A Massachusetts youth football executive is stepping down following a scandal involving racist texts from coaches.
Earlier this month, controversial messages between coaches surfaced. The board of directors at Framingham Youth Football said the messages were "reprehensible and racially charged."
Several coaches were fired and board members were removed.
But some athletes' parents are speaking out in support of the coaches.
"We understand, like, OK, they can't coach again, but we want to clear their names, because there are two sides to a story," said Cynthia Rosario, the mother of a sixth grader whose coach was fired.
Rosario was asked if she believed the coaches sent racist texts.
"Listen, even if they were, we all joke around, and silly and stupid, but they were all personal. That's none of our business," she said. "What you do in closed doors is no one's business."
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"There is not and never has been any room for any form of hate," Jason Smith, the now-former president of Framingham Youth Football, wrote in an email to parents.
In October of 2018, Smith was sent a single screenshot of an "inappropriate text exchange" between coaches.
He wrote that it was only this month when he found out about more messages, which he called "disgusting and disparaging."
"I should have taken more actions to investigate," he wrote.
But that's not Rosario's priority.
"I'm more concerned about our coaches. No one cared about the concern about the kids and how it would have affected them," she said.
The names of the coaches who were fired have not been released.
Smith is also calling for more training and oversight for coaches.
