A middle-aged assistant youth football coach in Hawaii has been arrested for assault after attacking a 12-year-old player on an opposing team in the latest disturbing event to hit the youth sports ranks.

As reported by Hawaii News Now, among other outlets, 45-year-old Ionatana Alualu -- the uncle of NFL player Tyson Alualu -- was arrested and charged with third degree assault for striking a 12-year-old player in the head so hard that the child was sent "flying" to the ground. The incident in question occurred during a Hawaii State Junior Prep Sports Association Football League game at Leilehua High School, where Alualu's Rock Solid Crusaders were playing the Wahiawa Lancers.

The Hawaii State Junior Prep Sports Association Commissioner, Robert Faleafine, immediately suspended Alualu indefinitely, a penalty which appears to eliminate the Crusaders assistant coach from ever returning to coach his team, or another in the association.

"I was taken by surprise by the incident itself. You can call it ugly if you want to," Faleafine told Hawaii News Now. "I mean it hurts. It really does. I put this [league] together for kids, that's why and it hurts me to see something like this happen."

According to witnesses cited by Hawaii News Now, Alualu attacked the player in an attempt to break up an impending fight between the 12-year-old who was struck and a Rock Solid Crusaders player. Alualu's daughter told the news organization that her father hadn't intended to hurt the child, but was only trying to keep the two from fighting.

Chris Lewis had a big day on Monday. In the span of just a few hours, Lewis received college basketball scholarship offers to New Mexico and Memphis, both perennial NCAA tournament programs.

For most teenagers that might not be too shocking. For Lewis it is, for one reason: He hasn't even stepped foot on a high school campus yet.

As reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, among other sources, Lewis -- who is a 14-year-old student at Northwestern Middle School in suburban Atlanta -- earned the offers after a standout weekend of performances for the Georgia Stars 15-and-under AAU program, the latest in a long line of stirring, highlight-reel games for the budding talent. Lewis, who plans to play at area powerhouse Milton (Ga.) Academy, will likely get more scholarship offers down the road, but the fact that he received two offers before he even reached high school speaks volumes.

[Also: Epic NFL draft bust gives advice to incoming rookies on how to succeed]

Wondering what kind of game Lewis possesses? Here's how Basketball Spotlight News, which covers many of the nation's top middle school prospects, described Lewis' performance at the Converse Elite event in May 2011:

Standing 6'6 Lewis is still in project form offensively but the big body clogged the lane and rejected or altered several shots. In the post his main concern should be improving his footwork and elevation at this point.

That review may be promising, but it isn't exactly overwhelming, which speaks to the ever escalating recruiting wars for young prospects. Think about it: Lewis hasn't played a single, meaningful minute of high school competition, yet he already has scholarship offers to two major Division I programs. Why is it happening, and how can these colleges justify extending scholarship offers so early?

Georgia middle school hoops star Chris Lewis — BballSpotlight.com

"They love the fact that he's 6-7 at 14 years old, and has been playing at a high level on the AAU circuit for the last three years," Milton coach David Boyd, who will likely serve as Lewis' high school coach, told the Journal-Constitution. "He has an outstanding athletic pedigree with his father's football accomplishments.

"I have been waiting for that first offer to arrive … and it finally came today. I knew it was coming because Chris is that good, has that much upside and that much potential."

The father to which Boyd alludes is former Georgia football star and 13-year New York Jet Mo Lewis, a pedigree which gives Lewis an extra layer of allure. Still, for Lewis to have sold serious college coaches on his future so young is rather remarkable, particularly since he won't sign a college scholarship for another four years … at the earliest.

Ulises Garcia is one of the top young decathletes in the nation, a status he cemented by winning the AAU junior national decathlon championship at the ESPN RISE games as a sophomore. Normally, that would make Garcia a shoo-in to earn a state title in his chosen event. There's just one problem: Garcia's state doesn't even offer a high school decathlon competition.

Calvary Christian decathlete Ulises Garcia — YouTube

As reported by the Miami Herald, Garcia finds himself in the unique predicament of being a national-caliber talent in a sport in which he can't even compete in on an everyday basis. Now a senior at Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Calvary Christian, Garcia instead has to hone his decathlon talent by focusing on improvements in contributing events, focusing mainly on the 110-meter high hurdles and 300 hurdles during his final high school season.

"It's very disappointing I won't be able to compete for a high school state title in the decathlon," Garcia told the Herald. "Other states have it during the high school season but not Florida. I feel like there are countless athletes in Florida who passed through that could have been great decathletes. A lot of kids in Florida don't even know what the decathlon is."

Not only does Garcia know what the decathlon is, he knows what it takes to excel in the sport. He first competed in the decathlon on the high-profile AAU circuit following his sophomore campaign, when he won the ESPN RISE title and finished in fourth place at the AAU Junior Olympics. As a junior he finished fourth at the RISE games and sixth at the AAU Juniors.

Those results turned the heads of college recruiters, with Central Missouri eventually offering Garcia a scholarship for an event he can't even compete in for his own school.

According to the Herald, Garcia's versatility has been in the cards since his freshman season, when he was a star linebacker for the Calvary Christian football team. Without a decathlon title to shoot for, Garcia has instead become his school's record holder in a whopping seven different events: the pole vault, triple jump, 110 hurdles, 300 hurdles, 800 meters, 1,600 relay and 3,200 relay.

In an illustrious high school baseball career, Cherry Hill (N.J.) West High pitcher Brenden DelMonte has thrown a no-hitter and led his team to numerous key victories. Still, what he achieved on Monday may be hard to top: DelMonte struck out 17 consecutive batters in leading Cherry Hill West to a come-from-behind, 2-1 victory against Pennsauken (N.J.) High.

Cherry Hill West High pitcher Brenden DelMonte — Philly.com

According to Philly.com, DelMonte -- who will pitch for Navy in 2013 -- didn't record a strikeout against the first couple batters he faced. He did, however, strike out the third and fourth batter, then proceeded to strike out the side in the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth inning.

DelMonte struck out one more batter in the seventh -- he finished with 18 total strikeouts in a complete-game, seven-inning performance -- but he also gave up a surprising run, setting the stage for his teammates to launch a furious, two-run rally in the bottom of the seventh to land DelMonte a well-earned victory.

The win came just more than two weeks after DelMonte's first career no-hitter, a gem he spun in a rivalry game against Cherry Hill (N.J.) East High. For a prospect who had never pitched before his freshman year, that's one heck of a month.

"It was a great atmosphere," DelMonte told the Inquirer after his no hitter. "To throw a no-hitter against our biggest rival with a lot of fans here in this stadium, it was something special.

"I really didn't pitch until freshman year. I didn't even realize I had a no-hitter until the last inning, and then I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want to jinx it."

LostLettermen.com is a college football and men's basketball website. Today LostLettermen's Anthony Oliveri takes a look at 10-year-old quarterback phenom Daron Bryden for Prep Rally.

Daron Bryden is a young quarterback that patterns his game after Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger and likes to work out five times a week honing his skills.

10-year-old quarterback Daron Bryden — Talcott Photography

That's nothing new for a QB prospect on the verge of stardom -- except that Bryden is in the fourth grade.

A native of Enfield, Conn. -- located near the Massachusetts border -- the 10-year-old has been playing football with this type of fervor since he was 6 years old and has a personal QB coach, Todd Krueger, a former Buffalo Bills draft pick who runs the website
playqb.com.

[Related: Ex-NFL QB Troy Aikman dating former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader?]

Daron's father, Craig Bryden, said via email that his son has been a prodigy from the start when he attended a New York Giants football camp in Connecticut as a 6-year-old, during which Daron received great feedback about his play.

That's when Craig Bryden contacted Evan Bowen, Daron's first QB mentor, who also saw potential.

"After his first QB training with Evan, Evan told me that Daron [pronounced "Dar-in"] would be a great quarterback down the road because he was impressed [with] the way he was throwing the ball," wrote the elder Bryden, who is deaf along with his wife. "So
I started to have Daron to work weekly with Evan and started to attend QB camps/competition[s].

"He was beating older kids -- two, three years older than him. He was making a lot of noise by winning a lot of QB competitions or best quarterback in the camps. That is when I started to realize that he has a lot of potential as a quarterback."

[PHOTO: The new Stifler's mom? Kalil's model mother shines at Draft]

The younger Bryden, who also speaks sign language, certainly has received plenty of publicity already. He became a web sensation with a trick-shot video that went viral in 2011 and his parents started a blog, daronqb.blogspot.com, in honor of his football skills. The blog also contains praise from those in and around the game.

"Daron is the man fa real," ex-Colorado and NFL QB Kordell Stewart is quoted as saying on the site: "Accurate, good technique, can take a hit. … That's just the beginning for Daron. Tell him I said keep it going. Go DB go!"

Bryden has been mentioned by ESPN.com and sports blogs such as Deadspin. He was also featured on the TV station HDNet, which aired Daron rocketing balls that dwarf his head to teammates in practice and showing off trick shots:

[Related: Where is Cody Paul, YouTube's "White Reggie Bush", now?]

Bryden even has a fan in Florida who requested a signed picture and autograph.

Yes, he's 10 going on Tebow.

And Daron is even sounding like a pro already with the media, saying by phone that he loves his teammates, "especially my wide receivers, Joey Colon, A.J. Alibrio and Logan Tomlinson. I love playing for my coach Aaron Alibrio. He has a lot of confidence in me. He runs perfect offense for my team."

He might already appear on his way to the 2023 NFL draft, but there are many cautionary tales of childhood phenoms that were pushed too hard too soon and couldn't handle the enormous pressure of being a child prodigy at such an early age. Former NFL quarterback Todd Marinovich was raised from the womb to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame but flamed out of the league and struggled with substance abuse problems for years.

When Kingsley-Pierson (Iowa) High senior Rachel Bird reached out to Tim Tebow about having the quarterback serve as her prom date, the newly minted Jets passer never responded on Twitter. While that might have ended most teens' pursuit of the playmaker, it just got Bird's creative juices flowing.

Rachel Bird with her Tim Tebow cutout — Twitter

Eventually, Bird did arrive at prom with Tebow in a suit, it was just that the Tebow she showed up with was made out of cardboard, and he provided a perfect partner for her walk down her school's annual prom grand march.

As first reported by the Sioux City Journal -- and quickly followed by the likes of the Des Moines Register and Sportress of Blogitude, among other outlets -- Bird's quest to take Tebow to prom began when Bird's Kingsley-Pierson classmate, Travis Neumann, told her that he'd happily pay $50 if she could walk into the school's prom with Tebow. Spurred by the challenge, Bird reached out to Tebow on Twitter and tried to track him down through his agent and the Jets.

When she heard nothing back, Bird got a bright idea. She found a photo of Tebow in a suit, took it to a Staples store and learned that the store was planning a sale on giant color photos like the one she wanted made of Tebow; in late April, she could have a life-size Tebow photo created for just $19.99.

Armed with $20 and a keen sense of humor, Bird had the photo made, then fished a piece of cardboard from the trash behind a local hardware store and glued the photo to the cardboard, creating custom-made supports of wood to ensure the fake Tebow would stand upright all night.

[Related: Paul Pierce channels Tim Tebow in important win for the Celtics]

Days later, she showed up at her friend's house with her date and immediately became the hit of the Kingsley-Pierson prom.

"It was awkward, but people asked me to stop for photos during the grand march," Bird told the Journal. "Believe me, this isn't something I ever thought I'd be doing.

"He was a cheap date, and he didn't talk much. And when I asked him to stand in a corner, he did. I don't think it even hurt his feelings."

A heated boys lacrosse playoff game in Florida took a disturbing turn on Tuesday when a standout defenseman for one of the teams was ejected for throwing a punch at his opponent, then sucker punched another player while he was being escorted from the field, leaving the second punched player lying prone, stunned on the turf.

The player who threw the punch has since been suspended from school for the remainder of the week and was banned from any athletic participation for six weeks, though that suspension will have no weight as his team has already been eliminated from the state playoffs.

The incident occurred in Ft. Lauderdale, where regional power Boca Raton (Fla.) St. Andrews School was visiting traditional rival Ft. Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas School in a Florida High School Athletic Association Regional Final. As reported in detail by Wells Dusenbury of West Palm Beach's ESPN Radio affiliate, ESPN760, the ugly incident began when St. Thomas Aquinas defenseman Jake Champion threw a punch at a St. Andrew's player in the third quarter.

While the full reasons for Champion's punch remain unclear, the teenager had plenty to be upset about. St. Andrews had opened up a virtually unassailable 15-5 lead, and it was becoming more and more clear that the Raiders' once promising season would come to an end at the hand of the very regional rival they so longed to overtake yet again.

[Shine: Lacrosse is the fastest-growing sport in the U.S.]

Whatever the reason, Champion clearly lost control of his emotions and was caught by referees in the process, earning himself an ejection from the game. Yet, it was while Champion was being escorted off the field that he delivered the strike that will almost certainly live on in Florida lacrosse infamy for some time. Just before leaving the extended field of play, Champion threw a full punch at an unsuspecting St. Andrews attackman, Jordan Todd, who didn't see the STA defenseman coming and appeared to be completely blindsided by the strike.

In fact, Todd was so shocked by the punch that he lay prostrate on the ground for a good 20-30 seconds before pulling his wits back together and lifting himself off the turf, at which point he was finally able to get himself back together and, eventually, go on to finish off the Scots' 20-6 victory.

"I was standing there and I just get hit in the face and I'm on the ground," Todd told ESPN760. "There's no place in the game for that."

One of the top football players from Virginia's football-rich Tidewater region was arrested and charged with brandishing a firearm for allegedly pulling out a BB gun during a fight with other teenagers and holding it to another Virginia teen's head.

Lafayette running back Will Capers — YouTube

As reported by the Williamsburg Yorktown Daily, William Capers III, a dominant running back in 2010 and 2011 for Williamsburg (Va.) Lafayette High, was arrested after a fight with six or seven other men between the ages of 18 and 20. During the fight, Capers allegedly pulled out a gun and held it to the head of another teen in the fight.

An hour after the fight was broken up, police located Capers and the teen admitted that he had pulled out a weapon, but said that it was a BB gun and not a traditional firearm. He was still charged with brandishing a firearm because Virginia law holds that someone can be charged with that count if a non-firearm (i.e., a BB gun or toy gun) bears a close resemblance to an actual weapon.

The arrest marks a dispiriting turn for Capers, who was a key contributor to Lafayette's football program in both 2010 and 2011. As a junior in 2010, Capers ran for 1,441 yards and 15 touchdowns. He nearly duplicated those statistics as a senior, rushing for 1,381 yards and 14 touchdowns while leading Lafayette back to the playoffs. He was recruited by William & Mary and Hampton throughout his junior and senior seasons. You can see highlights of Capers on the field here.