A youth basketball coach and referee have both been banned from ever setting foot on the campus of a Nashville area Catholic school after an ugly incident that occurred during a basketball game between teams of players in the second grade.
As reported by the Nashville Tennessean and the Associated Press, William "Dewayne" Dean, the coach of a second grade-aged boys basketball team, became embroiled in a heated argument with the game's referee, Ronnie Helton, during his team's game at Hendersonville (Tenn.) Pope John Paul II High, which is pictured above. After a series of arguments, Helton -- who is an area middle school teacher -- issued Dean with two technical fouls, kicking him out of the game in the process.
What happened next was clearly completely uncalled for at any level. Dean was asked to leave the arena, at which point he made a move for the referee and grabbed him. Helton then pushed Dean away and took a full swing, punching him in the face.
Shortly after the incident both Dean's wife and Helton went to the Hendersonville police to issue separate statements about the incident. Hendersonville officials told both parties that they could press charges, with both indicating that they planned to.
Meanwhile, officials from Pope John Paul II High, which administers the Youth Play league for which the game was being played, expressed absolute disgust at all parties involved in the incident, acting swiftly to ban both men from the school gymnasium in the future.
"We told both the coach and the referee they're no longer allowed back in the gym for that behavior," Pope John Paul II Headmaster Faustin Weber told the Tennessean. "It's outrageous, just outrageous."
Without doubt, plenty would agree with Weber's assessment.
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