:mad::mad::mad:

The referee who was assaulted by youth football coaches and players at a Saturday game told detectives he did not want to press charges.

Referee [redacted], 41, signed a waiver of prosecution as the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office began to investigate the attack that occurred at an afternoon game between the Sarasota Gators and the North Port Huskies at Riverview High School.

Shouldn't matter. Assaulting an official is a felony in Florida, and the prosecutor/DA should be able to prosecute without needing a complaint filed by the victim.

I never understand why officials decide not to prosecute...you're not only doing yourself a disservice but a disservice to all other officials. I know when I had two players assault me after a rec game, you better believe I went through will filing a police report and everything.

For certif'n as a coach or admin., the Nat'l ***'n for Youth Sports shows a video that opens with footage & accounts of stuff like this occurring at children's sporting events. It's like they were trying to scare us off first.

Four Charged in brawl

This is for a special person and he knows who he is. This just goes to show that there is always more to the story or there are claims that are going to be made on both sides. The plot thickens and no matter what this official wants this is out of his hands. But as to be expected there is a claim the official started it. Not sure how, but that is the claim. Now what does this imply now?

Peace

The Gators team personnel were making claims that "there's another side to the story" since the first reports were released but I've yet to read what the other side is. The link posted as well as others on the tv news website that I followed still don't articulate any "other side".

The only new piece of info is they claim something happened to their cheerleaders but a) doesn't go into detail, and b) sure wouldn't be the officials area of responsibility.

The simplest answer is usually the first one. Like a lot of youth coaches, they are ill trained and too emotionally wrapped up in the game to do their job. A flag was thrown and before they took the time to realize it was against their opponent, they flew off the handle and made @$$3$ out of themselves.

How many of us have even had to tell a HS coach to simmer down until we actually know what foul was called after a flag is thrown across the way?

I don't know if its racial in nature and as far as this incident I don't really care. Youth coaches, no matter their race, have got to set a better example. From the look of the officiating crew, they appeared to be fairly diverse. The first time I glanced at the clip, I thought the attacked official was non-Caucasian too.

As far as the kids go, I'm tired of hearing about how the kids have been hurt. No more hurt has been inflicted than that watching adults who are supposed to set the example act like a group of bullies. Valuable life lessons will be learned. Don't be a jerk and respect authority come to mind.

As far the official goes, who know why he didn't press the charges himself. Maybe his lawyer advised him not to? Personally, I would. I don't foresee him getting a big payday out of the team considering they were borrowing money to pay expenses. I guess he'll go after the league and maybe the school system that hosted the games.

That is a true statement. ^^^

I doubt the official would have looked for monetary gain or compensation in filing charges.

If there was such a law in my state, I would have filed for sure.

My first year of doing FB was a youth football league. I am amazed that I didn't quit officiating. I am glad that I did not. But I DID quit doing youth football. Youth football is a parent-run organization and that says it all. There are 2 models of youth sports: Instructional and PRO. One teaches kids the fundamentals of the sport as well as character. The other does not.

My advice: Never do youth sports if you observe anything other than the instructional version.