Fights are an accepted part of hockey, but the brawls are usually between the players themselves. Instead, at a recent youth hockey tournament in New Jersey, adult spectators got in on the violence.
“What the videos showed and what we found is the kids had got into an altercation on the court. [That] led to some of the coaches coming out on the court as well as some of the parents who also came out on the court,” Sgt. Ben Kollman with the Egg Harbor Township Police Department told the local ABC affiliate.
Officials told ABC News that the “complete chaos” was captured on video. The incident occurred when the Philadelphia Frenzy Cadet A team competed against the Maple Shade Cadet A team in the Veterans Memorial Invitational Tournament.
Police revealed on Facebook that they were made aware of the video by members of the public. “This type of behavior will not be tolerated,” the post read.
“Never have we had the parents come out like this. Even in any hockey event, I’ve never seen parents coming running out and getting involved,” Kollman told CBS News.
Kollman told ABC News that it was “sad to watch some of the videos and see some of the kids trying to pull their parents off of other people.” He added that he hopes that parents and coaches learn to “control themselves.”
Adults Arrested After Brawl at Youth Hockey Match
Colleen Biddle, 41, Justin Pacheco, 38, and Robert Schafer, 38, were charged after the fact. They are facing a charge of “simple assault at a youth sporting event and disorderly conduct,” police told the outlet.
“The three people that are being charged were involved in most of the fighting,” Kollman told the outlet. “Others that were on the court, some people did go out there and assist to break up the fight, as well as assist to remove some kids and get them to a safer place.”
As a result of the altercation, the American Ball Hockey Alliance told the outlet that it has suspended both teams from the Veterans Memorial Invitational Tournament. The board also said a Maple Shade Cadet A assistant coach has been suspended from the ABHA.
The ABHA also spoke out in a statement to the local ABC affiliate.
“We want to emphasize that this type of behavior is not representative of normal street/dek hockey play,” the ABHA said. “Violence is never condoned in our sport.”
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