3-Year-Old Soccer Prodigy Benched Amid Tensions in Florida Youth League
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Police body camera video showed what transpired when Winter Park police officers responded to a now-viral incident involving a Florida youth soccer league and the parents of a 3-year-old soccer phenom.
The bizarre incident has made national headlines and the footage shows how things played out after a 911 call on Saturday morning alleged that “there is a parent here that’s really, really disruptive.”
The organizer accused the 3-year-old boy, Nevada, of pushing other players when speaking with the officers.
“The kid is good. He’s great. Really good,” he told cops in the video. “He’s very advanced compared to the other ones, so he’s scoring a lot of goals. But he’s pushing the kids … So, I try to tell him, don’t push; we want to play without pushing, right?”
He said that when the boy was benched, the parents became argumentative and he told the officers, “I just want him out.”
“Just give me their names so I can give them their refund,” he said.
Video posted by Nevada’s father did not show his son pushing anybody.
When cops went over to a woman who claimed to be Nevada’s mom, she told them that the other parents were mad the tot was too good for the league.
“They’re mad at my son because he actually plays soccer. They’re literally kicking him out of this place because he’s good at soccer,” she said. “First, they said he’s not passing, but nobody’s catching the ball when he’s passing.”
Police did not cite anyone or make any arrests and, in a press release, stated it was a “civil” matter.
“The incident was a civil matter between those parties and not criminal. No one was arrested, trespassed, or forced to leave the park,” the release stated.
Nevada’s mother told HuffPost in an interview that the whole ordeal had “really traumatized” her son.
“He still wants to play soccer. He just doesn’t want to go back to that place. I don’t think that’s how he should be thinking, that as a 3-year-old he did something wrong,” she said.
i9 said in a statement that it had begun a review of the incident.
“The respectful treatment and well-being of every child and family matter deeply to us. We have reached out to the family and have begun a review that includes speaking with those involved,” the organization said.
