A free-for-all fight broke out between players, coaches, and fans as the Government Secondary Schools Sports Association (GSSSA) tipped off the 2012 senior boys’ basketball season.
The featured match-up, held in the DW Davis Gymnasium, was between rivals CI Gibson Rattlers and the CC Sweeting Cobras. The “all-out brawl” broke out with about five minutes left in the third quarter.
Despite the Rattlers 53-46 lead when the melee erupted, league officials were obviously unable to continue the game.
“I felt the coaches had no control,” Tony Williams told The Tribune, who along with Kennedy Polidor officiated the game. “If we keep letting this happen, we will destroy the game. Every year we have this same problem. We just have to stop the game and plan where we go from here.”
Before the game, Mr. Williams requested that GSSSA president Alfred Forbes and Evon Wisdom, the Sports Director of the Ministry of Education, call for police to be on hand. However, only one officer arrived and he was unable to contain the crowd.
Mr. Williams told The Tribune that players were on the court fighting each other and some players came off the bench to fight. Even fans came out of the stands and were fighting.
As a result of the incident, Mr. Williams noted that the officials are refusing to continue calling any more games until they meet with the GSSSA and resolve their fan control issue.
The GSSSA were unable to comment.
