A 3-year-old soccer star is “traumatized” after police were called to his youth soccer game in Winter Park, Florida, his mother said.
Nevada, the young player, can be seen in a viral video repeatedly scoring goals during the fall season of an i9 Sports youth soccer game. The boy’s parents can be heard talking to authorities later in the video, who were called to Nevada’s Saturday game.
“They called the police on a 3-year-old because he’s too good,” Nevada’s father, Don, can be heard saying in the video. “They called the police on a 3-year-old because he had the ball for too long.”
“It really traumatized Nevada,” said Martasia, who declined to give her last name. “He still wants to play soccer. He just doesn’t want to go back to that place. I don’t think that’s how he should be thinking, that as a 3-year-old he did something wrong.”
Martasia said her 3-year-old has been unfairly targeted over the season because of his talent — he’s playing in a league with 5-year-olds. “As soon as he started the game, they stopped the game. Other parents, the director, and some of the coaches got in a circle, and I knew they were talking about Nevada, trying to figure out how to let us know that he can’t play so the other kids could play.”
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“When I walked up on them talking about that, the director said that everybody is paying money, so everybody should play. They were trying to find a reason why he can’t play. Once I started speaking up for Nevada, they just called the police,” she said.
“The parents was coming up to [the league director] saying that, ‘Oh, if my kid can’t get any playing time, then they’re just gonna go home,’” she explained.
The Winter Park Police Department confirmed officers were called to the youth soccer game by a league official due to a disturbance between parents. Authorities informed attendees it was a civil matter and left without incident.
Martasia believes the entire debacle should have been handled differently.
“It’s heartbreaking because now Nevada’s saying he doesn’t wanna go over there. He’s scared that he did something wrong.”
Martasia said the league refunded the family for Nevada’s fall soccer league registration.
“We are aware of concerns being shared regarding an incident at a local i9 Sports program, and we take them very seriously,” a spokesperson from the youth sports league said. “The respectful treatment and well-being of every child and family matter deeply to us. We have reached out to the family and have begun a review that includes speaking with those involved. While we work to understand the circumstances, we will not speculate or share unverified information. We appreciate everyone who has brought their concerns to our attention.”
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Nevada, who started dribbling a soccer ball at 10 months old, trains with his father three hours a day, according to his mother. He has a sizable following on social media, where he showcases his ball-handling skills.
The incident caught the attention of Eddie Johnson, a former professional soccer player. Nevada will be joining Johnson’s Orlando-based youth soccer training program in January, his mother said.
“Now that this situation happened, he’s just gonna take [Nevada] under his wing because he has the proper program for him,” she said.