A Georgia youth football coach is now facing charges after striking a player on his team.
A video shows U-9 football coach Gerrell Williams slapping a child’s helmet and yelling at him. Williams then hit the child a second time causing him to lose his balance and fall to the ground. The incident took place at the 2020 American Youth Football National Championships in Kissimmee, Florida, ESPN reports.
But the child’s mother has decided not to press charges against the coach.
“The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office along with our local state attorney’s office have reviewed this case and the decision has been made that charges for child abuse will be filed, regardless of parent’s decision not to press charges,” Maj. Jacob Ruiz said in a statement Friday. “The actions of this person are despicable and there is zero-tolerance when it comes to the abuse of a child.”
The incident has caused Williams to be banned from the league as well as fired from his job as a counselor in the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office’s detention center.
“We are of course beyond disappointed in the coaches actions, which are wholly inconsistent with the fundamental value of youth sports, which at its core is an opportunity for adult leaders to be role models for our nation’s youth,” Adam Laufer, executive vice president and general counsel at American Youth Football, said in a statement.
The former youth football coach has since issued his apology on a Facebook Live video, “I am going to apologize for my actions about what took place but at the end of the day, I am not going to make any excuses for it, I did it.”
