HARRISBURG, N.C. — A Harrisburg football coach is pushing for answers and money after he said his team is out thousands of dollars following a last minute cancellation from a local bus company.
Jeffrey Sapp runs the 9U Harrisburg Cowboys football team. His staff decided it was time for the team to gain experience beyond the immediate area. Sapp was looking to give his team the "college experience" through football.
The team raised $2,600 for bus transportation through a charter bus company, "Semper Fi Tours".
As the team was getting set to depart, the company president texted Sapp an hour prior, canceling transportation.
"You try to do something special for the kids," Sapp said. "I know I couldn’t sleep if I knew I left 33 kids on the sidewalk.”
Sapp and the company's president have exchanged messages over the last month as Sapp is still demanding his full refund.
“He didn't just rob us with money, he's robbed these kids out of a once in a lifetime experience, you know, they're probably never going to get to take a charter bus to play football game until they, you know, get way out or not this age, at least," Sapp added.
The president for the company texted the coach that they would receive their refund on Oct. 1. Sapp claims he never received it and after a couple of weeks, his team has only got $200 of the $2,600.
“You're talking about the fourth promise, already, a month," Sapp said. "So what do we believe? You know... we tried to handle this [as] civilly and quietly as possible... but the more we just hit a point where we're at, we're out of options.”
WCNC Charlotte reached out to Semper Fi Tours on the issue. They sent a statement:
"We canceled the trip due to a bad storm. There were strong winds and a bad thunderstorm that day in Wilmington due to a hurricane. Kacy Walker, called Mr. Sapp and Kacy told him that he didn't see it fit to drive a bus full of children in those conditions. Mr. Sapp got mad about this and Kacy told him he was not about to risk those children's lives so at 12 PM he canceled the trip. Their trip was supposed to depart at 6:00 PM. In our contract it states we have the right to cancel trips if we don't see it fit to drive the motor coach. We have refunded Mr. Sapp a portion of his money and will still refund him the remaining of his balance by the end of the month."
Parents and family members stepped up and made the trip possible by packing up the cars and making the trip themselves. Sapp is fighting to make a statement for his team.
“We're willing to do whatever it takes to make it right by these boys and make sure you know, they get this money back," Sapp said. "Somebody can use it for them.”
Contact Myles Harris at mharris5@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.