Wisconsin boy blocked from hugging sister goes viral

Green Bay, Wisc. (WBAY/CNN Newsource) — In basketball, it’s one thing to have a blocked shot, but a blocked hug has many people crying foul.

Especially since the hug was from a 3-year-old for his older sister after her team just won the state championship.

Senior Sydney Levy’s 3-year-old brother greeted her with open arms from the side of the basketball court after she was awarded a medal following the championship game.

Their dad was taking a video of the moment, which ended abruptly when the WIAA associate director stepped between the two, blocking the hug, sending them in separate directions.

The video, tweeted out by Nic Levy, got thousands of re-tweets, and broke hearts all over social media.

Today big sis Sydney said in a statement to Action 2 News, “Obviously, it was disappointing that I didn’t get to hug my brother, but just because the video was of us and the fact that he was a 3-year-old little boy doesn’t mean we the only ones affected. I had teammates who had family travel from all over who didn’t get to celebrate with them, so that was disappointing.”

The WIAA says they’ve reached out to the family to express their regret–however, they “were just following rules.”

Dave Anderson with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association said, “We have always taken the approach that the floor, the court or the field – that’s where the players and coaches belong.”

Action 2 News spoke with Appleton North’s athletic director on the phone and he declined my request for an interview citing the positive story of his team’s win, saying, “This attention should be on the girls and not a blocked hug.”

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