Posted on 05/16/2005 9:07:54 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
ROHNERT PARK, Calif. (AP) - Police are seeking criminal charges against several adults in a violent melee at a girls rugby match that left a coach bloodied and unconscious and a referee with a split lip.
"I've never seen anything like it," said coach Craig Stewart, 55, who was knocked unconscious after he was kicked in the head by another coach and parents during a game Saturday afternoon at Rancho Cotate High School in Rohnert Park, according to witnesses and police.
"I never saw them coming," Stewart said. "They just started kicking me in the head and the face."
The violence erupted during a tournament game between the Rohnert Park Girls Rugby Club and Stewart's team, the Alameda High School Riptide club team.
The conflict began when referee Paul Berman, 33, ordered a spectator off the field and was punched in the face three times by the brother of the coach of the Rohnert Park team, according to Rohnert Park police Sgt. Art Sweeney.
That's when Stewart intervened to help Berman and held the attacker on the ground until police arrived, detectives said. The Rohnert Park coach and up to eight dads then descended on Stewart, Sweeney said Sunday.
"That's the last thing I remember," said Stewart.
Stewart said his assistant coach, William Travis, was also injured when he attempted to protect him.
Stewart was rushed by ambulance to Kaiser Medical Center in Santa Rosa for treatment of cuts and a head injury. Berman was treated on the scene for a split lip.
Several of the adults fled by the time police arrived on the scene, Sweeney said.
Police are still investigating and working to identify all adults involved, said Sweeney. No had been arrested by late Sunday.
The case will be referred to the Sonoma County district attorney on Monday for review. Charges against those involved could include battery and assault with a deadly weapon for kicking Stewart in the head, said Sweeney.
"It's very serious," he added.
Give the perps a fair trial and a fast hanging.
Except this is a liberal area of CA ...
parents reliving their inept childhood through their children...
Well finally, something that Northern Californians are willing to fight for.
Isn't using the words "rugby" and "melee" in the same sentence redundant?
But pro basketball is where all the "violent thugs" are!
Please.. Anyone who thinks that there pro-athletics is rife with violence and thuggery has never watched any high-school, or club athletics.
Never mind. I was just hoping before reading the article. Men fighting isn't as much fun :(
You have no one to blame but yourself for ruining the interesting mind picture. Me, I never read the articles, I can make stuff up better than any news monkey.
Owl_Eagle
(If what I just wrote makes you sad or angry,
You know sometin's outa whack, when people fight over a
"game"....
...and I observed, that some families try to force their
will over other families through symbolic competition, and
if unfairness is even suspected will resort to uncontrolled
violence and rage....
from the fictitious work..."Early Signs of a Demise of a
Culture"
I thought these fights were protected under sexual-orientation laws...
... the high costs of "living" in the Bay Area ...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.