A Recent History of Violence Against Referees in Youth Sports

It happens more often than you think.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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It may be hard to believe, but while the youngn's are cultivating their athletic prowess in youth sports, there are coaches frequently getting into violent altercations with referees, fans hitting officials with sucker punches all too often and so on. It's a sad reality that tends to happen more than you would believe. The most recent occurrence came from Salt Lake City where soccer referee Ricardo Portillo was punched in the face by a disgruntled player over a yellow card. Sadly, Portillo died several days after severe swelling in his brain caused him to slip into a coma. In an effort to shed more light on a issue that goes fairly unnoticed, here's A History of Violence Against Referees in Youth Sports.

Michael Costin

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Marc Benavides

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Randall Grass

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Jim Hamm

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Olivia Harrington

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Robert Kevin Waters

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Jamie Reed

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Mike Harrington

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Andrew Keigans

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Richard Nieuwenhuizen

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Ricardo Portillo

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