You would think kids playing flag football would be safe from grown-up fights. But on Saturday, a referee and a coach traded blows right in front of the girls. The chaos was so bad that horrified parents had to pin the coach to the ground. This happened at the Ghost Town Showdown tournament in Revere, Massachusetts.
The referee, Jeff Etienne, has officiated games for 20 years. He scuffled with a coach from the Massachusetts Outlaws team. The coach was upset about a specific call regarding blitzes.
The team said he was “frustrated with calls being made and was questioning a call about blitzes that were originally in our favor and then flipped to the other team’s favor within the course of one play,” according to the New York Post. He yelled in Etienne’s face, and the referee pushed him back.
Witnesses told WCVB that the situation quickly turned violent. The team stated, “The situation unfortunately escalated quickly and got physical.” They also noted, “The game was stopped at that point.” Other adults were required to separate Etienne from the coach. One grandparent who watched the scene told WCVB, “I was outraged. I was totally outraged.” The tournament included girls as young as six and under.
Etienne later admitted he should have walked away from the yelling. He said, “I do take responsibility.” He noted that he has walked away from coaches yelling at him many times before. He added, “That’s what I should have done.” The official made it clear that this level of anger has no place in youth sports.
“It should never ever be that serious. We’re not playing for millions of dollars. We’re not playing in the NFL,” Etienne said. Both the official and the coach apologized to each other after things cooled down.
Unfortunately, this kind of behavior is not unique to Massachusetts. Rival Pennsylvania team coaches were filmed fighting in late August. That fight led to three people being charged with crimes. Carlynton coach DeQuay Canton was charged with a third-degree misdemeanor.
According to reports, his arraignment in court is scheduled for Nov. 25. Joseph Kubiak and Frank McGrath from the Keystone Oaks coaching setup were also charged with summary disorderly conduct.
