A Prince William County soccer coach had his orbital wall fractured Saturday when he said a parent whacked him the face multiple times with a metal water bottle. The incident has Vince Villanueva questioning his future after decades of coaching.
“Seeing the escalation of violence toward coaches and game officials and stuff like that within these sports — I’m still processing thinking about, is this something that I want to continue doing?” he told NBC4.
“My big thing is, just allow your kids to enjoy it,” he said about playing soccer. “Let the volunteers and people that are out there trying to help your kids, allow them to do that, too, and support them.”
Prince William County police charged Blerand Hoxha, 45, of Manassas, with malicious wounding in the attack at George Hellwig Memorial Park in Manassas during a Northern Virginia Soccer Club match.
At the time of the attack, Villanueva, 46, had been filling in for a friend and had never met Hoxha before, Fox5 reported. It’s something he said he had never experienced, and he’s been coaching youth soccer since he was 18. In addition to youth soccer, he coaches the girls’ varsity team at Potomac Senior High School.
Feature image courtesy NBC4.
For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine’s News newsletter.
