Former professional soccer player Eddie Johnson made a kind gesture to 3-year-old player Nevada Pierre after his talents went viral when police were called to his game. The league officials with i9 Sports reportedly called police after a disagreement with Pierre’s parents over the young soccer player allegedly pushing his teammates, People reports.
Nevada Pierre Receives Overwhelming Support
The incident happened on Saturday, October 24, at Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Winter Park, Florida. Footage of the police-involved incident went viral. “He’s very advanced compared to the other ones. So, he’s scoring a lot of goals, but he’s pushing the kids and doing all that stuff, so I try to tell him, ‘Hey, stop. Don’t … push. We want to play without pushing, right?’” a league official told the police, People reports. The publication reports that Pierre was removed from the game, but no arrests were made.
Nevada’s parents have disputed these claims, posting a video on social media with the caption, “This is the full game no cut no edit where is the pushing?” The silver lining is that a great deal of good has come from the incident.
Eddie Johnson Celebrates 3-Year-Old’s Soccer Journey
On Tuesday, October 27, Johnson reacted with a thoughtful gesture, offering Pierre a spot in his Orlando youth soccer academy and sharing a lengthy message on Instagram about Pierre and his talents. “Nevada deserves to be around someone that looks like him that can understand him, and it’s sad in youth soccer we don’t have enough of those programs for kids of color to have those examples around them because soccer is a rich suburban sport that’s controlled by privileged rich entitled parents,” Johnson began.
He continued, “And no one likes when the less fortunate kids are better then their kids. One of the many issues with youth soccer in this country. l experienced it now he’s experiencing it. That’s one of the reasons I created EJE7 because we encourage freedom and creativity and that is what you see we you see @nevadaney10. That’s why they call it the beautiful game. We should be praising a three-year-old for his ability instead of tarnishing it.”
Nevada Pierre’s Rise to Fame
Fans welcomed Johnson’s message and praised the post. Pierre is also on his way to celebrity status, with 925,000 followers on Instagram alone. The account shares photos and videos of him, focusing on his gameplay and undeniable skill. A GoFundMe page has also been set up to support his soccer journey, which, at the time of publication, has already raised $49,125 in two days.
In a post on Instagram informing followers of Pierre’s GoFundMe, the message reads: “Here is Nevada Gofund me for anyone that’s interested in supporting him and his next journey. Thank you for all the shares, like, comments and kind words. We love everyone. He will have a new soccer home soon.”
Former Soccer Pro Eddie Johnson Volunteers to Train 3-Year-Old Nevada Pierre After Police Called to His Game