Florida deputies are investigating allegations of illegal gambling tied to a youth football game after a riot broke out among parents, sending children fleeing.
A weekend football game between 8-year-old teams in Winter Haven, Florida, ended in mayhem after a parent struck a Plant City coach on the head after his team won the game 16-0. Important note: The game took place right next to a cop shop.
The local sheriff was furious that gambling may have been involved
According to Fox 13 News, the chaos occurred on a field next to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Central Substation during a youth game between the Winter Haven Tigers and the Plant City Colts.
Although authorities do not currently have video footage or proof of gambling, deputies were informed that the argument may have originated over parents betting on the kids’ game.
“That is absolutely, totally unacceptable. The children are behaving. The adults are acting like children, and they’re violating the law,” WFLA News reports Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said. “Who would think that we would have to have undercover investigations at children’s sporting events because they’re gambling? Are you kidding me?”
One video that was posted online showed a man who appeared to try to grasp the legs of another parent and ended up on the ground. As that was happening, scared children in football gear fled from the scene. The riot ended when Polk County cops showed up.
“Everybody walking, saying good game, good game. A moment, hands go to swinging, brawls go to happening and people go to pushing, and it just broke out from there. It got real wild out there,” Sharod Odom, a youth football coach in Lakeland who attended the game, told Tampa Bay 28 News.
The sheriff is threatening to send undercover cops to future games
“The kids behaved, the coaches and the parents didn’t, and we are going to criminally charge those that were disorderly and those that participated in an affray,” Judd added.
No arrests have been made in relation to the event, and authorities have not yet determined who started the altercation, but they are investigating. Once identified, the suspects will be charged with misdemeanors of disorderly behavior or affray, and deputies may file further charges if they find proof of illegal gambling.
“I’m going to send undercover detectives to these youth football games,” Sheriff Judd said. “And when I catch you betting, we’re going to charge you. You don’t go to youth football games to bet on children playing sports. Not now, not ever.”
The nonsense in Florida comes just days after a Massachusetts girls’ flag football game descended into chaos when a coach and a referee clashed, prompting parents to intervene.
Meanwhile, in New Jersey, a youth hockey team’s owner recently took things to the next level by disciplining players over a trademark dispute involving jackets featuring the squad’s logo. The owner chastised them in an email, announcing that the kids were suspended from practices and games until the team received restitution.