Two Valley high school soccer teams are out of the state tournament after a fight broke out between players and coaches during a match Wednesday night.
The incident between Cortez and Coronado high school players was caught on a cell phone camera.
The fight starts when one player appears to kick at another player who was already on the ground, although some players contend he was kicking at the ball.
The player who was kicked can be seen twisting on the ground in pain as both benches clear and punches are thrown. The brawl quickly escalates to other parts of the field, and at one point a coach appears to get hit from behind by a player and knocked to the ground.
Students at Coronado High School in Scottsdale said the fight was a big topic around school.
"Everyone was talking about it a lot because that's like our go-to because we're the best in the area. Everyone was a little mad about that. One of our teachers was a little concerned and mad at everyone, but we'll move forward," a Coronado student said Friday.
ABC15 reached out to the AIA, which regulates athletics for both teams. AIA officials said they were leaving it up to the two schools to decide on disciplinary action.
Both Scottsdale Unified School District, representing Coronado High School, and Glendale Union High School District, representing Cortez High School, agreed to call the game a "no-contest" and agreed both would withdraw from the upcoming state tournament.
Glendale Union released the following statement:
"The behavior that occurred at Wednesday’s game does not follow our expectations of sportsmanship.
Due to this unfortunate event, Cortez High School has asked the AIA to declare the boys’ soccer game a no contest. Also, Cortez be withdrawing from the upcoming state tournament and the school has addressed the AIA violation locally with coaches and student athletes."
Scottsdale Unified released the following statement:
"On Wednesday, February 1st some of the players on the Coronado High School Boys Soccer Team were involved in an unfortunate incident on the field that does not reflect the values of Coronado or the Scottsdale Unified School District. Game officials were forced to end the game prematurely and security was called to assist with the situation. After a thorough review of all available video evidence of the events that evening the game will be declared a no contest, and both schools will be withdrawing from the upcoming state tournament. In SUSD we try to foster a culture of sportsmanship, respect and character. On Wednesday night, we fell short of those standards and will make this a learning opportunity for our young men and staff."
As for the players involved, Coronado school officials say they will follow the student code of conduct when it comes to discipline, which does allow for potential suspensions.
They say the coach that was knocked down did not sustain any serious injuries.
Neither district would comment on any potential charges being filed as a result of Wednesday's fight.
