A youth football team in Pennsylvania was forced to suspend part of its season after reporting that a rival football team racially harassed some of its Black players during a game.
According to WPMT, racial slurs and other derogatory statements were made at a game last month between the Seven Sorrows Eagles and the Boiling Springs Bubblers.
Members of the Seven Sorrows Eagles team were reportedly targeted by their opponents.
“During our game, the derogatory words were being said to specific players of color,” said Eagles head coach Percy Maple.
The mother of one Eagles player said her son saw a Bubblers’ player push one of his teammates to the ground, then make racist remarks.
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“They said, ‘Stay down, Black boy, don’t get up, monkey,’” Brittany Smith recalled. “That’s just disgusting to me.”
Eagles parents confronted the Bubblers’ coach, but the exchange ended with their removal from the field by security.
They subsequently made complaints to the Capital Football Association (CFA) Youth Football League, which oversees both teams. But instead of penalizing the Bubblers team for their conduct on the field, league officials punished the Eagles.
Maple says the team was ordered to suspend two games with no fans.
When the team challenged the decision, the league extended the penalty to a three-game suspension for players at all levels, meaning more than 220 kids who play and cheer across various age levels have to forfeit their games for the rest of the season.
Maple and his assistant coach were also banned from the league for the rest of the season.
The league’s board also claimed that one Eagles player directed “threats toward the organization as he left the stadium, in the presence of school district leadership.” That player was kicked off the team and barred from the league.
“Everyone was upset. Everyone was like, we’re not sure why we’re getting punished,” Smith said. “Now I have to tell my son that his season’s over.”
Smith says that the decision has only rallied the team.
“The CFA can take our seats, but they can’t take our spirits,” she said. “We’re not letting them break us.”
The Eagles are now requesting other teams to take part in scrimmage games in the hopes of giving their players a chance to play on the field.
The CFA published a message on its website on September 28 about racism awareness, but league officials didn’t specifically address the incident between the Eagles and Bubblers in the statement.
As an organization, the CFA is dedicated to providing a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment for all our athletes, coaches, officials, and families. Recent events within youth sports across the region remind us of the importance of standing firmly against all forms of racism, discrimination, and harassment. Racism has no place in our league, on or off the field. We recognize that the words and actions of individuals can have a lasting impact, and it is our responsibility to ensure that every child feels valued, respected, and safe while participating in CFA activities.
The league is still permitting the midget age group, which refers to teams with players between the ages of 7 and 13, to play since they made it to the playoffs.