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A youth football coach in western Pa. claims racial slurs rang out from the stands during a recent game after members of his mostly black team took a knee during the playing of the national anthem, sparking outrage and even a police response. The move, made popular by NFL players like Colin Kaepernick, pictured at right, is meant to call attention to systemic racism in the U.S., and has proven wildly controversial. File photo.

(AP/Daniel Gluskoter)

BETHEL PARK -- A youth football coach claims racial slurs rang out from the stands during a game in this majority white Pittsburgh suburb over the weekend, after members of his mostly black team took a knee during the national anthem, sparking outrage and even a police response.

The coach, Marcus Burkley Sr., told WPXI-TV that three of his players took a knee during the anthem, just as National Football League players recently have in a controversial attempt to call attention to systemic racism in the U.S.

"Once they took a knee, you see cameras and people taking pictures. And out of nowhere you hear, 'If the little N-word(s) want to take a knee, they shouldn't be able to play," Burkley said in an interview with the TV station that aired Tuesday.

The coach went on to tell WPXI that in addition to racial slurs coming from a select few in the stands on Saturday, his 12- and 13-year-old players also heard them from opposing players on the field. He later told PennLive that referees also assessed his team more than 200 penalty yards during the game, often without an explanation or after dropping flags before contact had even been made.

Lastly, Burkley said his Woodland Hills team members were even denied service at a concession stand after being told the food inside was reserved for Bethel Park fans only. It's not clear if this was in response to the anthem protest, however.

At one point, police were called to stand guard on the field and keep the peace, WPXI reports. Burkley later told PennLive that the home team had made the call amid growing tension in the crowd.

An after-hours attempt by PennLive to confirm this with local police on Tuesday was unsuccessful, as was an attempt to reach a Bethel Park Junior Football League official for comment.

And while Burkley's team ultimately won the game, the coach said they were just "glad to get out of there."

"It was bad," he told PennLive by phone on Tuesday. "It was sad and scary that kids were subjected to this. ... I didn't sleep that night."

In a Facebook message posted Sunday, Burkley called the episode a learning experience for his players, saying they had gotten "a taste of what this cold society can sometimes dish out."

We Battled through adversity and remained focused! I love this group! They learned a HUGE lesson and got a taste of what... Posted by Marcus Burkley Sr on Sunday, October 9, 2016

He went on to thank "the parents and fans who endured last night's game," and said, "We still got work to do! It's bigger than football!"

His post has been viewed hundreds of times in the days since. And while most of the comments have been positive, a since deleted remark revealed some of the same anger purportedly directed at the coach and his players during the game.

"You're letting 12-year-old kids kneel during the national anthem?? you have no respect for the country you live in. ill buy you a first class ticket to North Korea and you can tell me just how bad it is here," one commenter wrote.

That same sentiment has greeted professional athletes choosing not to stand for the anthem, and is now being seen with child and high school athletes nationwide who have decided to follow their lead. The critics often argue that the move degrades the sacrifices of military service members and the police.

But in other cases, the cause of the outrage seems to be less about the statement than about the types of people making it.

In a New York Daily News report from last month, reporter Shaun King, whose work focuses heavily on issues of race in America, said youth football players in Texas were threatened with lynching after taking a knee during the anthem there.

"April Parkerson, whose son plays on the team said, 'Our children are receiving death threats from people saying things like hang those monkeys, they should've died on 9/11, and they're going to kill each other anyway,'" King wrote.

Similar stories have been reported with youth and high school football leagues from Virginia to San Francisco and Las Vegas, where a local sports columnist last month questioned whether it was possible for kids so young to fully grasp the meaning of such a loaded statement and gesture.

In Woodland Hills, coach Burkley thinks it is, and he was standing by his players' actions in the face of mounting blowback on Tuesday.

"They did this, the same three kids did this earlier in the season and it shocked me then," Burkley said, adding that he had been given no prior notice by the team.

"But we didn't have this kind of a reaction at that stadium."

Burkley said at the following practice, he pressed the boys to explain themselves. "I said 'What's your reason behind taking the knee?' I said, 'Don't do it just because it's a fad.'"

The coach said he was taken aback when the players responded with an eloquent invocation of the police killings of unarmed African Americans and the killing of Tamir Rice in Cleveland by officers who mistook his pellet gun for a real one.

The players told Burkley that Rice was their age when he died, and that because of that they needed to speak out.

"Tamir Rice was a 12 year old and we're still 12 year olds," Burkley recalled them saying.

"The ones who took a knee did so because they feel African Americans are not being treated equally," he added. "And I didn't take a knee with them, but I told them 'I'll back you 100 percent if we receive any backlash,' and I knew we would."

Burkley said while he's encountered some racism throughout his life, he's never seen anything like Saturday night.

And while some of his own players disagreed with their teammates' decision to take a knee during the anthem, he said they did so respectfully. There are 26 kids on the team's roster. All are African American.

"One of my kids said 'I'm not taking a knee coach, 'cause my grandfather was in Vietnam.' And I said 'That's fine.'"

But while there are plenty of critics, the coach's supporters are often just as vocal, if not more so. Online, many thanked Burkley for taking a stand, or at least for allowing his players to. And others defended the team's right to protest, calling the act as quintessentially American as football itself.

UPDATE: This article has been updated with comment from coach Burkley and additional details about Saturday's game.