GunScare @ Albion Cup?

yafooligan said:
It appears nobody was physically hurt, but mentally I’m sure there are plenty of kids having issues processing this incident. Albion should not claim the threat was “harmless” like they did in their statement.
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I hope somebody called trauma specialists to be available to talk to families and especially the kids that were impacted. While the threat ended up not being real, it was real to the kids and parents running for their lives and can have lasting consequences.
 
I'm not sure why everyone is so upset at the dad that beat up the teenager or why he's being charged. I'm quite certain most moms and dads on this site would do the same. Imagine your 9/10 year old kidding being attacked by another male (you don't know how old he is but he's bigger than your kid and has no reason to beat him up). How many of us could calmly assess the situation and not beat up that teenager? Any reasonable parent would have ran out and protected their 9/10 year old son. This is the teenager's fault and hopefully the beating by the dad prevents him from beating up on another 9/10 year old kid. The rest of the parents should stay put and let the refs and coach deescalate the situation.
 
Emma said:
I'm not sure why everyone is so upset at the dad that beat up the teenager or why he's being charged. I'm quite certain most moms and dads on this site would do the same. Imagine your 9/10 year old kidding being attacked by another male (you don't know how old he is but he's bigger than your kid and has no reason to beat him up). How many of us could calmly assess the situation and not beat up that teenager? Any reasonable parent would have ran out and protected their 9/10 year old son. This is the teenager's fault and hopefully the beating by the dad prevents him from beating up on another 9/10 year old kid. The rest of the parents should stay put and let the refs and coach deescalate the situation.
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Not a criminal lawyer, but California does have a self-defense of others law. The danger has to be imminent (seems to have been based on the description), reasonable (this is an open question), and proportionate (we don't have the facts). There's going to be an argument about the reasonableness (were the refs doing anything to stop it, how young was the minor, was it his kid) and the proportionate (how big was the teen and could they have been separated and how much of a beat down was taking place on the minor attacker as opposed to trying to separate them). Also don't know how the involvement of a minor attacker affects things.

The guy with the backpack is a bigger problem and much trickier. Was he really being assaulted and threatening in self-defense or was he disturbing the peace? If people got injured on the way out and fleeing, there might also be civil liability. If someone got injured on the way out, I also wouldn't be surprised to see a lawsuit for negligence against the tournament organizers (e.g., failure to provide adequate security, problem with the evacuation routes with people climbing over fences, failure to notify people of the evacuation routes)
 
You raise some good questions. From what I was told after reviewing the videos, the police released the backpack guy and asked him if he wanted to press charges on the Albion South parents. If this is in fact true then he probably was assaulted but maybe the Albion guys just didn‘t land any serious punches.

In my personal opinion regardless of the threat he might have felt, the backpack guy should still be held accountable for creating panic in a crowded event. In this day and age with so many mass shootings people are already on edge. You shouldn’t be able to just go around threatening that you have a gun. Imagine if it were in an enclosed space and kids got trampled to death trying to get away. As it was this guy traumatized a bunch of kids and seems to have gotten off scott free.

The Albion South dad who roughed up the teen will have to face the consequences. Hitting a minor obviously goes way over the line.

But all of this unfortunately shows how one thing leads to another and how quickly things can get out of control.

Stryprod said:
I was there.

What happened in the melee, too hard to tell in the moment as there were too many bodies to focus on one.

Was the Azteca "gun" dad jumped? I'd not be surprised although I can tell you from ~15' away he showed no signs of bleeding, appeared to have no major signs of grass stains (then again no grass there #galwaysucks), clothing not torn or disheveled, and still had his hat on.

I can unequivocally state the individual (Azteca parent) who grabbed his bag was under no immediate threat when he went to get his bag. He left the vicinity of the fight on the right side of the field, walk to the left where his bag was, grabbed it, unzipped it, place his hand in, and put on his show.

I have 2 pictures of this individual taken a minute apart and never is anyone within 10' of this guy. Only as he continued to stand and move back and forth did some individuals approach him, and I'm not sure whether they were Albion or Azteca.
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Appreciate everyone's opinions here, and honestly, this is what is great about this forum and the only reason I use it. Not to quibble over meaningless debates about who has a better u10 team or which league is better, but to get real information, helpful information, and breaking news...this site broke the story thanks to the OP...well before the morning News cycle that very few read/watch any more (for good reason).

That said, all the talk re lawsuits and criminal charges is unrealistic. For parents who care so much about their kids' soccer games that they yell/scream at the refs and other players or cause fights, the hardest punishment for them to handle (and the one that will be most effective as a deterrent to other crazy parents - WHO ARE AT EVERY CLUB BTW) is swift and severe soccer-related action. Team, player, parent suspensions or terminations as the facts bear out. And make sure the soccer-bubble knows about the punishment. This primarily will be the job of CalSouth. They can't do it in 48 hours. State Cup games start this weekend, so give them until Thursday to lay down the law. We all pay $$ to CalSouth, let's see if they have their players and parents best interests as priority #1.

We had an incident when I played youth hockey in Canada - many winters ago. Both Dad's who fought were barred from the home/away arenas for an entire year. Never had a problem with them again, and they actually ended up becoming friends after about 6 months.
 
Agreed. I really hope Cal South does the right thing in this situation. If no action is taken, they are taking the stance of dismissing this event and allowing unruly parents to believe this is ok behavior.
I know there are a handful of parents from our team (which was standing right there) that called Cal South today to demand action take place. I encourage others that were there to do the same.

oh canada said:
Appreciate everyone's opinions here, and honestly, this is what is great about this forum and the only reason I use it. Not to quibble over meaningless debates about who has a better u10 team or which league is better, but to get real information, helpful information, and breaking news...this site broke the story thanks to the OP...well before the morning News cycle that very few read/watch any more (for good reason).

That said, all the talk re lawsuits and criminal charges is unrealistic. For parents who care so much about their kids' soccer games that they yell/scream at the refs and other players or cause fights, the hardest punishment for them to handle (and the one that will be most effective as a deterrent to other crazy parents - WHO ARE AT EVERY CLUB BTW) is swift and severe soccer-related action. Team, player, parent suspensions or terminations as the facts bear out. And make sure the soccer-bubble knows about the punishment. This primarily will be the job of CalSouth. They can't do it in 48 hours. State Cup games start this weekend, so give them until Thursday to lay down the law. We all pay $$ to CalSouth, let's see if they have their players and parents best interests as priority #1.

We had an incident when I played youth hockey in Canada - many winters ago. Both Dad's who fought were barred from the home/away arenas for an entire year. Never had a problem with them again, and they actually ended up becoming friends after about 6 months.
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There was <8% compliance with CalSouth's Code of Conduct for coaches, players, and parents/spectators. Only time will tell how serious they are...

The Coach is expected to:
• Know the official Laws of the Game of soccer and the rules of Cal South and abide by them. [FAIL]
• Instruct player and parents in the rules and motivate each player to compete according to the rules at all times. [FAIL]
• Respect the game officials at all times. Refrain from questioning their decisions or challenging their authority. [FAIL]
• Ensure that the Cal South rules are followed by all players and spectators. [FAIL]
• Ensure that fans of his or her team exhibit sportsmanship and maturity at all times and assist league and game officials in maintaining control of spectators during games. [FAIL]
• Respect the coaches and players of the opposing team before, during, and after the game. [FAIL]
• Take appropriate steps to minimize scoring in runaway games. [PASS]
• Teach each player, especially through personal example, to be humble and generous in victory and proud and courteous in defeat. [FAIL]
• Maintain control of his/her emotions and avoid actions, language, and/or gestures that may be interpreted as hostile and humiliating. [FAIL]
• Teach and practice good sportsmanship and fair play by personally demonstrating commitment to these virtues. [FAIL]
• Promote the concept that soccer is merely a game, and that players and coaches on other teams are opponents, but not enemies. [FAIL]

Every player is expected to:
• Know and respect the rules of soccer and Cal South and abide by them at all times. [FAIL]
• Show respect and courtesy to officials and coaches by following their instructions and directions. [FAIL]
• Respect the game officials and refrain from addressing them or commenting on their decisions during or after the game. [FAIL]
• Maintain control of his/her emotions, avoiding the use of abusive or profane language, taunting or humiliating remarks, and/or gestures and physical assault upon another player at any time. [FAIL]
• Respect the coaches and players of the opposing team and display sportsmanship at the conclusion of a game and be humble and generous in victory and proud and courteous in defeat. [FAIL]
• Follow all Association rules, respecting at all times the property of others. [FAIL]
• Remember that soccer is a game and treat players and coaches on other teams as opponents, not enemies. [FAIL]

Every parent and spectator is expected to:
• Learn and respect the rules of soccer and the rules of Cal South. [FAIL]
• Show respect and courtesy to game officials, coaches, and players at all times. [FAIL]
• Respect the game officials and refrain from questioning their decisions or from addressing them in a loud, disrespectful, or abusive manner. [FAIL]
• Cheer for your child's team in a positive manner, refraining at all times from making negative or abusive remarks about the opposing team. Maintain control of your emotions and avoid actions, language, and/or gestures that may be interpreted as hostile and humiliating. [FAIL]
• Ensure that your child is at all games and practices at the required time or provide the coach with an appropriate excuse beforehand. [PASS]
• Demonstrate appropriate gestures of sportsmanship at the conclusion of a game, win or lose. [FAIL]
• Teach and practice good sportsmanship and fair play by personally demonstrating commitment to these virtues. [FAIL]
• Promote the concept that soccer is merely a game, and that players and coaches on other teams are opponents, not enemies. [FAIL]
 
Emma said:
I'm not sure why everyone is so upset at the dad that beat up the teenager or why he's being charged. I'm quite certain most moms and dads on this site would do the same. Imagine your 9/10 year old kidding being attacked by another male (you don't know how old he is but he's bigger than your kid and has no reason to beat him up). How many of us could calmly assess the situation and not beat up that teenager? Any reasonable parent would have ran out and protected their 9/10 year old son. This is the teenager's fault and hopefully the beating by the dad prevents him from beating up on another 9/10 year old kid. The rest of the parents should stay put and let the refs and coach deescalate the situation.
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Absolutely horrible response. No I don’t believe most parents would have acted in the same manner. The only time it is acceptable to put a hand on a minor if to prevent further harm and that would be getting the kid in a hold, not escalating this situation as happened here. I have personally put a teen in a lock hold to make an arrest and prevent further harm and I have seen teens jump on top of a kid being attacked during a soccer game in an effort to protect him from
further harm. If there are options, you don’t beat on anyone ever.
 
met61 said:
I'm curious...how does posting this make you feel?
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The result of the fight at the tournament was a direct result of Parents and Siblings "POLICING THEMSELVES"

It happens too often in soccer now , Im around a lot of games tournaments and showcases and let me say , there is little to no respect for officials or coaches, so if some person that just joins this forums hours after this melee happens and says that we need to police ourselves and take matters into out own hands, I disagree with his statement , thats the direct cause of the problem . You have to respect the system in place.

Coaches are there to mentor players and refs are there to officiate as best as they can.

Parents are there to cheer for their little debbie and danny and that's its..

Its embarrassing when I hear parents moan, yell and shout at other players either on their team or on the opposing team.
All that tension just builds....then they get into the ref and all hell breaks loose cause some parent is screaming offsides from 100ft away , really??!! Its a fire that burns and parents feed it and feed it....till that stop and people stop thinking their above the law, this problems will never get solved. If someone filmed girls high school parents they'd make serious money its the new dance moms.....and trust me the right people are taking notes on certain parent behaviors. So many parents ruin it for their kids...

Its the worse at the age between 7-12 cause everyone DD/BB is a star.

and I feel great BTW.
 
I don't know if this has been explored yet, but why do we put team fans next to each other on one side of the field? Yes, I know family and people should be able to behave and handle themselves properly in public, but competitive sports do bring out people's emotions. In most other high school sports, there are home and away bleachers, right? There is security at most collegiate to pro sport's games for a reason.

I see why clubs are so adamant about positivity and encouragement from the sidelines only. I will say that our club does not tolerate this type of behavior which is why it surprises me to hear about. These games get physical and emotional, but it is sad that additional fees for security may start popping up. Parents, I pray you wise up and learn to enjoy the game and the competition. It starts with the parents and one of the best virtues to teach your children is good sportsmanship. The kids shake hands before many games. I think the parents should to.

People complain about the price for club soccer, but it's only going to get more expensive with more security and less supply of referees. One thing about referees though. I would just ask for them to avoid conversation with parents. You can explain the call a tad, but you owe a parent no information. You're making the call right or wrong and should merely point to the ball and maybe say "The call was made and it's final". There is nothing to discuss. I've seen bad calls and stated an opinion before and the best response is the shoulders up, call was made, play on. I sit there and argue with myself for about 2 seconds and move on with the game. Games are emotional! We are fans watching our most prized priorities in life (our kids). We just need to remember that as passionate as we are, so is everyone else.

The bottom line is there would be no competition or games if other kids did not play. You need other competitors and you need the best competitors to bring out the best in the best. Most of us encourage club soccer for our kids for them to gain life skills and tough skin. I also like how they learn how to handle pressure and strong competition, but also how to do it with honor and pride. There is no room for this type of behavior in society let alone club soccer.
 
My last comment on this...after watching several of the videos from what's posted online, it appears that one of the Azteca kids pushes Albioin south kid, then he pushes back, there's some additional pushing and the ref comes over. As ref is starting to assert himself, the person from the sideline comes running onto the field and sucker punches the Albion kid, then as you can expect, other people come running off the sideline to protect their players etc.

I didn't see punches thrown by players, only the sideline person. So here's my punishment recommendation: ban the Azteca team from State Cup if they are playing in it. Sucks for the other families but there should be zero tolerance for spectators punching players. It's not enough to just punish the actor. Suspend the Albion player for 1 State Cup game. Ban the guy who said he had a gun from State Cup and future Albion events for one year--I don't care if your afraid, you can't say you have a gun and posture to use it, just like you can't scream "fire" in a movie theater.

As a good will gesture, Albion should offer teams that were there playing at the time 50% discount to next year's January Albion Tournament. Don't have it at Galway.
 
Unfor
way up said:
I don't know if this has been explored yet, but why do we put team fans next to each other on one side of the field? Yes, I know family and people should be able to behave and handle themselves properly in public, but competitive sports do bring out people's emotions. In most other high school sports, there are home and away bleachers, right? There is security at most collegiate to pro sport's games for a reason.

I see why clubs are so adamant about positivity and encouragement from the sidelines only. I will say that our club does not tolerate this type of behavior which is why it surprises me to hear about. These games get physical and emotional, but it is sad that additional fees for security may start popping up. Parents, I pray you wise up and learn to enjoy the game and the competition. It starts with the parents and one of the best virtues to teach your children is good sportsmanship. The kids shake hands before many games. I think the parents should to.

People complain about the price for club soccer, but it's only going to get more expensive with more security and less supply of referees. One thing about referees though. I would just ask for them to avoid conversation with parents. You can explain the call a tad, but you owe a parent no information. You're making the call right or wrong and should merely point to the ball and maybe say "The call was made and it's final". There is nothing to discuss. I've seen bad calls and stated an opinion before and the best response is the shoulders up, call was made, play on. I sit there and argue with myself for about 2 seconds and move on with the game. Games are emotional! We are fans watching our most prized priorities in life (our kids). We just need to remember that as passionate as we are, so is everyone else.

The bottom line is there would be no competition or games if other kids did not play. You need other competitors and you need the best competitors to bring out the best in the best. Most of us encourage club soccer for our kids for them to gain life skills and tough skin. I also like how they learn how to handle pressure and strong competition, but also how to do it with honor and pride. There is no room for this type of behavior in society let alone club soccer.
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people should be able to behave and handle themselves properly in public.

Ghetto hoodlums can’t control themselves, and for that security should be present at large events, including youth soccer tournaments.
 
Socal0 said:
Unfor


people should be able to behave and handle themselves properly in public.

Ghetto hoodlums can’t control themselves, and for that security should be present at large events, including youth soccer tournaments.
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honestly, they should make it an automatic felony if you’re a spectator at a sporting event and start a fight/punch someone. This type of behavior happens way too often and needs to be stopped.

From a cal south perspective if you step onto the field for any reason other than assisting with an injury per ref or coach request, your player is automatically banned from participating in any cal south event for the remainder of the current season and the entire next season. The player cannot just switch clubs, nothing.

That teen that ran onto the field should be charged as a juvenile.

The grey area is the parent trash talking on the sidelines... refs need to handle this (and some do) and not hesitate to hand out reds to the parents and remove them from the field. I know they got really serious about this with CRL this year where entire sidelines were no longer allowed to attend games. I think that is a good deterrent and they should follow that for tournaments as well.
 
oh canada said:
That said, all the talk re lawsuits and criminal charges is unrealistic.
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I'd just point out the headers rule was the result of a lawsuit. And even if some innocent bystander didn't get hurt physically, someone could always claim emotional damage. And if not this event, then the next since the argument next time will be because of the press this is receiving in the soccer community other venues should know the possibility this might happen. Could result in some overkill policies such as mandatory security at events which will drive up tournament costs even more, or might have some venues decline to provide field space.
 
Grace T. said:
I'd just point out the headers rule was the result of a lawsuit. And even if some innocent bystander didn't get hurt physically, someone could always claim emotional damage. And if not this event, then the next since the argument next time will be because of the press this is receiving in the soccer community other venues should know the possibility this might happen. Could result in some overkill policies such as mandatory security at events which will drive up tournament costs even more, or might have some venues decline to provide field space.
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@ oh canada. Actually it's very realistic. After all..this is California. One of the most litigious states in the union. People are ready to drop the lawsuit bomb for just about anything. As far as criminal charges...most definitely.
 
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