"Estoy libre!"

"Pasala!"

Voices from the soccer pitch carry to the bleachers, where families and friends watch the Western Hills High School soccer team in a game last month against Reading.

Most of the players were born abroad, hailing from Honduras, Guatemala, Cuba, Senegal and Eritrea, to name a few of their birth countries. None of the players is white.

The game against Reading was played cleanly. Angel Paz, one of the players, is celebrating not just West High's big lead but also his 16th birthday. Angel's cousin and former teammate, Abner Rodriguez, unfolds a large poster board with colorful letters, wishing Angel a happy birthday from the stands of the West Price Hill stadium near the school.

The fans at the West High home game urged on the action with civility – a stark contrast from the first game of the year at Three Rivers, when fans for an opposing team used slurs such as "wetback" and "sp--" and told at least one to "go back" to his country, according to people who were there.

No racial vitriol tainted the next game, a few days after the one against Reading, when West High visited West Clermont in Union Township.

But Aug. 21 was different, a player and fan said. It was the first week of school, and the West High team traveled to Three Rivers' Taylor High School in Cleves.

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Angel said his team was behind in the second half, but Taylor didn't seem satisfied with just a lead.

One Taylor player ridiculed Angel's teammate, calling him a "f---ing beaner," Angel said a few weeks after the game.

Angel also recalled how Taylor fans yelled "go back to your country" and told him to learn English.

"I tried to block it out that night," Angel said. "I never thought I'd hear that in a game."

Angel's uncle said he heard the "go back" line, too. Roger Paz observed apparent Taylor students in the stands, lobbing racial slurs at his nephew.

"This is not right," said the 42-year-old Paz. "The parents and teachers need to take care of this."

Lauren Worley, a Cincinnati Public Schools spokeswoman, said school officials learned about the incident in September. A coach's report charged that racial slurs were lobbed at a West player.

"The principals and athletic directors from the two schools have spoken about the incident," Worley added. "CPS values and honors the diversity of our students and families, and we regret that one of our players was subjected to racial and unsportsmanlike conduct."

Alex Kuhns, the West team's coach, wrote in an email to a school official that Paz approached him after the game, saying he'd heard "Taylor ... fans calling our players 'wetback' and 'monkey.' "

Angel also told his coach after the game he'd heard racist language, Kuhns wrote. The email was obtained by The Enquirer through a record request.

Craig Hockenberry, the superintendent of the Three Rivers Local School District, wrote on Sept. 20 that school officials were taking the complaint seriously and actively investigating, according to the email obtained by The Enquirer through a record request.

In a statement, the district added that officials were "not able to find anyone who was able to confirm or (witness) a player or fan using racial slurs."

Mike Moroski, a Cincinnati Board of Education member, said CPS' code of conduct for sporting events is centered on inclusivity.

"I wish those same codes of conduct existed in other places, and if they do exist, that they were enforced," Moroski said. Some schools that play against CPS "don't always take kindly to minority students," he added.

The "go back" phrase uttered during the Taylor game echoed President Donald Trump, who told four minority congresswomen to “go back” to the “places from which they came" earlier this year. Three of the women were born in the U.S. All are citizens.

Phil O'Neal, the West High athletic director, said he can empathize with his soccer players. The 2006 Walnut Hills graduate was a student-athlete himself and remembers one particular student section at a suburban school that called him by the N-word.

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"So unfortunately, Cincinnati ... certain places you go can have some bigotry going on," O'Neal said.

Less than two years ago, students from the Kings Local School District wore jerseys with racist words denigrating blacks on them. They played several games in the recreational Cincinnati Premier Youth League, including against a West Clermont team. A West Clermont parent criticized the jerseys in a social media post, and the Kings team was kicked out of the league.

Use of the N-word has reportedly been common in the past at football practices at Lebanon schools, according to previously obtained records regarding a federal investigation into claims of racial discrimination at the district. And about two years ago, a Mason Schools teacher told a black student he would be lynched if he didn't get back on task. The district later confirmed the incident occurred.

Kuhns is in his third season as the boys' soccer coach at West High. Though he didn't hear the specific slurs others heard during the Taylor game, he could sense the hostility. Chants of "you suck!" rained down on his players throughout the game, despite his protestations to the referee and Taylor coaches.

His team has often faced hostility fueled by prejudice, Kuhns said, particularly when playing suburban or rural opponents.

"I’ve seen enough games (to discern) when it’s athletic chippiness and when it’s intrinsic hatred," said Kuhns, a former Cincinnati school board member.

Kuhns estimates that either subtle or overt racial animosity is directed at his players in about a quarter of away games every year. Sometimes they return to the bus on the verge of crying because of how they've been treated, he added, but the effect can endure long after the journey home.

"Imagine Angel goes into a job interview in a year or two and discovers the person he’s interviewing with is a Taylor High School graduate," Kuhns said. "These types of issues can last for years."