When former international soccer pro David Rodriguez stood up in front of the Key Biscayne Council in June, he took on a topic that is sacred on the island: youth soccer.
Rodriguez, who played professionally for Real Madrid, claimed his 8-year-old son had experienced psychological harm at the hands of one of Key Biscayne Soccer Club’s most successful coaches, Hernan Acosta.
Rodriguez told the Independent he witnessed Acosta berating players, engaging in favoritism and displaying public disrespect towards parents of affected players.
“Physical damage leaves bruises, emotional damage leaves ghosts, ghosts that haunt a child’s personality and potential in many aspects of their lives,” Rodriguez said on June 10.
David Rodriuguez addresses the Key Biscayne Village Council June 10, 2025 outlining complaints about the island’s soccer program. The Village altered policies for the popular programs, but he maintains the changes are not sufficient (KBI Photo/Tony Winton)
Soccer has passionate fans at all levels – and Rodriguez’s complaints have ignited a firestorm at the Key Biscayne Soccer Club. Parents and some players have come forward to defend Acosta, while Rodriguez has doubled down with a complaint to the organization overseeing Florida youth soccer.
Yet, two things can be true at the same time.
Acosta’s style breeds champions consistently. His players go on to attend academies, and his U11 team won the South Florida United Cup tournament this September. Yet, some players may not thrive under that drill sergeant approach. And, as one parent said, it’s essential to remember that the persons being coached are preteen boys.
The league came under a microscope at a time when it should have been celebrating one of its greatest successes. The U15 elite team went all the way to the nationals, playing against teams connected with professional soccer clubs.
Rodriguez’s accusations were vehemently and publicly denied by Marcelo Radice, the president of the Key Biscayne Soccer Club. He defended his club and his coach in front of the Council twice during the summer. He dismisses Rodriguez as just another disappointed parent who saw his child get less playing time in the club’s most competitive level.
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“We know this parent has made it his mission to defame and discredit the club, misrepresent, and exaggerate his interpretation of what transpired during the season. He is now using the media to intentionally cause harm to our club,” Radice told the Independent.
The Village and Key Biscayne Soccer responded to Rodriguez’s complaints, adopting a new policy that prohibits private coaching sessions, and calls for all players to be on the field 50% of the time, among other measures.
But Rodriguez wasn’t satisfied. He filed a complaint with the U.S. Center for Safe Sport. That sparked an investigation by the Florida Youth Soccer Association, which is looking into the complaint by Rodriguez that his son was psychologically harmed and the parents bullied by Acosta.
A previous complaint filed by Rodriguez with U.S. Club Soccer, a national youth sports organization, resulted in no action against Acosta, Radice said.
Hernan Acosta, a Key Biscayne Soccer coach, talks to a young player at a practice session, Sept. 3, 2025 (KBI Photo/Tony Winton)
Parents Rally to Coach’s Defense
There was an outpouring of support for Acosta from parents and players at the Village Athletic Advisory Board meeting on Sept. 24. The board said it would remain impartial in the matter and let the process play out. But Board Member Kenneth Coto was vocal in support of Acosta.
“The accusations are very serious,” Coto said. “This is a fantastic coach. He’s someone that we should treasure being in our community.”
Rodriguez accused Key Biscayne Soccer and Acosta of organizing a pressure campaign, writing emails to the Advisory Board and to the Village administration. A public records request to the Village asking for the emails has yet to be fulfilled.
The Independent reached out to coach Acosta, but he did not respond. He has recently retained local attorney Kira Grossman, who also did not provide any comment. Acosta has been with Key Biscayne Soccer for 15 years.
“You know, the kid had a hard, hard life, but he came here in this country, and he’s done very well,” Radice said of Acosta. “This is his living.”
Nuria de la Fuente, Rodriguez’s spouse, spoke to the advisory board and addressed the crowd that was supporting Acosta. Afterwards, when asked what would be an acceptable outcome for the coach, de la Fuente said Acosta shouldn’t be coaching kids.
Rodriguez said several other parents complained about Acosta, but the Independent was able to speak with only one other couple willing to go on the record.
Liza Daibue said her son was promoted to the A team for U9 for the 2024-2025 season, with Acosta as the coach. He fit in with the team and the coach was satisfied with his performance, she said.
Even though everything seemed great, Daiube began to notice that for some reason, her son was benched for at least 75% of the game time during tournaments, even though he had gotten a good evaluation.
“It looked like politics or something was going on where he prefers other players,” Daiube said.
Fred Daiube, her husband, spoke to the advisory board, saying Acosta’s coaching went beyond the guidelines the community agreed upon for youth soccer.
“This is not related to only one family, he said.
Both Rodriguez’s and Daiube’s kids were moved from the A team this season to be on the B team next season. Rodriguez believes this was done in retaliation for his speaking out, but offered no proof. Fred Daiube said his child is thriving on the new team and a different coach.
New Policy
After the allegations surfaced, the Key Biscayne Soccer Club and the Village quickly pivoted, creating a set of new policies to address playing time, oversight of coaches, player evaluations and parental complaints.
“We’ll require the club to follow the policy and we will be actively engaged with our staff to make sure that they’re following the rules,” said Director of Parks and Recreation Todd Hofferberth.
READ MORE: “Dream season for dream team ends for Key Biscayne U15 Elite at nationals”
“We’re also going to focus on improving our junior academy and intramural program. That’s a focus that we want going forward.”
A playing field at the Key Biscayne Village Green, Feb. 26, 2022. The Village is suffering from a shortage of playing space that has led to some community tensions (KBI Photo/Theo Miller)
Key Biscayne has invested much in supporting youth athletics. The Village Green, purchased decades ago, was astroturfed and lights were added to maximize playing time. There are frequent conflicts about competing uses.
Recently, the Village paid to astroturf a field at St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church, and is working to get access to more playing space on Virginia Key.
The fields are used for field hockey and other sports, but youth soccer remains king. The contract is subject to competitive bidding and the winning company gets to charge parents fees to pay for program costs. It is a business, subsidized by taxpayers.
On a recent rainy weekday, parents clustered around the twin fields while coaches blew whistles, engaged kids in drills, and huddled with players to give direction.
Radice said he hopes the new policy will give parents a way to address their concerns and avoid a repeat of the public drama.
“If they want to complain about bullying, the conduct of the coach, or the conduct of another parent,” he said “We will try to find solutions.”
Tony Winton contributed to this story.
JOHN PACENTI is a correspondent of the Key Biscayne Independent. John has worked for The Associated Press, the Palm Beach Post, Daily Business Review, and WPTV-TV.
Rochester, N.Y. — Two people have been arrested following a double shooting Thursday evening on the city’s southwest side.
Officers responded around 5:20 p.m. to the area of Bartlett and Seward streets, where they found two men, ages 20 and 37, who were both shot in the lower body, according to police. Both men were taken to Strong Memorial Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Two suspects, a 35-year-old man and a 32-year-old woman, were arrested following a police chase that ended on Pullman Avenue.
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An investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or Crime Stoppers at (585) 423-9300.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach State athletics for the 2025-26 season is sponsored by Marilyn Bohl.
For ten minutes of the opening half Long Beach State proved they can go toe-to-toe with some of the Big West’s best teams.
However, the Beach couldn’t get into a rhythm as they dropped their road contest 74-64 Thursday night in Irvine at the Bren Events Center in the first round of the Black and Blue Rivalry.
“Credit to Irvine,” Long Beach State coach Chris Acker said. “They did a good job disrupting our best player, and Gavin. We didn’t have enough guys to step up and make plays tonight.”
Gavin Sykes got the Beach off to a nice start with 4 points to give LBSU a 6-2 lead with 17:19 remaining in the first half. UCI responded with a 4-0 run to tie the game.
However, after Petar Majstorovic was fouled hard by UC Irvine’s Harrison Carrington which was later reviewed and upgraded to a flagrant one – the Beach went on a 4-0 run to take a 10-6 lead with 14:51 left in the first half.
Sykes and Majstorovic did what they could as they went up against the Anteaters who entered the contest with the second-best defense in the Big West allowing 67 points per game.
Before the contest LBSU found out they’d be without one of their key rotational piece as Shaq Bender did not travel with the team as he deals with the flu. The absence loomed large for LBSU as UCI was able to key on Sykes and Majstorovic.
After taking a 10-6 lead, the Anteaters went on a 5-0 run to take an 11-10 run with 11:30 left in the first half. Sykes ended the run with a 3-pointer to give the Beach a 13-11 lead.
UCI (11-5, 5-0) answered right back thanks to a basket from Jurian Dixon that tied the game and Tama Isaac gave the Anteaters a 15-13 shortly after and that was enough as they’d lead the rest of the way.
Sykes scored 21 points and Majstorovic scored 15 to lead the Beach. Cole Farrell chipped in nine as the trio combined to shoot 18-32 from the field while the rest of the team shot 7-28. Majstorovic also had eight rebounds.
LBSU (5-11,1-3) had plenty of opportunities to score, but the Beach wasn’t able to take advantage of the opportunities.
Dixon led the Anteaters with 23 points and Kyle Evans had 15 points and six rebounds. UCI extended the lead to 18 midway in the second half before LBSU went on a small run to cut the deficit to 10 points.
Long Beach will continue Big West play when they host Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday in the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid on Saturday at 4 p.m.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — A group of 15 Philadelphia coaches were recognized Thursday night for completing a program designed to help them better support young athletes facing academic challenges, violence and emotional struggles.
Marcus Fulton, athletic director and football coach at Boys’ Latin of Philadelphia Charter School, said the sport has long been a guiding force in his own life. “Football helped me chase the dream,” he said.
Fulton said his decades of coaching in the city have shown him the pressures many young players face.
“I’ve been coaching for 25 years in the city of Philadelphia, so I know some of things going on with our guys in terms of the academic struggles, the violence that happens. I lost a couple players before,” he said.
The coaches were honored for completing the Open Door Abuse Awareness and Prevention program, which teaches trauma-informed strategies to help athletes on and off the field.
“We’re teaching coaches how to put on a lens for trauma in order to be able to help out kids a little deeper,” said Valencia Peterson, founder of the program.
Peterson created the initiative after experiencing trauma of her own when her mother was killed at a young age. The program focuses on mentorship, violence prevention and creating safe spaces for youth.
Peterson said coaches often play a critical role in young people’s lives.
“The coach is usually a first line for kids, and it’s their only father figure, it’s their only stability. The only consistent thing they have is a team. So we’re giving the coaches the tools they need to help regulate, to help see them for who they really are,” she said.
As part of the training, coaches learned to lead with empathy, help players manage emotions, and identify signs of mental health concerns.
MidCity Tigers coach Adolph Sanna said he hopes the lessons help athletes understand “that they have an opportunity to see what another side of life is like where people are concerned about their fears, their doubts and the things that are going on with them.”
Fulton said he wants the young men he coaches to carry these lessons into adulthood “to be successful. To be good husbands, good fathers, good mentors in the city of Philadelphia.”
The Open Door Abuse Awareness and Prevention program also offers mentorship for boys and girls who do not participate in sports, aiming to help youth across Philadelphia “become the best version of themselves,” according to the organization.
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Plans to build a state-of-the-art, $40 million youth sports complex in Kalamazoo County are on hold for now.
The county commission heard plans from the developer during their Thursday night meeting, who asked for variances into protected slopes and woodlands in order to build the facility and parking lot.
The property is a 20-acre site, located within the Westwood area of Kalamazoo adjacent to US-131.
Discover Kalamazoo says the sports complex is expected significantly boost the local economy, potentially generating nearly $49 million annually as well as bring more than 600 full- and part-time jobs.
Local use would be prioritized, increasing participation for underserved youth.
A student athlete from Oshtemo Township spoke of her support for the project during public comment.
“I think it would be cool to play basketball and volleyball at a place like this because there aren’t many places in our area,” she said. “It will help bring new people to our area which will help my mom’s business.”
Some residents spoke in opposition to the project, citing traffic concerns and not wanting a large structure near their homes.
The commission voted to request more information on one variance request that would clear a significant amount of trees before moving forward.
Mudsock Youth Athletics has named Tim McCoy as its 2025 Volunteer of the Year, honoring his more than 10 years of service to the Knights football program and his dedication to the organization’s mission to foster character, leadership and community through youth sports.
“Tim’s work with the Knights goes far beyond the field,” Executive Director of Mudsock Youth Athletics Scott Spillman stated. “He has built a program where young athletes not only develop their skills but also learn the importance of responsibility, teamwork and service. His leadership elevates the entire Mudsock community.”
McCoy joined the Knights as an assistant coach in 2015 and became head coach in 2021, according to a news release. Through that volunteer work, he has mentored athletes, supported fellow coaches and strengthened the program’s culture.
“Tim’s dedication sets the tone for the program,” Spillman stated. “The environment he creates encourages young people to strive for their best and fosters connections that last well beyond the season.”
McCoy was honored during the Mudsock Youth Athletics’ annual volunteer appreciation event, which celebrates individuals whose time and commitment make youth sports possible.
“Congratulations to Tim McCoy on this well-earned honor,” the news release stated. “His leadership and service continue to leave a lasting impact on young athletes and the broader Mudsock Youth Athletics community.”
For more about Mudsock Youth Athletics, visit myathletics.com.
