9 Men Arrested For Wagering Big Money On Youth Football Games

After an eighteen month investigation into the youth football leagues of South Florida, the Broward Sheriff’s Office swooped in and arrested nine coaches on a slew of charges related to high stakes gambling. From coaches to parents to seemingly unrelated men, authorities say the shady bookmaking involved an untold number of gamblers who, altogether would wager as much as $100,000 on the bigger games.

According to ESPN, the investigation was formally begun after an “Outside The Lines” report showed parents exchanging large amounts of cash during their boys' football games. As a result of the publicity, the gamblers reportedly became much less open about what was going on, but if the police are to be believed, they didn’t stop placing wagers. In fact, some of them allegedly even started their own league in order to make the whole process easier.

In theory, youth sports are supposed to be a great way for kids to relax and have fun. They’re supposed to be a positive environment for children to develop the tools needed to get along and thrive in the outside world. If these accusations are true, that basic idea behind getting kids to participate was completely perverted in South Florida.

Experts suspect there are many more little league and youth sports gambling rings all around the country. At this juncture, it would be impossible for police to investigate them all, but authorities are hoping these arrests will cause some parents and coaches to reconsider their behavior and/ or alert someone to what’s going on.