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Company says it will no longer use referee who choked coach Saturday, May 24, 2008 By John Lyon Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - A referee who choked a coach at a youth basketball tournament sponsored by Youth Sports America will not officiate at any future YSA-sponsored events, a spokeswoman for the Maumelle-based company said Friday. Mickey Shaffer of Poyen, coach of the Lady Wings 12-and-under team from Central Arkansas, said he was choked briefly by a referee he did not know during the Challenge of Champions tournament in Little Rock on May 17. Shaffer said he verbally confronted the referee after being ejected from the game, and the referee placed his hands on Shaffer's throat and choked him for a few seconds. A YSA spokeswoman who identified herself as "Felicia" but would not give her last name said Friday the company has asked that the referee not be assigned to any more of its events. She referred questions about the referee's identity to Fred Holt, who she said coordinates officials for YSA activities. Holt did not return repeated phone messages left for him this week by the Arkansas News Bureau seeking comment. A Little Rock man who is listed on the Arkansas Activities Association's Web site as a referee registered with the Arkansas Officials Association, and who is believed to be the official who choked the coach, answered a phone call from a reporter at his home Friday but hung up when the reporter identified himself. AAA spokesman Wadie Moore said Friday he had seen a photo of the choking incident but did not know the identity of the referee. Moore said questions about what action the AAA might take regarding the referee would have to be answered by the organization's executive director, Lance Taylor. A phone message left at Taylor's home Friday afternoon was not immediately returned. YSA's spokeswoman said Shaffer has told the company he does not intend to pursue any action against the referee, and there is nothing more the company can do, she said. "All we can do is ask that that official no longer call YSA games," she said. YSA has received no complaints about the incident, she said. The Lady Wings players are from Bauxite, Beebe, Fountain Lake, Jessieville and Poyen. Shaffer, who also is head girls basketball coach at Poyen High School, said the referee called a technical foul on him after he questioned a call, then ejected him after he continued objecting to the call. Shaffer said he regretted his own behavior in the incident and had no ill will against the referee. |
