Youth football team gets season cancelled after kneeling during the national anthem
A Texas youth football team is hanging up the cleats early this season after the team was shut down amid national anthem protest controversy.
Following the lead of San Francisco 49ers' Colin Kaepernick, the 11 and 12-year-old Beaumont Bulls kneeled during a game in early September to protest unfair treatment of minorities in America.
The actions sparked controversy within and outside of the Bay Area Football League. Parents questioned organization leadership, and players began dropping out after head coach Rah-Rah Barber was suspended.
Coach Barber said the league's board initially supported his efforts, but he was later suspended due to public scrutiny outside of the organization.
READ MORE: Entire high school football team kneels during national anthem before game
"I was very transparent with players, parents and the organization when getting permission to do the protest," Barber told 12 News Now. "If I forced them to protest and forced them to do things they didn't want to do, would you think the parents would have followed me?"
According to Barber, players stopped showing up to practice because they were upset with the league for suspending him –- not because they didn't agree with the protest.
Now, the league says the team is shutting down because they don't have enough players on the team. The league requires 13 players, and less than five showed up to practice after Barber was suspended.
"It obviously makes me sad and disappointed," parent April Parkerson said. "It just adds more fuel to our passion. We know we were doing the right thing."
