A Wichita, Kansas junior football practice turned ugly Monday night. Gunfire
and a brass knuckle beatdown came on the practice field after a group
of parents, upset over the amount of playing time that at least one
little footballer was getting, accosted and gang-attacked the coach.
This at a league whose players are all between second and eighth grade.
Writes The Associated Press: “Police say one man complained that his son was not
getting enough playing time during Monday evening's practice at Linwood
Park in Wichita. Then six men surrounded the coach and started punching
him.”
Even the coach’s wife got in on the rumpus. In fact, after she saw her hubby getting clobbered, she took out a gun and fired one shot into the air. Then the coach went to his vehicle, armed himself and confronted the fathers.
The incident occurred at Linwood Park in south Wichita, where the Wichita Tigers, who are part of the Greater Wichita Junior Football League, were practicing. The brouhaha started when the mother of a former player confronted the coach and demanded to know why her son wasn’t pegged to start in the season opener.
Jeremy Burris, director of the teen football program, said the boy in question had played for three different teams, and had to be removed for “character issues.” Burris said that the boy was disqualified from playing because he had yet to turn back in his football equipment from the previous season.
“It’s kind of a mutual understanding between teams,” said Jerome Crawford, director of the football program. “The only way to maintain our equipment is to not allow them to play for another team until we get our stuff back.”
The incensed mother started yelling at the coach, prompting other parents and visitors to try to step in and calm her down. Police eventually had to be called; they arrived, took some statement and left.
Thirty minutes later, the woman's husband returned with a group of five other men, and demanded to talk to the coach. One of the men told the coach he was armed. A vicious beating ensued, and guns were drawn.
The coach and his wife were subsequently both dismissed from the football program. Kansas.com says they were sacked for pulling out weapons; both have licensed concealed-carry permits, police said.
Speaking of the unnamed 37-year-old coach, Burris called him a “great role model” for the kids, but added: “You can’t take weapons out around children.”
Police are asking that anyone who witnessed the events or may have a video recording to step forward.
Writes The Associated Press: “Police say one man complained that his son was not
getting enough playing time during Monday evening's practice at Linwood
Park in Wichita. Then six men surrounded the coach and started punching
him.”Even the coach’s wife got in on the rumpus. In fact, after she saw her hubby getting clobbered, she took out a gun and fired one shot into the air. Then the coach went to his vehicle, armed himself and confronted the fathers.
The incident occurred at Linwood Park in south Wichita, where the Wichita Tigers, who are part of the Greater Wichita Junior Football League, were practicing. The brouhaha started when the mother of a former player confronted the coach and demanded to know why her son wasn’t pegged to start in the season opener.
Jeremy Burris, director of the teen football program, said the boy in question had played for three different teams, and had to be removed for “character issues.” Burris said that the boy was disqualified from playing because he had yet to turn back in his football equipment from the previous season.
“It’s kind of a mutual understanding between teams,” said Jerome Crawford, director of the football program. “The only way to maintain our equipment is to not allow them to play for another team until we get our stuff back.”
The incensed mother started yelling at the coach, prompting other parents and visitors to try to step in and calm her down. Police eventually had to be called; they arrived, took some statement and left.
Thirty minutes later, the woman's husband returned with a group of five other men, and demanded to talk to the coach. One of the men told the coach he was armed. A vicious beating ensued, and guns were drawn.
The coach and his wife were subsequently both dismissed from the football program. Kansas.com says they were sacked for pulling out weapons; both have licensed concealed-carry permits, police said.
Speaking of the unnamed 37-year-old coach, Burris called him a “great role model” for the kids, but added: “You can’t take weapons out around children.”
Police are asking that anyone who witnessed the events or may have a video recording to step forward.
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