Youth hockey coach fired after pulling player onto ice in NH

Sport

“I was just amazed that he let himself get to that point.”

A Connecticut youth hockey coach was fired from his team after he allegedly pulled an opposing player from the Merrimack Valley team onto the ice during a tournament in New Hampshire over the weekend.

The incident happened in Hooksett in the final seconds of the game, when coach Tama Parsons’ team was coming off an 8-0 victory over the Nutmeg State team. According to WHDH.

Parsons told the news station that he initially thought a player on his team had been aggressively scanned.

She didn’t see him fall on the ice, but she heard it.

The tackle was also caught on video, showing the opposing coach reaching from the bench and grabbing the player by his shirt, causing him to lose his balance and fall.

“One of our players skated by and said, ‘That was coach pulling me down like that,'” Parsons, whose team is made up of 13- and 14-year-old boys, told WHDH.

The player was able to get back up and appeared unharmed, the video shows.

“I was just amazed that he let himself get to that point,” Parsons said.

The Connecticut coach was escorted out of the arena, according to the outlet.

“As an adult, as a coach, you know better and it was so unacceptable,” Parsons said. “There’s no reason for that.”

The South Windsor Youth Hockey Association felt the same way.

“We strongly oppose this type of activity and are offended that the coach was fired and banned from coaching at all South Windsor Youth Hockey Association events as a result,” the association told WHDH in a statement.

The coach, who has not been identified, passed a background check and completed annual training requirements set by USA Hockey, according to the news station.

The Connecticut Hockey Conference is now investigating the incident.