A verbal disagreement at a youth soccer game Oct. 14, at Davis Park in Ponte Vedra became a national firestorm following a viral Facebook post, a 911 call and allegations of racism.
During the soccer game between teams from the Ponte Vedra Soccer Club and a Florida Elite Soccer Academy team from Oakleaf, several incidents reportedly occurred on the sideline of the visiting team, prompting a field marshal to intervene and eject several parents.
The main issue at the center of the social media frenzy, however, happened later in the game, when Gerald Jones, who is black, was yelling to his son from the sidelines. Jones said his son was about to argue with a referee, and Jones said he approached the field to tell his son the referee is right and to leave it alone. Jones said he was then approached by a field marshal in a golf cart telling him not to communicate with referees. He said after explaining the situation, she continued to tell him he couldn’t talk to his son, either, and, according to Jones, he told her that he was done with the conversation and walked away and was voluntarily leaving the field.
While the initial exchange was not caught on video, two parents did record portions of what happened after, which included a call to 911. One mother, Amy “Ginger Galore” Williams, posted her version of events on Facebook, which became viral and currently has more than 33,000 shares. In her post, Williams, who recorded Jones’ and the field marshal’s interactions with St. Johns County Sheriff’s deputies, dubbed the field marshal “Golfcart Gail” and wrote that the field marshal continued to “harass and beleaguer” Jones as he walked away, and said she was calling the police due to his “threatening behavior.”
Another parent, Maria Morales-Walther, who videotaped the field marshal as she called the police, said she felt obligated to get involved and record it because she wanted to make sure the incident was accurately relayed to officers.
“I wanted to record to show the cops that he wasn’t the aggressor,” Morales-Walther said.
Others, however, dispute the accuracy of Williams’ Facebook post or that Jones was personally targeted by the field marshal because of his race.
Gary Easom, president of the Ponte Vedra Athletic Association, spoke to the field marshal and doesn’t believe race played a factor in what transpired. Easom said he thinks the field marshal, who has been a part of the PVAA for 12 years, was just enforcing the rules set up by the association and was responding to multiple incidences that occurred that day.
“I honest to God believe she was following protocol,” Easom said.
Easom, who spoke to the field marshal after the incident, said she had previously ejected a parent, who was white, for yelling at referees, who are also teenagers. After returning from removing that parent, she saw Jones approach the field and yell, and initially thought he was also yelling at the referee, although Jones said he was correcting his son.
“Even if he was doing that, it’s still a violation of our code,” Easom said. “As good as the (intentions) are, it still shouldn’t be done.”
Easom said the PVAA’s Code of Conduct not only doesn’t allow parents to yell at coaches, referees or kids, but also prohibits parents from coaching on the sidelines. Parents whose children play in the PVAA must sign the Code of Conduct agreeing to those rules. The Code of Conduct, however, for the Florida Elite Soccer Academy, which the Oakleaf team is a member of, also requires parents to “refrain from verbal abuse of players, coaches, referees, opponents, and spectators,” but it does not prohibit sideline coaching or communication with a child during play.
Easom said because the rules can vary from league to league, field marshals generally issue a warning on the first offense and can eject a spectator after a second offense or if the spectator becomes argumentative or combative.
“She has done this for many years and has (previously) had to remove parents for berating officials, coaches and kids and for coaching from the sidelines,” Easom said.
In the Oct. 14 situation, however, Easom said it was multiple incidents that prompted the 911 call and not specifically the interaction with Jones. Easom said the field marshal called the police after being confronted by another parent, and after seeing a car that resembled the car of the first person ejected, causing her to believe that he was returning as well. Easom said it was the “continued confrontation” that led to the 911 call.
“Technically speaking, she wasn’t calling on him (Jones) and he just got caught up in it,” Easom said.
Morales-Walther, who can also be heard on the recording being told to leave the premises, said she witnessed parents on Oakleaf’s side ejected on a first offense.
“At no point, did she give anybody a warning,” Morales-Walther said. “She just kicked people out of the complex, which I find is wrong because your child is still there playing a soccer game. Where is that child going to go?”
She also said there was some confusion about the woman’s role as field marshal.
“She didn’t tell anybody who she was,” Morales-Walther said. “She didn’t have any representation of who she was, so we didn’t know she was an authority figure.”
The PVAA issued a statement supporting the field marshal, saying, “The authorities were not called solely for this particular incident, but as a result of a culmination of several immediate prior incidents. The field marshal acted appropriately and without malice to ensure the welfare of the children she is charged with protecting.” Easom notes the field marshal’s 911 call makes no mention of race and refers to multiple people.
In the 911 call released by the St. Johns Sheriff’s Office, the field marshal can be heard saying, “I have parents that are out of control and need to be removed from a youth soccer game.” She then went on to state it’s two parents, and “The male is leaving, but the female refuses to go.” She told the 911 operator she needs the sheriff’s department to come and escort the female out.
She also said the man, presumably Jones, was walking to his car but that she was remaining at the soccer field because of the parent who won’t leave and she was afraid there could be issues.
She then reported the dad was coming back and she needed the police there now. She also claims in the call the mother was cursing in front of children and that another mother just came up and took her picture.
“Things could get bad real fast.” she said in the call.
One video recording released shows the interaction between Jones and SJSO, and the field marshal and SJSO, in which no one was detained or cited.
SJSO Commander Chuck Mulligan said despite suggestions on social media, the field marshal’s use of 911 in this situation was not improper.
“If people are arguing, and someone calls 911, it’s legitimate,” Mulligan said. “Anytime there’s a conflict, we would prefer to be called before any criminal activity can occur. The deputy handled everything appropriately.”
As far as everything leading up to the 911 call, Mulligan said the rules at the soccer field are a civil matter, and SJSO did what it needed to do to make sure the situation was resolved and everybody was able to go home safely.
“The conversation was civil with everyone involved,” Mulligan said. “In absence of a crime, we really don’t go any further into it.”
Jones said he had no problem talking with SJSO deputies about the incident and commended their handling of it, but he didn’t understand how things escalated to the point it did.
“She has every right to do what she wants to do, but I wasn’t doing anything wrong,” Jones said.
Jones said it was also important to him to correct his son and teach his kids to respect authority. He said because of the young age and lack of experience of some of the referees involved in youth sports, he’s witnessed issues between officials and parents, but multiple ejections and police involvement is not something he’s used to.
“This is the first time I’ve experienced that,” Jones said.
He also said he was surprised by the attention the story has received.
“We all become judgmental and we never know how we are going to react when we see things go awry,” Jones said. “People react differently to different things.”
And some of the backlash from the initial Facebook post has resulted in physical threats against the field marshal involved. Mulligan said the SJSO is aware of direct threats being made against her and is monitoring the situation.
Requests for comment from Williams and the field marshal were not responded to.
