Footage has captured the disastrous moment when multiple parents erupted into a massive fight during a Catholic youth basketball game last month in Staten Island, New York.
The violent courtside brawl unfolded on Dec. 20 at St. Teresa in Castleton Corners during a 6th grade boys game between the school and Saint Clare, according to SILive. It was monitored by the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO), which oversees the parish-based sport.
Video obtained by the Staten Island Advance initially shows two moms locked in a heated exchange that quickly escalated. Tensions boiled over when one shoved the other, sparking a furious exchange of chaotic punches.
Spectators, other parents and school staff then rushed to the scene in an attempt to separate the two mothers, who had begun clutching each other by the hair, with one landing a relentless barrage of punches at the other’s head.
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After several men finally pulled the two women apart, a separate fight erupted during the disruptive melee, the video shows. Chaos reignited as the women returned to each other, continuing their violent struggle amid the ongoing turmoil.
According to CYO County Director Michael Neely, the two women were parents, and some of those who became involved in the altercation were their family members, SILive reported.
Neely added that the two women, along with the family members who became involved, have been suspended indefinitely from attending CYO games.
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“Two families got involved and, in the end, their families have been banned from CYO indefinitely,” Neely said.
Until now, leaders reportedly said altercations at Catholic Youth Organization games are typically handled on a case-by-case basis.
However, the fight has prompted officials, including Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella and CYO, to announce new rules on Tuesday aimed at preventing spectators from acting out of bounds.
Spectators ejected by a referee for disruptive behavior at a CYO basketball game will now face a one-year ban.
“The mission was about the kids,” Fossella, whose children reportedly played CYO basketball, said during a press conference. “The mission was about teaching them responsibility. The mission was about them having a good time: the kids. The kids are the center of this universe here. And every once in a while some spectators get out of control and ruin it for the kids and ruin it for everybody else.”
