LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – A youth football team, the Henderson Coyotes, were kicked off the field in the middle of a practice last week at Silvestri Middle School. The Clark County School District telling them they were no longer allowed to practice there after they’d done so for two decades.
Thursday night, the team took their practice across town to Acacia Park in Henderson but for some of the players that was too far.
“Kids around this area that have no transportation, they don’t have a huge support system at home, they don’t come from the best families or the best homes, so football is their escape from reality,” explained Damon Burton, a defensive coordinator for the Henderson Cowboys speaking to FOX5 outside Silvestri. Burton, better known as Coach Drip, was born in Las Vegas and raised playing on the field.
“I too am an inner-city kid. So, my coming up, I had a lot of coaches that were there for me and I made a huge impact on my life,” Burton revealed. Now Coach Drip has stepped into the role of mentor coaching the youth team for the last three years. Burton was stunned when CCSDPD offices came and cleared the field.
“There was no warning. There was no, ‘Hey, you know, you guys are in violation of this.’ It was just, ‘Hey school police is here,” Burton recounted. CCSD said the youth league was asked to leave to avoid scheduling conflicts with school-sponsored after-school activities.
The Henderson Cowboys were allowed to use Acacia Park on Thursday night to practice. That’s about 10 miles away, a 20-minute drive from Silvestri. For boys who ride their bikes, it would be a 45-minute ride to practice.
“I’m driving multiple people home from here,” revealed Coach Ryan Garreffa during an interview with FOX5 at Acacia Park. Garreffa explained Acacia Park is not fenced in like Silvestri and a lot smaller.
“Here it’s wide open. If you’re not paying attention, a kid could easily wander off and end up in the street…We had soccer teams plus us so it was very tight,” Garreffa described. The kids say also say they want to go back to what they consider home.
“Since we got kicked off the field, everyone’s been sad because our friends can’t come here,” shared 10-year-old Kayden Moore.
“I was sad because…that was the closest place for us to go and it was easy to go there,” stated 10-year-old Jayceon Hypolite.
On Wednesday night, some of the boys from the team, their parents and coaches went before the CCSD Board of Trustees making an emotional plea to use this field again.
Friday, the team met with the Silvestri school principal and they are now working together on a revised permit. The coaches tell FOX5 they are confident they will be allowed to use the field again.
FOX5 asked the school district about allowing the youth football team back and were told: “CCSD is working with Clark County Parks and Recreation, NYS [National Youth Sports], and the coach on the standards required to reinstate the use of the fields.”
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