I9 Sports director asked 911 to rush police to youth soccer game

When a Youth Soccer Match Brings Out the Police

Saturday youth soccer usually involves orange slices, folding chairs, and low-stakes cheering. But at Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Winter Park, Florida, a youth league game descended into a police call after a dispute erupted over a 3-year-old player. The director of an i9 Sports league placed a hurried call to 911 on October 24, asking dispatchers to rush officers to the scene because the parents of a toddler were about to leave.

The 911 audio released by the Winter Park Police Department captures the league organizer telling the dispatcher that the situation was not a true emergency, but rather involved an unruly parent calling him names and filming him. The director described the parents, Martasia Griffin and Don Pierre, as disruptive and accused them of following him around the park. After answering basic location questions, the director urged the dispatcher to send someone immediately. “It just needs to be, like, a rush,” he said on the recording. “If you can have someone rush here real quick please.”

Director Claims Child Pushed Other Players

When Winter Park police officers arrived at the park, the director offered a different layer of explanation for the confrontation. Bodycam footage shows the official claiming that 3-year-old Nevada Pierre had been pushing other children on the team. The director told officers that the boy was advanced compared to his peers and scored frequently, but that his physical play required intervention. He stated on the footage that he attempted to tell the child not to push, emphasizing that the league wanted to play without pushing.

I9 Sports director asked 911 to rush police to youth soccer game — Photo: sg.news.yahoo.com

The boy’s parents offered a starkly different account of the morning. When officers spoke with them, Martasia Griffin noted that other adults appeared to hold grievances against a toddler. “They have issues with a 3-year old, they’re mad at a 3-year old because me and him haven’t done nothing,” she told police, adding that she and Pierre stood on the opposite side of the field away from the other parents to avoid friction.

By Monday, Oct. 26, Griffin took the defense of her son to Instagram. She published a video capturing the entire soccer game without cuts or edits, challenging the league official’s claims. “This is the full game no cut no edit where is the pushing ?” she wrote in the caption.

Police Classify Incident as Civil Matter

Police ultimately classified the incident as a civil matter, and no arrests were made at the park. Following the public attention drawn by the 911 audio and bodycam footage, the local i9 Sports program issued a statement to WESH acknowledging the community concerns. The organization stated that they take the matter very seriously, emphasized that the well-being and respectful treatment of every child and family matter deeply, and confirmed they had reached out to the family to begin a review of the circumstances.