Fayette County youth football coach charged after allegedly assaulting referee
A coach for the Albert Gallatin Youth Football League was charged Wednesday for allegedly assaulting an official during a game last weekend.
Trevor Joshua Yeager, 34, is charged by Albert Gallatin Area School District police with a misdemeanor of assault on a sports official.
According to the criminal complaint, the incident occurred at about 1 p.m. Sunday at the Albert Gallatin High School football stadium in German Township.
The children involved in the game were in kindergarten, first and second grades.
Yeager was apparently upset about a non-call from the official and while discussing it, Yeager lunged toward him and started choking the man, according to the complaint.
The Albert Gallatin Youth Football League is part of the Western Pennsylvania Youth Football League. A call to the Albert Gallatin League was not returned by Thursday’s deadline.
Albert Gallatin Area School District Superintendent Christopher Pegg clarified that the youth football league operates independently of the district, but they are permitted to make use of the district’s facilities.
“The coaches, the players, they are Albert Gallatin community members that attend our schools,” Pegg said Thursday. “With that being said … while we investigate, we did pause the program from using our facility for practices.”
Pegg added that he saw a video of the incident, and that it was, “straightforward.”
“It was very disappointing and bothersome to see what had taken place,” Pegg said.
In conversations with the Western Pennsylvania Football League, Pegg was informed that Yeager will no longer be allowed to coach or volunteer in the league.
Since the incident occurred, Pegg has met with officials from the Albert Gallatin league, as well as Yeager himself.
Pegg described Yeager as being regretful about what took place.
“He took full responsibility and was very apologetic,” Pegg said. “It happened, and hopefully everyone learns a lesson that moving forward these type of things don’t transpire in our youth programs in the future.”
Charges against Yeager were issued via summons. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. Nov. 15.