Saturday marked a week since a disagreement between coaches at a Little League football game turned deadly, leaving coach Michael Hickmon dead.
Following calls for change, coaches, parents and the community have come together to develop a plan to end senseless violence at youth sporting events.
“We are all Mike Hickmon. I could have been Mike Hickmon that day. It could have happened to me,” said Leneric Edwards, who knew Hickmon personally.
“He was very aware of how other people were feeling. He was a very good guy,” he said.
Edwards also coached Hickmon’s son on the track and attended town hall to be part of the prevention process going forward.
“A lot of times when something happens, people lose their sight or their vision,” Edwards said.
Instead, those present focused on what can be done today. This included forming a coalition of parents and staff to develop a code of conduct as well as improving the qualifications of coaching staff, moving games to school grounds where the rules can be better enforced and, in some cases, employing sheriff’s deputies to stand by. .
They also pledged to communicate better with each other to ward off so-called bad actors from their organizations and fields.
Monday, the coach accused of killing Hickmon, 39-year-old Yaqub Talim, surrendered at the Dallas County jail.Mike Hickmon, who was shot and killed on Saturday, remains in the community as a man who loved coaching football and motivating today’s youth.
