FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. -- A youth football coach was let go after being accused of humiliating players.
Shaun Noe claims it was meant to discipline them, but the Georgia Football Association said the tactic was meant to embarrass the players.
Noe said for nearly a decade he's been coaching youth sports. That all changed after Monday's practice with his Central Park Bulldogs 5th Grade team.
"We were doing some different drills with kids and sometimes we try to make sure the kids are focused for safety concerns and a couple of the kids kept touching each other numerous times and stuff and I warned them three times," Noe said.
As a disciplinary action, he said he made the two hold hands and run around the field. He claims it was for team building.
"When the two kids got back they were laughing,' he said.
On Wednesday, a parent of one of the players approached him and didn't agree with the decision. He met with the football association Thursday and they gave him a dismissal letter -- which talked more about the complaint. It alleges he made the two players hold hands and run around practice while calling them derogatory names in front of other players and parents.
Jim Caldwell, who is the commissioner of the Georgia Football Association, said the coach made the players do more than just run while holding hands.
"Referred to them as derogatory terms and let them know that they were acting like little 'B's,'" Caldwell said.
According to him, this isn't the first time there's been an incident involving Noe.
"There was actually nearly a fist fight out of two coaches from a player that made a malicious hit during a practice," he said.
He claims Noe was one of the coaches involved in the fight and was given a last chance disciplinary letter back on August 17th. Caldwell said Monday's practice was the last straw.
"How would you feel if this was your son that was just forced to walk around and be ridiculed by other players and his peers from school? I mean, how would this go for you? I thought of my own kids," Caldwell said.
Noe said the accusations are not true.
"I was very hurt that somebody would say those things about me that are completely false," Noe told 11Alive.
Noe is banned from coaching in that league. However, he has a son who plays in the organization and is allowed to watch him play. The Georgia Football Association says it will reconsider reinstating Noe after the season.
