A Utah youth football league has issued a statement regarding an incident at a recent game that resulted in a large group of parents coming to blows on the field.
According to KSL.com, parents at a Saturday Ute Conference Football game were upset over a call and a number of them rushed the field.
Melynda and Dave Epperson were attending a different game, but they witnessed the melee.
"Watching parents attacking each other, I saw fists. I saw people pulling people apart," Melynda Epperson told KSL. "I saw two police officers come onto the field pulling people apart. Coaches, refs pulling people apart."
Police intervened in the chaos, eventually drawing their tasers. At that point, a coach yelled for the kids on the field to run.
Epperson said that as the fight was taking place on the other field, the game that she was watching also took a turn for the worse.
"The referee was screaming profanities at the coach," Epperson explained. "And so that game was abruptly ended. So, both these games ended in the fourth quarter, without being completed."
Ute Conference Football executive director Jeff Gorringe said Sunday evening that the organization was aware of the incidents and they are reviewing video footage of the fight.
"The Ute Conference is in process of supplying cameras to the majority of our games with full panoramic view of the entire field. The Ute conference also has police officers present at all games for the safety of our referees, coaches and players," he wrote, in a text message.
Gorringe thanked both police and referees for helping keep people safe at the event.
"The UC has zero tolerance for bad behavior and suspensions to all unruly parents and coaches entering the fields will be forthcoming," Gorringe wrote.
The Ute Conference also introduced new rules that will see a minimum three-game suspension for any parent that steps onto the field or goes after a referee.
"The UC has zero tolerance for bad behavior and suspensions to all unruly parents and coaches entering the fields will be forthcoming," Gorringe wrote.
