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FRIDAY EVENING UPDATE:
Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 reached out to Aliquippa Mayor Dwan Walker on Friday morning and he said the Aliquippa Little Quips program had been reinstated.
However, Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 is learning that’s not the case. We’re told the team has been removed from the league after a judge declined an injunction to reinstate them.
EARLIER REPORT:
The Aliquippa Little Quips youth football teams have been removed from their league, days away from the league’s semifinals.
The Little Quips organization told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 that their teams were blindsided when the Beaver County Youth Football League board voted 6-3 to remove them Wednesday night.
Aliquippa parents met Thursday evening to discuss the next steps. The Little Quips program serves more than 100 youth football players and around 75 cheerleaders.
The BCYFL said the vote to remove the teams was the result of a “history of misconduct” and a recent fight among adults following a game.
“Aliquippa is a football town. We bleed it. We bleed red and black. We love our kids. We love our program,” said Jason Harvey, president of the Aliquippa Youth Football Organization. “This is one way to keep them out of harm’s way. I mean, like, without this, they don’t have nothing. Nothing at all.”
A statement from the BCYFL detailed an incident last Saturday following the game between the Central Valley Little Warriors and the Aliquippa Little Quips, where “a pregnant mother was assaulted by several Aliquippa spectators.”
Center Township Police Chief Aldo Legge said he is awaiting higher-quality video of the fight than what was shared by both the BCYFL and the Little Quips to identify those involved.
Legge said there are pending charges against multiple people.
“This was between two stupid parents who got out of theirself, and a situation like that, and caused this whole snowball effect to happen, that detriment to our kids,” Aliquippa Mayor Dwan Walker said.
Walker said he tried to break up the fight and only saw one Aliquippa spectator involved.
The league’s removal of the Little Quips was held four days later and was effective immediately.
A BCYFL board member said, “Their removal is not attributed to this one incident, but it was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. They have had a history of misconduct. Eight people didn’t vote them out. Eight organizations that have over 150 families all voiced their opinion and said enough is enough.”
Aliquippa coaches question why the teams were removed this week and not prior if the board claims there has been a “history of misconduct.”
“Our kids know about accountability. Our kids know about standing up for what’s right for them. But at the end of the day, when you punish a 4-year-old for something that he had nothing to do with — make it make sense to me,” Harvey said.
Walker said he’s exploring what legal options the team might have.
A BCYFL board member said Central Valley’s team was not disciplined for the fight because they believed the woman who police identified as the victim was acting in self-defense.
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