Wachusett Youth Football League In Danger Of Bankruptcy After Parents File Lawsuit For Banning Kids Due To Boyfriend’s Behavior, Alleged Threats To Gouge Out Eyeballs

 

This is Jeff Berkowitz and Michelle Gauvin from Holden.

She’s an IV nurse, and he’s a personal trainer, and apparently well known local queef.

Her 3 sons and his one son live in blended family together and participate in youth sports. However, they made headlines in September when they sued the Wachusett Youth Football program for allegedly discriminating against their children. At least that’s what the headline said:

A Sterling family is taking legal action against Wachusett Youth Football and Cheer Inc. after their son with autism was kicked off the team. The league has no tryouts, and all are usually included. The Berkowitzes believe their children are being treated differently.

“They were devastated, absolutely crushed,” Jeff Berkowitz said.

His 10-year-old son, Kodiak, and 10-year-old twin stepsons, Micah and Liam, are now banned from Wachusett’s youth football program because Micah allegedly threatened to “gouge out eyeballs” of other players, according to the family’s lawsuit.

“Go see if this young, 10-year-old boy is actually going to go gouge somebody’s eyeballs out. One, he’s 10. Two, he’s autistic. Three, you know, did he mean it? Is it a true threat?” said Peter Farrell, the family’s attorney.

The league has not responded since the filing of the lawsuit, but previously said:

“We want to make it clear that the family was asked to leave due to the parents’ actions, not the children.”

The family disputes the claim.

“He got discriminated against because of his disability,” Jeff Berkowitz said. “He’s never had a problem before.”

All the boys have played in previous years. The legal complaint has emails back and forth with the league, where the parents are asking for answers on how they can get their kids back on the field.

“They were unanimously voted to kick all of us off because we called the town to get clarification on the rules since they use the town field,” Michelle Gauvin, the mother, said.

They said there was no allegation of Liam or Kodiak doing anything wrong.

The family says they are not looking for monetary damages; they are looking for an equitable playing field and want the kids back on the gridiron.

First of all, I don’t know why Jeff is calling her kids his stepsons, since he’s not married or engaged to her.

Secondly, blaming autism for a kid threatening to gouge another kids’ eyeballs out is insulting to anyone who has a loved one on the spectrum.

Thirdly, yes, it is a true threat if one kid tells another kid he’s going to gouge his eyeballs out.

Fourthly, who sues a youth sports nonprofit? Evidently this lawsuit, which has been moved from Worcester Superior Court to Federal Court, is threatening to bankrupt the youth football and cheer association. According to a Facebook post on New Years Ever the league might have to shut down next year because they’re running out of money to pay legal fees and had to start a GoFundMe.

What would possibly inspire two parents to do something that would end a youth football and cheering league? Let’s take a look at the lawsuit they filed in September:

searchresults (14)

The first thing that stood out to me is that Berkowitz wasn’t permitted to coach his kids’ team this year, despite coaching in the past.

According to sources we spoke with, Jeff is a notorious douche mongrel who has coached youth sports in the past, but has creeped other parents out by inviting their kids over to his house to do weightlifting. On his Facebook page he has a video of his then 9 year old son doing topless deadlifts, while critiquing him about tightening up his core.

He also reportedly uses foul language around the kids and coaches like it’s 1955.

Bear Bryant Berkowitz’ lawsuit included an email he wrote to WYFC President John Mandracchia in July, regarding an incident that occurred with the league director Ben Bachant. According To Berkowitz himself, he disciplined his son “in a manner that was appropriate to the situation,” which apparently was so egregious that it caught the attention of of Bachant, who asked him to stop yelling at his kid in front of everyone. Berkowitz claims that he was “well within his rights as a parent” to yell at his son, and was asked to leave the field. He said that this basic request for civility “felt more like intimidation and bullying,” and demanded that the league director be disciplined for violating the league’s anti-bullying policy.

Ya got that? Jeff was screaming at his kid to the point where another adult had to intervene and ask him to leave the field, and this made Jeff, an alleged grown man, the victim of bullying and intimidation. What a LOSSSSAAHH!!

The bullying complaint went nowhere, and a month later on September 2 Jeff was back and causing more problems when his kids’ coach (Patterson) accused Berkowitz of abusing his girlfriend’s son while disciplining him. Bachant allegedly told Jeff that the kid he was screaming at didn’t seem like he really wanted to play football.

Just a reminder, Michelle Gauvin’s 3 kids are NOT his kids. He is not their father or their stepfather. He is simply the guy who has been dating their mother for the last year or so.

The lawsuit went on to say that after the incident with Gauvin’s son Mandracchia called them and told them that her son couldn’t attend practice due to “multiple complaints from last week.” Naturally Berkowitz blamed the son of the coach who reprimanded him for bullying Gauvin’s son.

According to Jeff Berkowitz, Gauvin’s 6 year old son (who he wrongly calls his step son) kicked over water bottles and yelled “I’m not picking it up” when his mother told him to. Berkowitz admits that he grabbed the 6 year olds’ arms and demanded that the child make eye contact with him because “it’s a sign of respect to look a person in the eye when they’re talking to you.” This is what caused Coach Patterson to jump in and say something, at which point Bear Bryant Berkowitz told Patterson he didn’t need his parenting advice. Berkowitz admitted that he could’ve handled it differently and intended to apologize to the coach.

Pro tip – if you’re suing someone for doing you wrong, don’t admit that you were in the wrong and say that you intend on apologizing for your behavior.

The incident was apparently so egregious that Patterson and the league filed a complaint with DCF, alleging abuse. Berkowitz called this an act of retaliation and said it was against state and federal law to file the report.

Newsflash – it’s his job as a mandated reporter to report abuse when he sees it. I wasn’t there on that day, but I’m inclined to believe that the body builder who films his kid doing topless deadlifts, who has been banned from coaching, and who has admittedly handled the abusive situation with his girlfriends’ 6 year old son poorly, might be the problem.

On September 3 when Michelle Gauvin showed up to practice with her sons but was told that she and one of her 10 year old twins couldn’t remain because it was a safety issue. Later that night they were informed by Mandracchia that it was because the kid had threatened to gouge other kids’ eyeballs out. Gauvin disputes that the kid ever said that, but according to the lawsuit, if the kid did say that it’s only because of his autism.

It doesn’t matter if the kid is autistic. If he’s threatening to gouge other kids’ eyeballs out then he’s a safety threat to OTHER kids. And quite frankly, if my kid was doing this to other kids I wouldn’t want him to keep playing either.

But Gauvin and Berkowitz decided to fire up this lawsuit instead, alleging discrimination based on the kid’s autism. They also retaliated against other people’s children by filing a formal complaint against them, insinuating that those kids should be kicked out of the league too.

The next day Gauvin called the town of Sterling, where the games and practices are held, and complained that the league wasn’t letting her kids play football anymore. Keep in mind, the league just uses the town’s field, so she was basically going over their heads and trying to get an uninvolved party to feel bad for her by using her children, in the hopes that they would pressure the league to let her kids back in.

Then she wrote an email to the league demanding that two other children be investigated and suspended from playing football until it was resolved.

The Town of Sterling contacted the youth football league and told them about Gauvin going over their heads to try to strong arm the league to letting her kids back in. Mandracchia said in an email that the town said the league had made the right decision, and the board unanimously voted to ban the parents and 3 of their 4 children from the league because they had attempted to hinder the organization’s ability to function in Sterling.

The league did allow the 6 year old, who Berkowitz had admittedly grabbed during practice and yelled at, to continue to play. However, his biological father was the only parent who would be permitted to go to the games. The biological father of Gauvin’s two older children found out that his kids were banned and tried contacting the league to change their mind.

Keep in mind, Keith Lovejoy’s kids are being kicked out of the league because of the behavior of the guy his baby momma is currently dating. Mike Taverna’s kid was allegedly abused by the same guy. None of these issues would be happening if Michelle Gauvin didn’t choose to be in a relationship with Jeff Berkowitz and allow him to touch her kids, yell at them, and act like a dirtbag in front of other people and their children.

Dear Michelle – if you allow a man into your life who is a magnet for controversy and thinks he can yell and swear at your kids in public, then you’re part of the problem. If I were the father of her children I’d be ripshit that you were letting someone like this around my kids, and that due to his actions my kids could no longer play football. That’s entirely on you.

Nevertheless, Michelle took to Facebook to make a whole post about how the league is discriminating against her kids due to their autism, while making zero mention of her boyfriend’s behavior.

Oh for fucks sake.

“I refuse to be the person watching injustice happen and do nothing.”

Lady, you are not Martin Luther King. Your kid is threatening to gouge other kids’ eyeballs out, your boyfriend is grabbing and screaming at your 6 year old in public, and you tried and failed to get the town to cancel the league for doing their job. Obviously they’re not gonna wanna keep you around because all your family does is cause problems. Sadly, the kids and their uninvolved fathers are the ones who also suffer because of your shitty life choices.

The bottom line is that suing a nonprofit youth football league into bankruptcy because your boyfriend and your kids are out of control is a douche move. Let’s hope the league can get this lawsuit dismissed quickly, and that some lawyer out there can help them with their case in a cost effective manner.