Girl player stirs coach fisticuffs

A scrimmage between two Weld County kids' football teams turned into a midfield skirmish Monday, when one coach punched another over a girl's right to play tackle.



Nathan Hernandez, who had coached a middleweight Boys & Girls Club of Weld County football team to an undefeated record, was benched after he punched coach Shawn Mills in the face just before kickoff at Eaton Middle School.



Mills had told Hernandez that many parents of the players on the town of Eaton's middleweight team would refuse to allow their sons to play if Hernandez's niece, the team's star right tackle Makayla Crespin, took the field.



Hernandez marched Makayla, 11, to midfield to confront Mills, who claimed the parents said their religious beliefs - also held by their children - forbid them from striking a woman.

"I just wanted him to tell her himself, why she couldn't play," Hernandez.



During their verbal confrontation, Hernandez lost his temper and slugged Mills. As punishment, Hernandez was banned from participating in any further Boys & Girls Clubs activities.

"We try and emphasize good sportsmanship, fair play and working to make good decisions," said Greg Kimbrough, Boys & Girls Clubs chief professional officer. "Sadly, in this case, this did not happen."



Several of the Boys & Girls Clubs teams have female players. Kimbrough said this is the first time in about six years someone has objected to playing against a girl.



Kimbrough said a few parents on the Boys & Girls squad decided to make the Eaton team's stance a political issue. Kimbrough said he was never told of how the Eaton parents felt.

Hernandez, he said, should have just walked away from the non-league, practice game.



"We always want to respect all other people's beliefs," Kimbrough said. "He should have said that we simply play as a team and canceled the scrimmage."



Mills couldn't be reached for comment. But he told the Eaton Police Department that when he told Hernandez that several parents objected to Makayla's presence on the team, Hernandez became belligerent over the telephone.



When Hernandez, the father of three kids, including an 8-year-old girl who wants to play football, confronted him on the field, Mills told him "this was not the time or the place to discuss things and if the female was to play, then the scrimmage was off," according to the police report.



Mills fell to the ground after Hernandez hit him on the left side of the face. Mills tried to get up and confront Hernandez, but several assistant coaches pulled them apart.



Mills also told police that several parents questioned him about why his team didn't want to play against a female.

The incident was investigated as an assault, but Mills declined to press charges, police said.



Hernandez said his niece always wanted to play football and this year got her chance. With Makayla blocking, the team has now won five games in a row.



"She's very good at it and she gets good grades, so why shouldn't she be allowed to play?" Hernandez said.



Still, he said, "I feel badly this went down like this.

"I take responsibility for what happened, and it shouldn't have happened like this."



Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907



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