A youth basketball coach in California was fired this week after he choked out a referee during a game in an incident that was captured on video.
TMZ reports the altercation took place on Saturday at the Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, when the coach of the Cavs Youth Basketball’s 10U team lost his cool after he was hit with two technical fouls. A heated confrontation ensued, at which point the coach began to choke the referee.
The viral video shows the coach had his hands around the ref’s neck for several seconds before another referee came to his defense, throwing a punch at the attacker. The clip ends with the ref and coach both locked on one another.
Darryl McDonald, the founder of the Cavs organization, told TMZ that the altercation was broken up a few moments later. After conducting an investigation into the incident, McDonald fired the coach on Sunday.
“It was unfortunate,” McDonald said. “Our program has been around for over 30 years and before it even went viral, the coach was no longer part of our program. It’s completely unacceptable to behave that way in front of our youth. There’s no excuse, I don’t care what someone says to you. You have to find a better way to handle that particular situation.”
McDonald added that he wasn’t sure if the referee plans on pressing charges against the former coach.
