i9 Sports is feeling the heat after a controversial incident that involved a 3-year-old being pulled from a soccer league following a 911 call to police.
The youth sports league told TMZ on Tuesday that local league owners and team members have received threats, and the response “has been intense.”
The organization also told the outlet that the threats and the sharing of names and photos of those involved must stop.
On Saturday, league director Thomas Hayes called 911 around 9:50 a.m. about a parent being “really, really disruptive” at a game in a league for 5-year-old kids at Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Winter Park, Fla.
Two officers were on the scene by 10 a.m. and Hayes told the officials that parents were upset about the playing time given to 3-year-old Nevada Pierre.
i9 Sports made it clear to the outlet that the call to authorities was not made for the child but to de-escalate a dispute between adults at the game.
Nevada’s parents were upset that he was being scorned for playing well and was being taken out of the game. They were also told that their child can no longer play in the league due to their behavior.
The league confirmed that the family requested a refund from the league, and it has been processed with confirmation sent Oct. 24.
In a recent interview, Nevada’s mother, Martasia said the incident “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 before adding Nevada has been targeted in the league.
She claimed she saw other parents talking together before the game, “trying to figure out how to let us know that he can’t play so the other kids could play.”
Martasia confronted the coaches, Hayes and the parents to stand up for her son, which seemingly led to the 911 call.
No arrests were made and no one trespassed, according to police.
The incident has since gone viral and ex-USMNT Eddie Johnson has even reached out to coach Nevada.
Johnson, a former MLS and Premier League striker, owns and runs EJE7 Soccer Academy in Orlando. He stood up for Nevada in an Instagram post Monday.
“Nevada deserves to be around someone that looks like him that can understand him and it’s sad in youth soccer we don’t have enough of those programs for kids of color to have those examples around them because soccer is a rich suburban sport that’s controlled by privileged rich entitled parents and no one likes when the less fortunate kids are better then their kids. One of the many
issues with youth soccer in this country,” he wrote.
