Youth Coach Accused of Breaking Boy's Arms

Sept. 21, 2000 -- 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.

But NAYS president Engh says training, not more efficient background checks, is needed to prevent these ugly incidents. That’s why, Engh says, NAYS is launching a national campaign in October called “Time Out! Better Sports For Kids.” In the campaign, NAYS will mandate that all youth sports administrators who lease park and recreational facilities be required to receive training in all aspects of youth sports management.

The campaign also calls on parents to undergo a sportsmanship training and ethics program. If they refuse to participate, their children will not be allowed to participate in any sports activities.

“Most of the volunteers have not had one minute of youth sports training,” Engh said. “This is our stop sign. We’re saying that’s it’s over. If we’re going to put an end to these incidents of physical, emotional and psychological abuse our children are enduring, we must raise the standard of how sports programs are conducted in communities. We need to restrict who is allowed to use a community’s parks and public facilities.”

Success of EthicsEngh says mandatory parental sports ethics training has a track record of success. More than 175 communities have adopted a mandatory training program developed by NAYS that establishes a code of ethics for parents. Last February, the Jupiter/Tequesta Athletic Association in Jupiter, Fla. became the first to employ the program. The Jupiter group has since reported a noticeable decline in sports game incidents and Engh claims not one family has been thrown out of Jupiter under the ethics program.

Still, Engh says he would not offer counseling to Ronald Gibson. He would bar him from participating in any more youth activities.

“What people have to realize is sports like hockey and football attract the macho-types who may not have made the team in their peewee leagues and tell themselves, ‘This isn’t going to happen to me again,’” Engh said. “Those kind of people use kids to satisfy their own desires. I’m telling you, if we don’t do something, we’re still going to be wondering why [coaches and parents] act the way they do 30 years from now.”The Associated Press contributed to this report.