Polk County Sheriff Vows Charges After Parents Brawl at 8U Football Game in Winter Haven

A game between two teams of 8-year-olds in Winter Haven, Florida, ended last Saturday with grown adults trading punches on the field.

The Polk County Sheriff's Office has opened an investigation. As of today, Oct. 15, no one has been arrested.

What happened on the field

The game was an 8U matchup involving the Plant City Colts Certified Strikers. Accounts differ on the opponent: WTVT and Tampa Bay 28 name it as HOA 30 Kartel, while Fox 13 lists the Winter Haven Tigers. The Colts lost 16-0, according to WTVT.

After the final whistle, a parent struck a Plant City coach in the head. That punch triggered a larger fight among adults.

Video shared online shows children in full football gear scrambling away. One man ends up on the ground after apparently trying to grab another parent's legs. Others throw punches at random. A woman can be heard yelling "Stop." In the footage, one person in what looks like a red bandana appears to be holding a bat.

The field sits next to the Sheriff's Office Central Substation, according to Fox 13.

Accounts of the deputies' response differ. Fox 13 reports that law enforcement responded and broke up the crowd. The Sheriff's Office told Tampa Bay 28 that everyone involved had left by the time deputies arrived.

Sharod Odom, a Lakeland youth football coach who attended, described the scene to Tampa Bay 28. He said people were congratulating one another after the game.

"Everybody walking, saying good game, good game. A moment, hands go to swinging, brawls go to happening and people go to pushing, and it just broke out from there," Odom said.

Odom has coached youth football for about five years. He said rivalry between teams can be intense, but coaches' relationships with their players go beyond the scoreboard.

The gambling claim

Deputies were told the fight may have started over parents betting on the game. That is the only link to gambling so far.

Some witnesses told Tampa Bay 28 the fight may have stemmed from disputes over bets. That claim has not been independently confirmed. Fox 13 reports that investigators currently have no video evidence or proof of gambling.

Authorities also have not established who started the fight.

The central question remains open. Adults brawled at a children's game, and nobody has shown what they were fighting about.

Sheriff Judd's response

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd was blunt about what comes next.

"The kids behaved, the coaches and the parents didn't, and we are going to criminally charge those that were disorderly and those that participated in an affray," Judd said.

The charges would be misdemeanors: disorderly conduct or affray. Additional charges are possible if detectives find evidence of illegal betting.

Judd also said he plans to put undercover detectives in the stands. "I'm going to send undercover detectives to these youth football games," he said. "And when I catch you betting, we're going to charge you. You don't go to youth football games to bet on children playing sports. Not now, not ever."

He added that parents are supposed to teach children how to behave rather than set a bad example.

Where it stands

The teams have not commented. Tampa Bay 28 said it reached out to both and had received no response.

The Sheriff's Office has not named any suspects. It has not said whether the person with the apparent bat is among those being sought.

Adult misbehavior at youth sports is not new. A coach and a referee fought at a girls' flag football game in Massachusetts the same day, according to the New York Post. But a sheriff publicly promising undercover enforcement at children's games over betting is unusual, and the promise rests on a gambling claim investigators have not yet substantiated.

The next step is identification. Detectives must work out who threw punches and who was on the field before any misdemeanor charges can be filed. Whether any betting surfaces, and whether the undercover deployment Judd described turns up cases at other games, is not yet known.