Coach facing charges after video captures him shoving student-athlete
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MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Pennsylvania (KYW) — Authorities released the name of a volunteer lacrosse coach who is facing charges for shoving a student-athlete. Eyewitness News spoke with the chief of police and school district on Friday about what happened and if his coaching days are over.
Sports can get heated on the field, but tonight, a coach is facing charges for a sideline shove that could even land him in jail.
Game video captured the moment a Methacton High School men’s lacrosse coach lost his cool and shoved an opposing team’s player in the facemask.
“Especially in this day and age, you never know how out of hands things are going to get,” Towamencin Township Police Chief Timothy Troxel said.
It happened during a game on May 14 against North Penn High School.
Watch as a coach from Methacton and player No. 1 from North Penn appear to exchange some words after a play. You then see 50-year-old Garth Little, the man wearing the sling, use his free arm to shove that player.
“In the heat of the moment of the game, especially as a coach, if you are not able to keep yourself in control in those situations, then maybe you shouldn’t be on the sideline coaching,” Troxel said.
After the refs sorted things out, Little was ejected. After the game, Methacton’s Superintendent Dr. David Zerbe apologized in a statement for the “unprofessional behavior displayed.”
But when asked if Little would be allowed to coach again, Zerbe only said, “the matter has been addressed.”
Following a police investigation, Little was charged with harassment despite a public outcry for more.
“Since it was a strike to the helmet,” Troxel said, “and being that there was no bodily injury, it did not meet the criteria to be classified as a simple assault.”
Little faces a $300 fine and a maximum sentence of 90 days in jail.
Eyewitness News reached out to Little and the player for comment. We have yet to hear back.
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