Oak Cliff leaders discuss violence at youth sports events

DALLAS — Local leaders, coaches and parents gathered at Oak Cliff Saturday to talk about the issues plaguing youth sports in North Texas and how to prevent violence on and off the field.

This meeting comes a week after coach Mike Hickmon was killed in a shooting at a youth football game in Lancaster.

According to the arrest affidavit, police said it started over a dispute over the outcome of the game.

Saturday’s town hall was called the “Call of Action” and had a panel made up of local leaders from many different sectors and organizations. The panel discussed how coaches and organizations can better come together, along with alternatives for conflict resolution. The parents also had time to ask questions to the panel.

Panelist Karen Reese created a sports talk show called Can We Talk, hosted by athlete moms. She said the first type of action to take is greater parental involvement at home.

“Parents are the ones who choose what team, what sports, what coach teaches our kids,” Reese said. “I think as parents, we need to take a more active role in who we allow to care for and teach our children.”

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Panelist Kevin Bennett has been a registered football referee for nine years. He said there needed to be more respect for each other across the board. Panelist Tony X, who said he was an ex-convict, echoed Bennet’s message.

“Love is a verb that shows action,” said Tony X. “If we love our children and if we love our community, then we can make it better for ourselves, our people and our community. Look beyond yourself and think of your brother and sister.”

Community leader and panelist Terrence Randolph said no smoking or drinking should be allowed at any of these games. He also said there needed to be more police presence and more protective measures in place.

“We need more security,” Randolph said. “Metal detectors. Of course we need police officers who patrol the games and are not just at the games.”

Panelist Gary Cochran runs a service called Cover Dallas with Love. He focused more on the need for different groups and organizations to build better relationships with each other before tragedy happens.

“Show up and be present,” Cochran said. “So that we can build relationships, learn and grow together. We can do that. But even when bad things happen or tragedy strikes, we don’t show up as strangers. We show up as friends. sisters and brothers. people who already know each other. And network.”

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Panelist Raymond Alford is the owner of the Big 12 Youth Sports League, which the organization says offers a college-like experience for the teams, coaches and players. He said he had spoken to league officials and that the rules and laws on school grounds and football fields needed to be better understood and better enforced.

“So if I know you’re not allowed to have your gun on school property, I don’t care if you’re licensed or not — you have to go,” Alford said as an example. “I’ll find an officer. We want to offer our children a safe place. We want to offer them a safe environment. If people are bringing street environments to a place that’s supposed to be a safe place for kids, they don’t have to be a part of what we’re doing.”

Many of the panellists raised the idea of ​​forming a coalition of local youth leaders from different sports and organisations.

Panelist Tabitha Wheeler-Reagan, who runs the nonprofit Village Bridge Center, said that once parents and local leaders can work out the details of what this would look like and who would be involved, she plans to bring it to the Dallas City Council and let them die officially approve the coalition.

“We can’t wait any longer for something tragic to happen,” Wheeler-Reagan said. “The tragedy is every time there is something unclean around our children. Our children lead by example. We are responsible for every child we come into contact with.”

After further questions from parents, panelist Terry Mayo X, a former professional baseball and football player, said he would like this potential coalition to begin organizing events and get-togethers to allow the city’s young athletes to spend more time together off the field spend allowing them to make connections beyond the teammates on each player’s respective team.

“What if we pulled together and worked with different events and different organizations in the different leagues?” said Terry Mayo X. “Different organizations that don’t look like you so we can do more things together. That’s because Unity is more powerful than anything else in this world. It is more powerful than the atomic bomb itself. So if we would come together and unite just to know more Because your logo or your name is different, we still play on the same team. We play on the same Team of Life.”