Announcer loses job after talk about Native American player

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A public address announcer has lost his job over a remark about a Native American player during a lacrosse game that he and the Philadelphia team called “insensitive.”

The Philadelphia Wings said announcer Shawny Hill had been “permanently removed” from his role with the team and suspended from assignments at the Wells Fargo Center.

Georgia Swarm forward Lyle Thompson, of the Onondaga Reservation in central New York, said Hill said “Let’s snip the pony tail” during Saturday night’s game and fans then began to shout calls to “scalp” him. Hill said his words weren’t “racially motivated” but reflected a lack of knowledge of heritage and history.

The team vowed diversity training for all employees to include a focus on “the Native North American roots and traditions of the sport.”