In 2012, a 5th and 6th-grade youth basketball game took a violent turn.

It was a Catholic Youth Organization league game in Springfield, Massachusetts.

The incident started during the post-game handshake lines when Timothy Lee Forbes and Jose Feliciano exchanged words.

Words quickly turned into action and the resulting fight unleashed chaos in the gym.

At the end of the incident, Feliciano would have part of his ear bitten off by Forbes, who fled the gym with his family. Forbes would end up being arrested and spend years in prison for the incident.

In this episode, PSB co-founder Logan Kosmalski talks with Sheileen Feliciano, the wife of Jose Feliciano, and gets her side of the story.

We also hear from “This is Your Brain on Sports” author Samuel Summers about what could be causing this violence and what can be done about it.

There is some debate about the idea that violence in youth sports is growing. But, some could argue that one violence incident revolving around a game for 12 years olds is one too many.

This episode of Hoop for Thought centers around the role that parents play in the youth sports environment and what can be done to change people’s perspective on what is acceptable within the youth sports arena.

Listen below and subscribe to our youth basketball podcast on Apple iTunes!

You can also check out all of our other podcasts here!

https://soundcloud.com/proskillsbasketball/violence-in-youth-sports-hoop-for-thought