Youth football team gets into playoffs, then removed

ARAPAHOE COUNTY – Saturday was supposed to be their big chance - the first playoff game for a team of 12-year-old football players. Now, they have to watch from the stands because of a lawsuit.

It was a hard lesson for the Panther Gold.

"I just think it's unfair because we've worked so hard and we thought we were in and we thought the super bowl would have been ours," said Kiely O'Connor, a member of the Panther Gold Team.

The Panthers had replaced the Patriot Red team in the brackets when the board of the Arapahoe Youth League determined the Patriots broke the rules by practicing more than they were supposed to.

"That coach may have a very good reason for why he did what he did, but in the end, the kids suffer," said Michael Prudhomme, the coach of the Panther Gold.

Rather than letting their kids suffer for the coach's mistake, two Patriot parents filed a lawsuit against the league, which then decided to let the Patriots back into the playoffs.

That means the Panthers are out.

"The team that's getting back in, they cheated and it's just unfair and it's not a right message to send to 12-year-olds to cheat," said Travlor Skudneski, another Panther Gold player.

"It's happened to me before in basketball, in the same league," said O'Connor.

The president of the Arapahoe Youth League said he could not comment because of pending litigation. The coaches on the Patriots team also did not return 9NEWS' e-mails or phone calls.

"The parents need to step up across all of sports and do a better job teaching children what's right," said Prudhomme. "The heart of the matter is that no kids win.