‘I love soccer’: 3-year-old soccer player and his dad speak out after Florida field dispute
By Kennedy Mason
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WINTER PARK, Florida (WESH) — A 3-year-old Central Florida soccer player is gaining international attention after a dispute at a youth soccer game in Winter Park led to a 911 call and a police response.
Nevada Pierre and his father, Don Pierre, spoke with WESH 2 about what happened Saturday at Martin Luther King Jr. Park and why they say the young player simply wants to keep playing the sport he loves.
“I love soccer!” Nevada said.
Videos of Nevada showing off his soccer skills have attracted attention online. His father said those abilities are the result of consistent practice and dedication.
“He put in a lot of time. He put in a lot of work,” Don Pierre said.
But Saturday’s game took a turn when a youth league official called 911 and asked police to respond to the field.
In the call, the official reported a dispute with a parent, saying the person was following him around and calling him names. The official also asked police to arrive quickly, telling the dispatcher the family was about to leave.
Don Pierre disputes that account. He said he and Nevada’s mother were keeping to themselves while other parents discussed their son.
“You excluded us out of the group, talking about him, and when we started coming toward you, you made it a whole other thing,” Pierre said. “Like, we just want him to play.”
Body-camera footage shows the league official, who works with i9 Sports, explaining his concerns about Nevada’s playing style.
“He’s very advanced compared to the other ones. So he scores a lot of goals, but he pushes the other kids,” the official told officers.
The official said he rotated players to ensure every child had playing time and claimed Nevada’s parents objected to the decision.
Pierre denied having an argument with other parents.
“We never had no argument with other parents. We never had no back-and-forth with no parent,” he said, adding that another parent was yelling at Nevada to pass the ball.
Police say no one was arrested and the family cooperated by leaving the field.
In a statement to WESH 2, i9 Sports said it takes these concerns seriously and has reached out to the family as part of a review.
For Pierre, the attention surrounding the incident has become about more than a disagreement at a soccer game. He wants people to recognize his son’s talent without the circumstances that brought police to the field defining him.
“I want people to see his talent. Not because the police was called on him,” Pierre said.
He said his priority is making sure Nevada can continue playing soccer.
“I just want to let him play because that’s all he wants to do right now! No one is telling him to do this!” Pierre said.
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