WATCH: Florida Parents’ Claim Cops Were Called on Three-Year-Old Soccer Player for Being ‘Too Good’ Debunked
Police officers were called to a youth soccer game in Florida on Saturday — not because one of the players was too good, but because of his parents’ allegedly disruptive behavior.
The family has continued to claim their child was targeted because he was better than the other children on the field, but police body camera footage revealed a different story, OutKick reported Tuesday.
The incident happened at a city soccer field in Winter Park where a league director said the child scored several goals but allegedly pushed other children on the field so he tried to tell the child to stop.
The i9 Sports league director, identified as Thomas Hayes, said he swapped out the young players so everyone could have a chance to play.
However, he said, “They don’t like that, they tell me I’m ignorant, I’m this, I’m that, blah blah blah. So I went over there again a few minutes ago. The kid was pushing again, right? So I called the refs.” He then claimed the parents were unhappy about it, created a scene, and argued with the other parents.
The boy’s mother, Martasia Griffin, alleged, “They’re mad at my son because he actually played soccer. So they’re literally kicking him out of this place because he’s good at soccer.” However, an officer told the woman, “He specifically mentioned that your son is very good but he doesn’t like how the parents become aggressive when they try to do different coaching.”
In a video clip showing the child on the field, a man behind the camera claimed, “They called the police on a three-year-old because he’s too good,” per ABC News.
Police detailed the initial report in a social media post Monday:
On October 24, Winter Park Police received a call for assistance. The caller was a youth sport’s [sic] director at a local child’s soccer game. The caller alleged that the parents of a young player were being disruptive and that as the league director, he wanted the parents to leave the park. Upon arrival, officers encountered the parents, who were already in the process of leaving the park on their own accord.
This call did NOT prompt officers to trespass any individuals and was considered a civil matter between the league and parents. Despite some social media rumors, there was never any suggestion that the call to police was prompted over the child’s on-field talent. Officers did help facilitate communication between the league and parents over refunding registration costs to the family.
Griffin has since created a GoFundMe page for her three-year-old son, claiming, “He was removed from the game because of concerns about his skill level, and the situation escalated to the point that law enforcement was called.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, the page had raised over $35,000.
