NJ Devils Owner Spoils Youth Soccer Game With Helicopter Landing

Several parents and sports fans in Newark are up in arms after a recent youth soccer match had to be cancelled because of a helicopter landing to pick up NJ Devils owner Joshua Harris.

Harris, who also owns the Philadelphia 76ers, was watching his hockey team play at the Prudential Center on Sunday, when a Sikorsky S-76B helicopter landed on the Saint Benedict’s Preparatory School’s sports green to pick him up on his orders, Deadspin.com reported.

The problem? Two local youth soccer teams were scheduled to play a game on the same field at the same time.

According to a parent of a child on one of the teams:

“My son’s U13 youth soccer team was supposed to play a game at 7:30 last night (Sunday, November 8th) on the field at Benedict’s Prep in Newark. As the two teams of U13 players from the STA 02 NPL and Cedar Stars Pre-Academy team got ready to take the field, a helicopter dropped down from the sky and landed right in the middle of the field.”

The parent continued:

“A security detail emerged from the helicopter and informed the boys and their coaches that NJ Jersey Devils owner, Josh Harris, had instructed them to land on the field and wait for him to return from the Prudential Center where the Devils were playing. The boys and their families waited in the cold until finally it became clear that Harris was running late and no one knew when he might return to pick up his ride. Eventually, the coaches decided to call the boys’ game and everyone went home disappointed, frustrated and annoyed.”

The parent concluded:

“I am not sure when or if Harris ever showed up to remove his helicopter from the field, but I hope that he had a great night. There are a number of 12-year-olds and youth soccer fans who did not — because of Harris’s selfish behavior.”

St. Benedict’s headmaster, Father Edwin Leahy, told Deadspin that the school has an agreement with Harris and a few other businesspeople in the area for use of the field as a helipad.

“According to Leahy, the error was due to a lack of communication between the aviation company [which serviced Harris] and the head of facilities at the school,” Deadspin reported. “Heliflite didn’t check in before beginning the trip, so when the helicopter arrived, Harris was still at the Prudential Center. Had the company called in beforehand, Leahy said, it would have been notified; the youth soccer game would have started, and the helicopter would have landed at halftime.”

A Prudential Center spokesman told NJ.com that Harris plans to reach out to the soccer players and invite them to a Devils game as restitution.

File photo: A Sikorsky S-76B helicopter

Video: A helicopter picks up Josh Harris in 2014 at the Saint Benedict’s Preparatory School’s sports green in Newark.