CLAIRE C. LAURENCE/Arizona Daily Wildcat Junior goalie Melissa Brown, left, helps another goalie during women's lacrosse practice on Wednesday at Bear Down Field. This was the first practice the Laxcats have been able to hold on campus since they were put on probation for hazing.

Club sports teams and campus groups are hammering home the ramifications of hazing after the women's lacrosse team was put on probation for forcing team members to perform a blow job on a banana.

Mary O'Mahoney, assistant director of club sports and family services, knows that hazing is ingrained in sports culture, and how to stop it is a question that people nationwide are trying to answer.

"A lot of people don't know what the definition of hazing is, and we want to tell them about more positive alternatives," she said.

The Dean of Students Office investigated the women's lacrosse team after a team member reported last month that she was told to demonstrate a blow job on a banana, drink underage and eat pudding on the ground from its container.

While awaiting probation, the team was suspended from all school-affiliated activities, including the use of practice fields.

O'Mahoney said she plans to describe hazing more extensively in the sports club handbooks the teams receive at the beginning of the year, and that the individual club teams plan to discuss the policy at their club meetings.

Investigating and disciplining hazing, as well as monitoring the 45 sports clubs on campus, is necessary to make sure incidents are averted, O'Mahoney said.

"I have an open-door policy and I keep in pretty close contact with the more active clubs like lacrosse, volleyball, hockey and soccer," she said.

O'Mahoney said the hazing of the lacrosse team was the first incident she has seen in the 10 years she has been at the UA.

But it's hard to know if hazing is happening if no one reports it, she said.

Greg Abdouch, president of the men's lacrosse team, and Jeff Dunnam, president of the men's water polo team, both think making members aware of policy is very important, and that the Center for Student Involvement and Leadership and club sports do a very good job of educating.

Neither team participates in any type of initiation ritual to join the teams.

"We pay enough to play lacrosse. We don't need to deal with that stuff," Abdouch said.

Dunnam said new members join the team every couple of weeks and there is no need for initiation.

"All you need to do is show up for practice, and you are on the team," he said.

Both Abdouch and Dunnam said the teams will sit down at their next meeting and talk about the incident, but don't think it will prevent any further issue within their groups.

At their first practice following a one-month suspension, women's lacrosse team players said they were ready to move on as they ran drills and cheered each other on.

"We have had a good attitude through this whole thing, and we are going to have a great season," said club member Mary Arbuthnot, a psychology senior.

This year, the only groups caught hazing have been nongreek groups, such as Chimes Junior Honorary and the women's lacrosse team.

Greek Life suggests that a proactive stance on the issue of hazing, like the stance that greek organizations on campus have implemented, is necessary in every group to prevent any confusion.

"Advisers think the students understand and the students think they understand, but it's a little gray," said Chris Bullins, Greek Life coordinator.

Greek Life strives to inform students of the hazing policy, what qualifies as a violation of policy and what the consequences may be, Bullins said.

Carol Thompson, senior associate dean of students, has said in the past that educating students on the hazing policy is the first step toward prevention.

After the women's lacrosse incident, other groups on campus are doing what they can to educate their members on the issue and what the outcome may be if they choose to disobey the hazing policy.

Kathleen "Rocky" LaRose, senior associate director of athletics for sports programs and operations, said that in the 25 years she's been at the UA, the only incident of hazing she has come across was 10 years ago when a team made a new member sing "Bear Down Arizona."

"We have made it a point to make it well-known that we have no tolerance for hazing," she said.

But she said the recent events show the issue needs to be re-addressed and will be brought up in the next student-athletes board and head coach meetings.

"Anytime something hits headlines, we re-educate. There are new students coming into athletics all the time, so there is always an opportunity to re-educate," LaRose said.