Winter Park police were called to Martin Luther King Jr. Park on Saturday morning after a youth soccer league official called 911 and reported a disturbance involving the parents of a player in a league for 5-year-olds. You can hear it below.
Police described the incident to Orlando Shine as a civil matter, and no one was arrested, trespassed, or forced to leave the park, according to a Winter Park Police Department news release issued Monday.
The call came in at about 9:50 a.m. on Saturday, October 24, from the league’s director, Thomas Hayes of i9 Sports (Website), who told dispatchers a parent was causing a disturbance at a sporting event at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Park, according to the police event report.
Two officers arrived at about 10 a.m. According to the report, Hayes told officers the parents were upset about 3-year-old Nevada’s playing time (that’s not a typo; he was allowed to play with older children because he was such a good player). He said the parents had been told their child would no longer be allowed to play in the league because of their behavior.
The parents told officers their child was being scorned for playing too well and was being taken out of the game, the report states.
Officers told both sides police had no control over the situation and that any refund would be a civil matter. The director told officers a refund would be given at a later date. The department’s release says the league had asked the family to leave and offered to refund the league fee. After officers arrived, the league official asked them to speak with the family because he did not want to escalate the disturbance.
The family told officers the game was over and they were leaving. Police said the family was cooperative and asked for an event number for the incident, which officers provided. Contrary to other reports, the family was not respassed from the park, according to Winter Park Police.
According to the report, the parents left the field without issue and cooperated with the league’s request. Officers cleared the call at about 10:30 a.m. The department said the officers’ body-worn cameras confirm its account.
