Coach Fights Referee at AAU Tournament

An AAU coach and a referee got into a fight on Saturday. It’s a wild scene that was all caught on video by a parent. It looks like it starts when the coach shoves or punches the referee, who then squares up, correctly assuming the coach is going to want to continue fight. The coach throws a leg kick and then they start taking swings. The coach shoves a female official away multiple times before the fight is broken up and the referee is convinced he should leave. Inexplicably, it appears the coach is staying as the video ends.

To make sure this was new, I searched “AAU coach fights ref” thinking, if this isn’t new the video will pop right up, but there are actually quite a few instances AAU coaches having physical altercations with officials. That’s both extremely sad and completely unsurprising.

People really need to chill and leave referees, officials and umpires alone. Especially at the lower levels where they’re calling games for free or a little extra pocket change. There cannot possibly be justification for an incident like this.