DS is 15 and has played football for local teams for 10+ years. There's one particular team in his side's league who have form for violent behaviour at their matches. Most of the time it's low-level stuff - rough tackles, pushing, sly digs in the ribs when they're bunched up for corners etc. - but there have been two games this year where it's escalated into real fights. In the summer a group of school friends turned up, waited for the end of the match and set upon a boy, pushing him to the ground and repeatedly kicking him in the head and ribs until parents rushed over to intervene. On Saturday, there were escalating incidents culminating in one of their players punching a boy on DS's team who had just scored and both sides piling in. It took the ref, coaches and parents several minutes to break it up.
Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt but I don't want DS playing against them again. What happens if a punch or shove goes astray and someone suffers a real injury? Or one of their mates turns up at the next match with a knife? One of the mums was knocked hard to the ground on Saturday trying to shield our team's players from the other side attacking them and has been off work with concussion. That's bad enough, but imagine it was a child.
WIBU to tell our coach that DS will no longer be playing against this side? I'm genuinely concerned for his safety and that of the other players.