Three youth football coaches are banned for life in New Castle



NEW CASTLE, Pa. (AP) -- Three Pop Warner coaches were banned for life from a youth football league amid allegations they cursed and shouted at referees, incited the crowd and resisted police efforts to quell a disturbance.
Fred Smith, 33, Corey Eggleston, 35, and Nelek Mitchell, 30, all of New Castle, were coaching the New Castle Central Hurricanes in the Tri-County Youth Football League when the incident occurred on Saturday.
The men coached fifth- and sixth-graders who were losing 26-0 to the Laurel Spartans when, police said, the men started throwing footballs at the referees and worked the crowd into a frenzy. The officials ended the game and 14 police from the city, state police, and three neighboring communities were called to control the situation, New Castle police said.
Police said that Eggleston continued shouting profanities after being warned not to do so in front of the children and Smith grabbed an officer who tried to subdue Eggleston. Mitchell was arrested because he was told six times to leave and wouldn't stop shouting and swearing, police said.
Eggleston and Mitchell are both former New Castle High School sports standouts.
Disorderly conduct
The three men were charged with disorderly conduct and failure to disperse, both misdemeanors. Smith was also charged with resisting arrest and obstructing the administration of law, also misdemeanors.
The men were released on their own recognizance pending a preliminary hearing in Lawrence County Central Court on Oct. 4.
Eggleston has an unlisted phone number and numbers for the other men could not immediately be located Tuesday. It wasn't immediately clear if the men have attorneys.
Mike McGee, who heads the league, said the men violated the league's code of conduct by using foul language and were immediately removed as coaches and banned from the league for life.
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