![13-year-old stomps on opponent's head during AAU basketball game; police investigating](https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/13-year-old-stomps-on-opponent-s-head-during-aau-basketball-game-police-investigating.png?id=52966274&width=1245&height=700&quality=85&coordinates=0%2C52%2C0%2C52)
Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The family of the player who carried out the head stomp said he was standing up for his teammate who he believed had been kicked and punched.
A 13-year-old male stomped on opponent's head during an Amateur Athletic Union basketball game over the weekend in Northern California, and police are investigating. You can view a video report about the incident — which includes a cellphone clip of the head stomp — here.
Tumakbo United and Payton's Place were on the court Sunday at the College of Alameda when a pair of players wrestled on the floor for possession of the ball toward the end of the contest, KGO-TV reported.
'You could clearly see the size of his shoe on his face.'
Video shows a Payton's Place player rush over to the scrum and stomp on the head of a Tumakbo United player with his right foot.
"He was down on the floor, and this kid just came and just stomped on him, and it's on his head," Eva Guingab told KGO regarding what happened to her son.
The station's video report showed an image apparently of the side of her son's head after the stomp, and it's full of red marks.
"You could clearly see the size of his shoe on his face," Guingab told KGO. "My son suffered [a] concussion for the first time [since] he played basketball." Guingab and her husband told the station their son went into concussion protocol and was dealing with headaches.
However, the family of the player who carried out the head stomp told KGO he was standing up for his teammate who he believed had been kicked and punched. The video shows the stomping victim lift up his right foot toward the player who wanted the ball before the stomp took place.
KGO said family members claimed an organizer told the Payton's Place player after the incident to leave the gym, and he did so — and that adults have been cyberbullying the Payton's Place player.
The Payton's Place team added to the station that the boy who carried out the stomp is "seeking help to control his emotions, and he is not playing with the program at this time."
On Monday, Payton's Place noted the following on Instagram: "There is footage circulating of one of our team’s games this past weekend. Unfortunately, the footage is not a positive representation of our team and our values. The behavior that was exhibited by our player is not acceptable, and is being taken seriously. We do not condone violence. Our players are expected to conduct themselves with integrity on and off the court. At this time, both teams are working together to resolve this matter."
'I think everyone was just in shock.'
Payton's Place on Tuesday added, "On behalf of the Payton's Place Family, we sincerely apologize to the player injured in this incident, his family, and all those impacted," KTVU-TV reported.
According to KGO, police said the Guingabs filed a report and an investigation is under way. Alameda police added to KTVU that its report identifies two 13-year-old players, but police don't have further information to share since those involved are juveniles.
"I think everyone was just in shock," Michael Tolentino ,who coaches Tumakbo United, told KGO. "I think, you know, we all kind of went on the court [and] went to the coach of the other team to say, 'Hey, what just happened? ... What's going on?'"
In regard to the player who stomped on her son's head, Guingab added to KGO, "If we don't say anything right now, this kid will think it's OK to do it because he's young. He thinks that walking away from this situation just like he did is just OK."
KGO added that there are questions about attacks that may have taken place after the stomp involving parents and officials, but nothing could be seen on video, and police haven't noted anything about that.
In addition, KGO said coaches indicated the players have competed against each other several times over the years, and race wasn't a factor in Sunday's incident. Tumakbo United is a Filipino heritage basketball program with a Northern California chapter, KTVU said.
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