×
×
homepage logo

Football game Sunday turns nightmarish

By Shawn Linenberger - | Nov 29, 2006

Sheriff’s officers were called Sunday to Basehor Field of Dreams — about six months after a baseball umpire took shelter in a concession stand to escape an unruly coach and fans.

About 4:45 p.m. Sunday, during a youth football game, a player went out of bounds on a play.

A 17-year-old spectator said he thought the player deliberately tried to strike him as he went out of bounds, sheriff’s reports said.

While the player was on the ground, the 17-year-old started kicking the player.

The referee, a 37-year-old Kansas City, Kan., man, threw a penalty flag to have the spectator removed.

The spectator then threw the flag at the referee and challenged him to a fight. According to the sheriff’s report, the referee accepted the challenge.

At that point, the 17-year-old, along with a 30-year-old Holton woman and her husband attacked the referee, reports said. Sheriff’s office spokesman Leonard Ayres said Tuesday that it’s thought that the 17-year-old is from Kansas City, Kan.

Ayres said it was unknown what age group was playing at the tournament, although youth football normally includes players in the sixth grade and younger.

The report said that more spectators were thought to have joined in, but the case still is under investigation.

An attempt to reach a coordinator for football games at Field of Dreams was unsuccessful.

Last May, in a game between two Kansas City-area 12-and-younger teams, an umpire called a runner out at home plate for not sliding, as the runner collided with the catcher.

After the call, the umpire dealt with several angry protestors, as well as the third-base coach of the player who was thrown out. The umpire then retreated to a concession stand in the middle of the complex, where other umpires stood guard until law enforcement officials arrived.