A youth flag football game turned into an all-out brawl Sunday when roughly 100 parents, spectators and players started fighting at a tournament for children.
Police from four different agencies sent 70 officers to break up the melee at the Arizona Athletic Grounds. Despite the massive response, authorities made no arrests. The fight erupted around 1 p.m. during a 7-on-7 game at the MLK Jamboree Tournament, the Mesa Police Department told 12News. About 10 players from each team started throwing punches before parents and spectators jumped in and escalated the situation. (RELATED: Wild Brawl Erupts Between Ton Of Parents During Youth Football Game)
One parent who witnessed the chaos said he was not surprised. “The competitiveness of club sports is crazy out there. Parents are competitive. Children are competitive. To me, it was just a matter of time before somebody got into an altercation,” Andrew Platt told AZFamily.
Mesa PD spokesman Jose Aguirre told KTAR that 37 Mesa officers, 22 Gilbert officers, eight Queen Creek officers and three Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies responded. Officers cleared all fields within 45 minutes. No one reported injuries.
Dane Plote, a young player warming up for his first game, watched the violence unfold. “We just see everyone screaming, yelling and going toward the action on that field,” Plote told 12News.
A 15-year-old player told KNXV he counted about 30 police vehicles on the fields. He said it took 15 minutes just to get out of the facility.
Tournament organizer Red Zone Elite disputed the 100-person figure in a statement to AZFamily. The group blamed “a handful of players from four specific teams” and said a crowd followed them “antagonizing [them] further.”
While police filed no charges, Red Zone Elite announced it will ban all involved parties from future tournaments. KNXV reported one team issued an apology and suspended multiple players.
Families had traveled from California, Nevada, Texas and Tucson for the event. Organizers canceled all remaining games.