Teen’s torment after KO

Mother says effects of soccer brawl linger for son

THE mother of a 13-year-old knocked out by a man’s alleged coward punch during a junior soccer match says her son struggles sleeping and may need counselling.

She initially feared a brain bleed or damage, saying her son was blindsided by the punch and left unconscious as a brawl erupted during an under-15s fixture at Mudgeeraba Soccer Club.

The mother, speaking out ahead of tomorrow’s Football Gold Coast disciplinary hearing into the ugly incident, said it had left her son with a “crooked jaw” at the time and feeling insecure.

“I think he needs counselling because he cannot sleep. He never thought an adult would attack him – they are supposed to be there for you when something bad is happening.

“You are not even allowed to hit your own kids so for a stranger to hit one of your kids, it’s a nightmare.”

Police are investigating the brawl during the July 10 Mudgeeraba versus Ormeau fixture but have yet to lay charges.

The woman said it had been a “rough, unfair” encounter full of niggle in the lead-up to the second-half violence.

Her eldest son aged 15 – playing for Ormeau – was being provoked and punched by an opponent when her 13year-old son ran on to the field from the sideline, she said.

“That boy was hitting my son and then my second-eldest son who is 13, standing next to me, went on to the field and he punched (the opponent), hit him in the face.

“The father of that boy came from the side, my son didn’t see him, he knocked my son out. He was unconscious. He hit him hard, crazy hard.” “He saw stars,” she said. She said her husband then ran on and pushed over the man who allegedly king-hit her 13-year-old before Mudgeeraba and Ormeau parents then all joined in the melee.

The woman, from the Czech Republic and on the Gold Coast for the past six months, said someone managed to pull her 13-year-old away but he was dizzy and she took him to the car.

“I’m in the car looking for a doctor on Google and they were still fighting and then I heard the police coming.”

Her son admitted later he should not have got involved but the woman said “the adults were more silly than the kids”.

Football Gold Coast president Damien Bresic has said the hearing would get to the bottom of whether the adult intervention was “excessive”.

He had witness reports from Ormeau and Mudgeeraba and “somewhere in the middle we need to find the truth”.