An unidentified high school football coach in Atlanta was accused of punching one of his players in the stomach during a game on Saturday. Reports suggest that he was arrested.
Mays High School was up against Douglas County and the incident occurred in the first quarter of the game. The Mays coach was seen screaming at number 24 on his own team. He then appeared to strike him in the stomach. The player hunched over in pain before standing back up. The coach kept yelling at him.
PHOTOS: American High School Coach Arrested For Punching Player In Stomach
An American high school football coach has been arrested after he was caught on camera punching a player in the stomach during a game in Atlanta.
The unnamed coach who was employed by Mays High School… pic.twitter.com/kUPLmxFvHx
— Punch Newspapers (@MobilePunch) August 27, 2023
As reported by Atlanta News First, after the incident, an Atlanta Public Schools police officer removed the coach from the sidelines. He was placed in custody. Additionally, the coach was a “lay coach”. This means that he was a volunteer coach and holds another job outside of the education field.
“A lay coach for Mays High School, who is not a classroom instructor, is in police custody after an incident that occurred on the sideline during the school’s game this afternoon against Douglas County High School,” spokesman Seth Colemans said, according to New York Post. “The lay coach will be charged with simple battery and face administrative charges from the district.”
The match was taking place at Eddie. S Henderson Stadium at Midtown High School in Atlanta. The incident was caught on camera as the match was being broadcast on PeachtreeTV.
Fans react in disbelief to the “soft” nature of the Atlanta High School coach’s arrest
Most netizens were not in agreement with the nature of the arrest of the unidentified coach. One fan on Instagram wrote, “Y’all are so soft he was literally just tryna rough him up. Arresting for that light tap is crazy. If this got him arrested then my sports coach would damn near be taken to Alcatraz if what he did to us was on tape.”
One fan described his own experience with one of his coaches and stated he had been through more of the same. They wrote, “If he got arrested for that love tap… I wonder what my coaches would’ve gotten… just a little tuneup to refocus.”
View this post on Instagram
One fan justified the coach’s behaviour by stating, “He just an old school coach.”
However, there were fans who supported the decision as well. One of them wrote, “Grabbing a facemask, smacking a helmet… BUT NEVER PUNCHING A KID IN THE STOMACH…Buddy lost it.”
Many netizens have had their say on the matter. What are your views on the actions of the coach? Let us know about it in the comments below.