Tag: soccer
Chicago Fire youth coach allegedly groomed girls for sex, including one he urged not to wear a bra to a training session so she could play better
Fernando Calderon, 49, is also accused of telling another teenage girl that having sex would translate to an immediate impact on the pitch, making her more “flexible,” the Chicago Tribune reports, citing Cook County prosecutors.
Calderon, who has since been fired by the team, then allegedly gave the 14-year-old girl his phone number during a practice in Chicago in July 2017 in case she wanted to accept his offer. He also is accused of telling her having sex with him would let her “do more” while playing soccer.
Calderon told the teen to contact him if she “ever felt lonely” before putting his number into the teen’s phone, prosecutors said.
Calderon then allegedly victimized a second Chicago Fire Juniors City player last July during a private training session in his garage, where he touched and rubbed the breasts of a 16-year-old girl under the guise of measuring her chest. Prior to the one-on-one session, Calderon told the girl not to wear a bra to his home in order to “get horny” — which he claimed would equate to better play thanks to increased hormone levels, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said a third teen, another 16-year-old girl, also reported that Calderon told her sometime last summer that he needed to massage her after a training session. He then showed the girl a video on his phone of a topless woman being massaged. Calderon also promised the teen that he could help her get into college but told her she needed to “work with him,” prosecutors said.
Calderon remained held without bail Monday at Cook County Jail on charges of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and indecent solicitation of a minor. His next date in court is scheduled for Tuesday, jail records show.
Calderon also told the girls that he needed to “manipulate” their bodies during the alleged incidents between July 2017 and last August.
Team officials said Calderon was immediately suspended after they learned of the disturbing accusations.
“We have since dismissed the coach,” the team’s president, Paul Caldwell, said in a statement obtained by The Post. “We have always maintained strict personnel safeguards including rigorous background checks, safe sport training, implementation of a code of conduct and guidelines governing interactions with minors. Nevertheless, we will reexamine our policies, practices and training to ensure we are fostering a positive and safe environment for every young player throughout our system.”
An attorney for Calderon, meanwhile, told WLS-TV that he had never been arrested before and had lived for three decades in Chicago.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/04/15/chicago-fire-youth-coach-allegedly-groomed-girls-for-sex/
Mom files federal lawsuit after son doesn’t make high school soccer team
A St. Louis mom is making a federal case over the fact that her son didn’t make the high school soccer team.
The unnamed woman, whose son is a junior at Ladue Horton Watkins High School– located in the most affluent section of the city– filed a lawsuit in federal court this week, claiming the coach’s decision discriminates against her child.
The boy, called John Doe in the Wednesday filing at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, played on the junior varsity team last year, and the suit claims he’s good enough to do so again
“[John] was right on the bubble of making the team this year and has some impressive attributes,” soccer coach Dave Aronberg told the family in an email, court papers show. “However, there were a few holes in his game including technical ability and game decision making that put him behind a number of kids.”
The school said players who don’t make varsity cannot go back to J.V., in order to allow younger students a chance to develop their skills.
In courtroom testimony, the coach said seven juniors cut from varsity weren’t good enough to play J.V. ball.
But the family claims both age and sex discrimination are at play, because those rules doesn’t apply to girl’s teams. “Female juniors get to play on the female junior varsity team, but male juniors don’t get to play on the male junior varsity,” said the family’s lawyer, who asked not to be named.
The junior varsity squad only has 18 active players, rather than the usual 25, the lawyer noted. So even if John Doe doesn’t get to start, he should be allowed on the team — because there is plenty of room, he told the Post.
“This was devastating to this kid. All he cares about is soccer.”
The family appealed to the school’s athletic director, and then to the superintendent, but both backed Aronberg, who could not immediately be reached for comment.
John Doe’s lawyer offered player performance ratings from other coaches that show that his client is better than some of the boys who made varsity, ranking 19th of the 36 players who tried out.
The suit aims to have the boy put back on the J.V. team. The judge will announce his decision Monday.
via: https://nypost.com/2018/09/29/mom-files-federal-lawsuit-after-son-doesnt-make-varsity-soccer-team/