Sandy MaloneHouston, TX – Houston police are investigating after a video showed a Little League football mom chasing a 12-year-old player who had just tackled her son with something in her hand while screaming curses at him (video below).
The incident occurred just after 10 a.m. on Sept. 3 during the first game of the season between the Southside Ravens and the Northwest Gorillas on the athletic field at the BakerRipley Harbach Campus, KTRK reported.
Witnesses said that a parent of a Gorillas player got upset when a 12-year-old member of the Ravens tackled her son.
“Yeah, he was okay. I picked him up and everything and everything and he was actually trying to shake my hand after the play,” the boy who made the tackle told KTRK.
“Until, I guess, his mom started chasing me,” he added.
Video of the game showed the mother was standing by the sidelines when her son was tackled.
The boy helped her son up after the tackle and the players appeared to be moving on to the next play.
Just then, the mother of the boy who was tackled rounded the corner of the field and went after the player who had downed him, the video showed.
The angry woman appeared to be holding something in her hand as she chased the 12 year old – who had both of his hands up in the air as he fled – across the football field, KTRK reported.
The 12-year-old’s mother said the other mother was screaming curses and threats at her child.
Coaches intervened and the aggressive parent was escorted out of the community center by police, KTRK reported.
The mother of the boy who was chased filed a police report about the incident.
Houston police said they are investigating, KTRK reported.
The Youth Football and Cheerleading Federation (YFCF) that runs the football league put out a statement about the incident and said the woman, and her entire family including the children, had been banned from the league.
“This was an incident that could have ended much worse than it did. A parent running onto the game field after an opposing team player can have a counter-effect of the child’s parent(s) responding in kind in defense of their own child, not to mention potential reactions of the staff members of both teams,” YFF President Edward Hart said in the statement.
“Fortunately, the staff of both teams were able to get things under control and did not allow the incident to escalate,” the YFCF statement continued. “An assigned on-site police officer further de-escalated things by escorting the offending party out of the facility.”
“This particular facility does not afford itself to our standard access control policies since it is basically an open field with multiple entry points, and has no barriers between spectators and the game field,” Hart added.
He also said the woman has been fined $200 and her son’s former football team, the Northwest Gorillas, was also fined $500 for failing to control their sidelines, KTRK reported.
The Northwest Gorillas released a statement about the incident.
“First and foremost we would like to apologize to the parents of the young man that was unnecessarily chased across the field by a parent that was a part of our organization,” the statement read. “In no way shape or form is that okay nor is it tolerated. We have since removed both parent and children from NWG as we don’t stand with putting nobody’s child in harms way.”
“Yesterday, was a highly emotional day as our parents felt their children were not safe due to the level of aggression displayed by players and opposing parents,” the statement continued. “To the families apart of our village we apologize for placing you guys in unsafe conditions. We all know that little league football has long since steered from its sole purpose of being about the kids.”
“However, our goal was to bring that back and after yesterday I feel as though we did not show that. As we try our best to do our part to ensure that we provide a safe, fun and family oriented environment for the children. Although we can not control anyone else’s actions/emotions we want to take accountability for our behavior as an whole, what part it played and how it was displayed at yesterday’s event,” the Gorillas’ statement read.
Watch the incident unfold in the video below:
Holly Matkin
