Youth Coach Accused of Breaking Boy's Arms
Sept. 21 -- After missing a football pass last week, a 10-year-old Florida boy is nursing two broken arms he allegedly suffered at the hands of his own coach.
The coach, a 34-year-old Boys and Girls Club volunteer, is facing charges of child abuse and is now tied to the list violent incidents nationwide that have taken much of the fun out youth sports this year.
This latest incident has at least one child sports advocate calling for national mandatory training for parents and volunteers who wish to coach youth activities.
“This is a clear example what people like myself have been saying all along,” said Fred Engh, president of the National Alliance For Youth Sports, a Florida-based organization that advises recreation programs across the country. “The only way we’re going to stop incidents like these from occurring is if we require parents and volunteers go through training and ethics orientation before we allow them to coach or children and use park and recreational facilities.”
Florida prosecutors have charged Ronald Gibson with aggravated child abuse. Witnesses told police the over 6 foot, 240-pound Gibson grabbed the 10-year-old member of the Boys and Girls Club, picked him up and threw him backward. When the boy put out his arms to break the fall, two bones in his right forearm and one bone in his left forearm snapped.
The Boys and Girls Club has fired Gibson, who had worked part-time for the group since 1998 and is conducting its own investigation. Police have interviewed members of Gibson’s team and have found no previous allegations of abuse.
National Campaign For TrainingGibson’s alleged attack on the boy is the latest in a string of violent incidents in youth sports this year that saw, among other things, a Massachusetts father charged with killing a fellow parent during a hockey game and a Florida soccer coach charged with battery for head-butting a referee. The Boy and Girls Club says its policy has been to conduct background checks on all employees and perform status checks on part-time employees every five years.
