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Football coach who tackled kid gets fired

Petero, 36, also faces felony child abuse charge for nailing player at game

NBC VIDEO
Boy discusses coach's attack
Sept. 6: The “Today” show Ann curry talks with Brian Wood — who was seen on tape being knocked down by an opposing team’s assistant coach — as well as his mother, Denise Champion, and his coach’s wife, Liz Garrido.

Today show

msnbc.com news services
updated 9:36 p.m. ET Sept. 7, 2006

STOCKTON, Calif. - A youth football league has fired an assistant who was caught on video charging onto the field during a game and leveling a 13-year-old player from the opposing team. Cory Petero, 36, of Riverbank, has also been banned for life from the league following the incident during a weekend game in Stockton, KCRA reported.

"This is a very serious offense. This coach won't be coaching in the league anymore," said Jim Hall of Delta Youth Football.

Petero is also facing felony child abuse charges.

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"This was a coach that was also a parent, so obviously the emotion got to him before he thought, that something happened on the field and let his emotion as a parent took over from being a coach and he reacted to that in a way he never should have reacted," Hall said.

The Delta Valley League will meet Wednesday to formally address the problems that arose from Saturday's game.

Petero, 36, of Riverbank, turned himself in Saturday night following what witnesses described as a late hit that turned into a brawl, with parents and children from both teams fighting on the field for about 20 minutes.

Referee Tim Winek said he had just called a penalty on Brian Wood, 13, a Stockton Bears player.

“There was a penalty on the play, and it was a late hit,” Winek said. “The parent of the kid who got hit took exception to it. He came charging out onto the field.”

"I was scared because a grown man hit me. I thought it was a player at first just hitting me from behind and I turned around and it was a coach," Wood told KNTV.

Daniel Champion, who identified himself as Wood’s father, told The (Stockton) Record that his son suffered bruises on his stomach and jaw from the assault.

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The brawl erupted at around 3:30 p.m. with less than a minute left to play between the Riveroak Redskins and the Bears. At the time of the clash, the Redskins were ahead 16-6.

Reg Evans, vice president of the Delta Youth Football League, said Petero was out of line and should be banned from coaching.

“He (Petero) will never coach in the DYFL again,” Evans said. “This never should have happened.”

Petero’s family said he had no comment.

Evans and other league officials met Monday to decide what to do after the brawl. The league governs about 12,000 players ages 7 to 14 in the northern San Joaquin Valley.

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