Staff Reporter
It's Sunday afternoon and a semifinal soccer match is dissolving into screaming and shoving. A referee is accosted, a supporter punched, a police officer – who tries to intervene – scratched. Arrests are made and a embarrassed team is withdrawn from the tournament.
Think we're talking about World Cup play? Not even close. These histrionics took place at an "under-8" match for boys in Pickering on the weekend. The referee? A 14-year-old girl.
Now, an irate soccer mom who disagreed with the girl's officiating faces assault charges. Her husband is also charged.
"Incidents like this are very rare and sometime parents get heated or passionate about the game," said Shelly Augustin of the Pickering Soccer Club. "It's an incident and it's unfortunate that it happened but we had people on hand who were able to handle it quickly."
The outburst came during the dying moments of a semifinal match of the kids' tournament, in Diana, Princess of Wales Park near Kingston Rd. and Brock Rd., police said.
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