Isle youth teams evicted after fight
Two teams from Hawaii and one from Baltimore that were competing in the Pop Warner Super Bowl in Florida were evicted from a Disney hotel Saturday following a brawl.
A 15-year-old Kahaluu boy suffered a broken nose and was hospitalized following the 10:15 p.m. fight.
Shortly afterward, about 70 Oahu residents who made the trip were ordered to leave the hotel within 20 minutes, said Kahaluu Pop Warner Association President April Kong.
The teams evicted were the Kahaluu Heeia Broncos, Waianae Tigers and Westport Patriots from Baltimore.
Kong said she was not at the brawl, which allegedly involved the three teams, and that she was still trying to gather information from parents regarding the incident as of this morning.
Kong said the teams were forced to find late-night accommodations at a Holiday Inn.
"That was the scary thing about it, because of the time given to us to leave," she said. "It put everybody in a frenzy, and at the same time we were trying to find a hotel for us to stay. It was not a good feeling."
Kong said parents were waking up their children in the middle of the night in a rush to leave the hotel, the Walt Disney World All-Star Resort.
Kong said she did not know how the fight started.
Disney's group package policy includes a provision that if one person in the party takes part in a violent act, everyone is forced to leave.
"This was unfortunate, but with thousands of guests staying at the resort, we have to maintain a safe environment for everyone," said Jacob DiPietre, a spokesman for Disney. "All participants were made aware of our policy regarding any physical disturbances. Any teams involved in fighting are subject to disqualification from Pop Warner and eviction from the resort. We were in direct consultation with both Pop Warner officials and law enforcement throughout the course of the event."
Kong said the boy who was taken to the hospital had recovered by the next day.
She said the incident put a damper on what was supposed to be a relaxing day at the theme park.
"Even the day after when we were at the park, he had his defense up," she said. "He was always watching his back and was still having that insecure feeling."
The Orange County Sheriff's Office is investigating the incident, according to Central Florida News 13.
A Hawaii parent traveling with the team said she felt Disney could have handled the situation better, according to the Central Florida News report.
"They could have said, 'Look, you know what? Fine, you guys have to leave in the morning,'" said Labryanna Kubo in the report. "We have 1-year-old, 2-year-old, 3-year-olds that we had to just jerk out of bed, and they were just crying. You know it was just a bad scene."
