Pushy parents are an occupational hazard for teachers who run school sports teams. But few take their grievances as far as Amy Ortner.

Mrs Ortner was driven to act after her son, Keegan, was told that his grades weren’t good enough for him to be picked for the football team at Berlin-Milan Middle School in Berlin Heights, Ohio.

The outraged mum claims that no one told her Keegan would be ineligible to play until after she had forked out $70 for his kit.

Unwilling to take the disappointment lying down, she has been displaying banners about the school’s actions in front of her house. The latest reads: “Berlin football - shame shame - we don’t play those kind of games!”

The Sandusky Register reports that Mrs Ortner launched her protest after the school refused to reimburse her, and has so far declined requests from the school to take it down.