Former U.S. men’s national soccer team player Eddie Johnson has offered to train 3-year-old Nevada Pierre after a Florida youth soccer league director called police over allegations that the child’s parents were being disruptive during a game.
Johnson, who runs EJE7 Soccer Academy in Orlando, Florida, addressed the incident in a post shared to social media, criticizing barriers facing children of color in youth soccer.
“Nevada deserves to be around someone that looks like him that can understand him,” Johnson wrote. He described soccer as “a rich suburban sport that’s controlled by privileged rich entitled parents” and argued that “no one likes when the less fortunate kids are better than their kids.”
Johnson said his experiences with those barriers helped motivate him to create EJE7, which he said encourages “freedom and creativity.”
“We should be praising a three year old with his ability instead of tarnishing it,” he wrote.
The incident occurred Saturday (October 24) during an i9 Sports game in Winter Park, Florida.
According to CBS News, league director Thomas Hayes told police that Nevada was “really advanced compared to the other ones” and scored many goals, but alleged that the toddler also pushed other children.
Hayes said he called police after a disagreement with Nevada’s parents, whom he accused of being disruptive.
In police body-camera footage reviewed by CBS News, Nevada’s mother, Martasia Griffin, told officers, “They’re literally kicking him out of this place because he’s good at soccer.”
Nevada’s father, Don Pierre, said in a family video, “They called the police on a 3-year-old because he’s too good.”
In a statement to ESPN, an i9 Sports representative said police were called over a disturbance between adults, not because of Nevada.
“A league official called police to report a disturbance between adults at the game and to help de-escalate it,” the statement read. “The official described the parents as being disruptive.”
i9 Sports said it reviewed witness interviews and police materials but had no video of the incident. Police said no one was arrested or removed from the park and classified the matter as civil, not criminal, according to CBS News.
A GoFundMe campaign launched by Griffin to support Nevada’s soccer development has raised more than $45,000, surpassing its $30,000 goal.
Griffin said donations will help cover registration fees, training, equipment, uniforms and travel expenses so her son can continue developing his skills in a supportive environment.
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