An Anne Arundel County girls soccer player has been charged with assault and battery in connection with a fight after a playoff game with the Glenelg High School team.
The case appears to be the first time in Maryland that criminal charges have been filed after a fight between athletes in a playoff game, according to Ned Sparks, the executive director of the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association.
The 15-year-old South River High girl is accused of punching Holly Degner, 17, in the throat as the two teams were exchanging handshakes after Glenelg's double-overtime upset of South River at Howard High School last Friday.
Miss Degner was taken by ambulance to Howard County General Hospital, where she was treated and released.
Despite continuing neck pains, the senior defender, who is a captain of the team, played a few minutes during Glenelg's loss to Oakland Mills High School in Tuesday night's Class 1A-2A South region championship.
After examining a videotape of the incident and interviewing the South River girl, police charged her Wednesday, said Howard County Police spokesman Sgt. Steven Keller. The case now will be reviewed by county juvenile authorities.
School officials in Anne Arundel and Howard counties and the MPSSAA also are looking into the incident.
"What is occurring now is that we are investigating via our special assistant's office as well as through the school itself," said Richard Wiles, Anne Arundel County's coordinator of athletics.
Mr. Wiles declined to comment on the specifics of the incident until the county's investigation is completed, but said that there is no prescribed punishment for the girl if officials determine that the fight occurred as has been alleged.
In the videotape, Miss Degner, a senior captain of the team, drops out of the line of her teammates after apparently being hit by an opposing player. That player is subsequently shown being congratulated by some teammates.
But what the videotape does not reveal is whether any words were exchanged, and that is something that Howard County school officials will investigate, said Don Disney, the county's coordinator of athletics.
Mr. Disney said he has already received a letter from some South River parents charging that several Glenelg players shouted obscenities before the punch was thrown.
"I'm going to work with [Glenelg principal James] McGregor and [Glenelg coach Mike] Williams to find out what happened on the Glenelg end of it," Mr. Disney said.
Meanwhile, Miss Degner's parents said the South River girl's mother called them to apologize Wednesday night.
But Bruce and Donna Degner said that they remain upset over what they charge is a slow response by South River school officials.
"What we're looking for is to see the coach take responsibility for his own actions and the actions of his team," Mrs. Degner said. "We would like to see him reprimanded and we would like to see that [the South River girl] doesn't play again."
The Degners said they may pursue their own legal action if they believe that the incident is not properly handled by the schools.
Mr. Disney said that the incident is the first time in seven years that Howard County police were called because of a fight between players. In 1987 a Howard High School boy's soccer player was accused of hitting and breaking the cheekbone of another player during a game with Thomas Johnson High School in Frederick.
Mr. Disney said he did not know the legal outcome of the case because juvenile criminal records are not made public.