An Oklahoma youth baseball coach Michael Ryals was banned for life after allegedly telling his son to intentionally throw a ball at the opposing team’s dugout.
The incident took place on May 24 during the Memorial Day weekend tournament in Kansas City. The game was an 11-and-under matchup between the Oklahoma Eleven and the Nebraska Prime Nationals. During the final inning, Ryals allegedly instructed his 12-year-old son to throw a high-speed ball directly into the Nebraska dugout.
After a thorough investigation, the United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) imposed a lifetime ban on the coach and a five-year ban on his son.
A video of the incident was shared by Jomboy Media, and fans were quick to express their anger.
“Unless he goes to another league this will ruin any baseball future he was looking at,” one fan wrote.
Demanding a change in the coaching system, one of the followers wrote:
“It’s time to ban all parents from youth sports and be much more selective about who coaches and what their priorities are. Protect our kids. They just want to play. They don’t care about winning or being drafted or scholarships.”
Stating the punishment as ideal, one of the users on X wrote:
“Good. Correct punishment for ruining a kids game and turning it into a circus.”
Blaming the coach for ruining sports interest for the kids, one of the fans commented:
“Nothing more embarrassing than youth coaches who ruin sports interest for the kids. Losers.”
One Reddit user took a dig at the Oklahoma coach, writing:
“Kid won’t be able to play in that league till he’s 17. Dad banned for life. Good job Dad. Idiot.”
Nebraska coach Brandon Magni said the ball struck one of his players but did not cause a serious injury.
What did the Oklahoma coach say after the controversy at the youth baseball game?
Oklahoma coach Michael Ryals spoke to USA Today, saying he didn’t want him and his kid to be ‘hated.’ He said his son had reached a ‘breaking point.’
“Man, I don’t want to be seen as the bad guy. I don’t want to be hated. I don’t want my kid to be hated. Just kids being ruthless kids. I don’t think any kid should be in trouble for what they said, but he reached his breaking point. He told me he was going to throw the ball in between innings and I said, ‘There’s consequences for it. You should really think that through, but there is consequences for it,'” said Oklahoma youth coach.
Taking the blame on himself, he added:
“If they want to put the blame on me, I’ve let it ride on my shoulders. I’m his dad. I’m a grown man. I’m not going to answer that question because I don’t want people thinking he’s any worse than he is.”
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