Police in Winter Park, Fla. were called to settle a dispute between soccer tournament organizers and the family of a budding soccer prodigy. The reason for their alleged clash? The skills of the aforementioned soccer pupil.

Videos of the player took hold of social media on Monday. The videos, posted by the player’s parents, showed the boy ghosting past opposition players before scoring. According to the parents, that was enough to run afoul of the tournament organizers, who reportedly responded by seeking out law enforcement.

Here’s what you need to know.

MORE: Humble hero Kane the perfect heir to Matthews as Ballon d’Or comes ‘home’

Police called on 3-year-old for being ‘too good’ at soccer

A youth soccer tournament in Florida was disrupted after police were called to remove the family of a three-year old said to be playing too well against his peers. An organizer of the tournament told police that the player, a three-year-old boy named Nevada, was pushing other players, per ESPN. 

Body camera footage of the police response released on Monday showed the child’s parents alleging that Nevada, who is Black, was kicked out of the league too good.

One of Nevada’s parents posted a clip of the interaction with police on social media on Monday, garnering millions of views.

The body camera footage showed the organizer, who works for nationwide youth sports organization i9 Sports, raving of Nevada’s talents.

“The kid is good. He’s great. Really good,” the organizer said. “He’s very advanced compared to the other ones, so he’s scoring a lot of goals. But he’s pushing the kids … So, I try to tell him, don’t push; we want to play without pushing, right?”

The organizer told police that Nevada’s parents grew argumentative after their son was taken out of the game. The organizer then expressed frustration with the parents’ reaction.

“I just want him out. Immediately,” the organizer told police. “Just give me their names so I can give them their refund.”

The video posted by the family didn’t show Nevada making untoward physical contact. Officers didn’t cite Nevada’s family for its action, reportedly telling the organizer that they didn’t have the power to do so.

An officer told another that he wanted to see Nevada play as interaction concluded.

“I kind of want to see him play,” the officer said. “I bet he’s good.”

Share this post

Subscribe to our newsletter

Keep up with the latest blog posts by staying updated. No spamming: we promise.
By clicking Sign Up you’re confirming that you agree with our Terms and Conditions.

Related posts