As some young women tell it, the annual "kidnapping" of Hebron High School girls soccer players is a beloved tradition in which varsity athletes whisk away younger teammates in the middle of the night for a bonding session over eggs and pancakes.

But that's not all that happened this school year, according to documents released this week by Lewisville ISD officials.

On Dec. 8, the girls were collected from their homes and had their mouths duct-taped, their eyes covered with panties and their hands bound behind their backs with zip ties or tape, according to the district.

Eric Ramirez

The girls were driven to a park by their teammates, who strapped them together with plastic wrap and sprayed them with silly string and water during the first cold snap of the winter, the district said.

Longtime Hebron coach Eric Ramirez knew about the "kidnapping," helped the girls planning it and kept quiet about hazing activities, according to the findings of a Lewisville ISD investigation.

But Ramirez disputes knowing about the hazing ritual, and the district doesn't say exactly what he knew about the fake kidnapping.

"He did not attempt to stop the students from engaging in this behavior and did not affirmatively report this information to an administrator," Lewisville ISD East Zone leader Leigh Ann Lewis wrote in a Feb. 7 memo released through an open-records request. "There is also evidence indicating that Mr. Ramirez knew the students were engaging in inappropriate activities other than simply eating breakfast together, including activities that potentially endangered students."

Ramirez referred questions to his attorney, who hasn't responded to a request for comment.

The 45-year-old was relieved of his coaching duties at Hebron in Carrollton and placed on paid administrative leave. In January, he was reassigned to a teaching post at the Marcus High School ninth-grade center.

Lewis' memo doesn't specify what inappropriate activities Ramirez is believed to have known about. Students told school officials that the coach "was aware of the kidnapping this year, but did not know specific details," according to the document.

Lewisville ISD spokeswoman Amanda Brim declined to elaborate.

During a school interrogation a week after the incident, Ramirez said he didn't learn about the "kidnapping" until after it had happened, records show.

But students told Hebron officials that their coach knew of general plans every year to "kidnap" players and that parents had approved of those plans. An administrator wrote that the activity had reportedly been going on for nine years.

A student let Ramirez know what day the "kidnapping" would take place, and she asked the coach to pull parents aside during a December team meeting before the event, district records show. The coach also lent the girls a megaphone and a portable sound equipment.

"After the kidnapping, Mr. Ramirez asked how it went, who was in what car and what time did it happen," Lewis' memo reads. "According to a particular student, the event was much rougher in a previous year."

Ramirez told Hebron principal Scot Finch that it was the first time he had heard about girls being tied up. He also told the principal he didn't ask the girls why they wanted the sound equipment.

Lewisville ISD put Ramirez on paid leave on Dec. 14. The following day, Finch received an email from a soccer parent. The parent told the principal that Ramirez had called his wife to ask what the family had said at their meeting with the school. The coach told the woman that he was in trouble because of that meeting, according to the email.

"This is exactly the kind of pressure that we were describing to you in our meeting — that these kids were pressured to do this activity," the parent wrote. "That they felt that they would not be a part of the team if they did not participate and that they would not get play time if they did not do this."

It's unclear what punishment the district handed down to students who participated in the event. Several parents who were contacted by The Dallas Morning News declined to comment.

Several alumni of the Hebron girls soccer program jumped to defend Ramirez. They described him as a kind man who had inspired them as student athletes and who had officiated weddings of former players. More than 1,500 people signed an online petition to reinstate him at Hebron.

Reid Sibley, who graduated from Hebron in 2014, said the coach knew about the annual "kidnapping" but didn't address it with the team because the seniors planned it. She described how her teammates picked her up at home, blindfolded her and took her to a senior girl's home for breakfast.

"It was always very innocent," she said. "Just like a bonding thing."

Eric Ramirez gets a Gatorade shower from seniors Joel Carlos (left) and Tyler Zych after a Hebron High win in April 2014. ((Ben Torres / Special Contributor))

Lauren Frank, a 2016 Hebron graduate, said the girls got parents' permission and that no one was forced to participate. She said Finch, the principal, knew the "kidnapping" was going on because girls who participated wore special T-shirts to school to commemorate the event every year.

Frank said the principal had seen her and her teammates at the cafeteria, wearing their shirts and "being kind of loud," and told them not to be a distraction.

Finch didn't return an email and a phone message seeking comment.

Families are divided about the coach. A Dec. 19 email sent to the Hebron principal by a person who appeared to be in a leadership role indicated that many parents had expressed concerns. The sender of the email, whose name was redacted in records released to The News, was advising parents to reach out to the principal directly.

"I do feel compelled to let you know that among parents I have spoken to or received messages from, there is a consistent negative theme surrounding Coach Ramirez," the email said.

Ramirez complained to the district about his reassignment and alleged that Lewisville ISD was discriminating against him because of his ethnicity, records show. He claimed that events similar to the "kidnapping" were happening in other sports but that white coaches weren't disciplined to the same degree, if at all.

The district's investigation couldn't substantiate Ramirez's discrimination claim, records show, but it documented incidents in other sports teams: