Foster and Byron Murphy make their high school proud.
READ: https://t.co/av8XoTiV3I pic.twitter.com/HXWFdOLoI7
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) August 6, 2019
Players’ frustrations continue
Saguaro players stated that from their point of view, there have been other occurrences where Principal Achtziger has specifically attacked those of color in the locker room.
“Anytime anything happens, she would always take it out on them and suspend them over other races,” one former Saguaro player said.
In the interest of providing the most accurate information possible, I am working with the district to get the specific number of players who have been suspended/disciplined from each race.
Statement sent out to families
After contacting the Scottsdale Unified School District about the situation, Communications and Marketing Director Kristine Harrington sent over the statement that Achtziger sent out to families of the school’s football team.
In the statement, she admitted to writing and sending out the email, as well as apologizing for it despite having good intentions. She explained that a class on campus had to relocate while conducting presentations due to inappropriate music being played and interrupting the presentations. This is what caused her to send an email out to the football team about their players.
Achtziger stated that she was genuinely saddened and sorry, admitting that she should have used different wording in the email. I did contact her on Wednesday, Dec. 27 for a word on the situation and am waiting to hear back.
This is still an ongoing situation that we will be updating as more information comes out.
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Saleh Awwad is a reporter/writer covering Phoenix High School Sports and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @SalehAwwad_
