Video Shows Youth Basketball Coach Choking Referee

Footage that allegedly shows a coach choking a referee during a youth basketball game in the United States has gone viral, attracting more than 1.2 million views in the hours after it was uploaded in the latest instance of violence to mar youth sports in America.

Specific details as to the incident remain scant but the viral clip shows a heated confrontation on the basketball court between a match official and another man described online as being a coach of one of the two youth teams playing in the game.

The eight-second clip then captures the supposed coach violently choking the referee as several bystanders unsuccessfully attempt to pry his grip from the referee’s neck.

The attacker is then punched on the right side of his head by another referee coming to the aid of the official — knocking the coach’s glasses to the ground.

Shocked onlookers can be heard exclaiming their shock at the incident – a reaction matched by many of the people who viewed the clip as it went viral on social media.

Lawd Jesus this is what we doing now days? Bruhhhhh did y’all find ol boys glasses tho pic.twitter.com/Tv8eMNnrDe

— EGB Hoops (@egbhoops) January 30, 2022

Replies to the video began piling up online. Below is a snippet from those comments.

“Totally unacceptable,” wrote one person in response to the video. “I witnessed a grown man just the other day going at it with kids in the stands.

“They should have ask him to leave right away l before this kind of thing happened. Let the kids enjoy their time their time their time.”

“Just a damn shame, adults making it more about them instead of the kids,” said another.

“Unacceptable,” agreed another. “What example are we showing these kids with this kind of behavior? As adults we must lead by example. Not escalate a situation. Just sad.”