The Pierce County Recreation Department has lodged a formal complaint about incidents of poor sportsmanship, vulgarity, threats and intimidation that occurred during the girls’ district tournament in Bacon County Saturday, March 1.
Recreation Director Maureen Brown confirmed a complaint had been filed with the Georgia Recreation and Parks Association regarding several rules violations that occurred at the tournament.
McKayla Carter, a coach for the girls 10U basketball team, addressed the recreation board during its regular monthly meeting last Tuesday morning.
Carter said her team was already down 32-0 at half-time, but her players wanted to continue to play the game and “have fun.” Fun and games is not what happened at the tournament, however.
Carter said several of her basketball players, assistant coaches, parents and fans reported being threatened and cursed at by Bacon County fans and players during the second half of the game.
“I ...made the decision to evacuate my team from the premises due to this being such an unsafe environment,” said Carter.
Witnesses and video taken at the game show Bacon County parents and fans taunting Pierce County players and fans. One parent tells a player to punch a Pierce County player in the face if she got fouled. The “M-F” expletive is used during the video.
Brown said the incident has been reported to GRPA for review and possible disciplinary action.
