St. John Vianney Soccer Mom Clears Up Tweet Controversy

HOLMDEL, NJ — The mother of a player on the varsity girls' soccer team at Saint John Vianney cleared up some confusion and anger about a controversial tweet the team sent out Wednesday.

"Everyone come support the team home @ 10:00 for our first scrimmage vs. Neptune! #bringyourshanks #give5," the student-run @SJVgirlssoccer tweeted Wednesday.

Some Neptune parents interpreted shanks to be a violent reference to a homemade prison weapon.

But in reality nothing could be farther from the truth, said Tina Ruane, the mother of an SJV soccer player. For two years now, the SJV girls have been saying "Bring your shanks" to games as in bring your shins, ready to kick, said Tina Ruane, whose daughter is on the team.

"The girls don't use an Urban Dictionary or prison slang. A shank is a shin bone and for two seasons the SJV Lady Lancers have been bringing their shanks to games," said Ruane. "To win. It's a slogan. For the team. Bring your game. Be ready to play. Be ready to win. Nothing more. Unfortunately, it was misinterpreted by a parent and now our girls/team have been labeled."

"I am appalled at the assumption that our girls are violent or any way threatening to the Neptune team," she added. "I take offense to what the Neptune mother has accused the team of. (She) made something out of nothing. Publicly slandered a team of young ladies that just don't think that way."

Several other parents defended St. John Vianney, a private Catholic school with a girls' soccer team that is one of the best on the Jersey Shore.

"SJV is a Catholic school with amazing values and is filled with wonderful students and staff. There is a zero tolerance for unbecoming behavior. I can assure you, and the mother who was so insulted by the hashtag, that it was taken out of context," said SJV mom Dominique Wedwaldt.

Patch wrote about the story because there was significant backlash on Facebook and Twitter Thursday and one Neptune mom, Erika Kerwin, spoke to Patch directly, saying she was very upset about the tweet. The tweet has since been taken down after the backlash. When asked by Patch Thursday evening, Richard Lamberson, Saint John Vianney's Athletic Director, said he did not know what "shank" meant and would be looking into the incident and talking to the Neptune athletic director.