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SNOOP DOGG
Peter Klaunzer  /  AP file
Rapper Snoop Dogg performs on the main stage during his concert at the Open Air Festival in Frauenfeld, Switzerland.
TODAY
updated 8/19/2005 1:50:11 PM ET 2005-08-19T17:50:11

A rapper who has already conquered the hip-hop world is now making his mark in sports. Snoop Dogg has started his own youth football league in Los Angeles but, not without some controversy. Other youth groups say Snoop is taking a bite out of their business. NBC News correspondent James Hattori reports.

To most of the world, he's known as Snoop Dogg. To the kids of the Snoop Youth Football League, he's just "coach."

“In spite of what he may sing, I love him because I see that he loves the children," says parent Edwina Tillman.

But now, some are calling Snoop Dogg a bad sport ever since he broke away from the Orange County Junior All-American conference last month and started his own slate of teams.

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Rival teams are struggling, they say, because Snoop Dogg poached their best coaches and players.

"Some of these kids are giving up their dream of playing football because they can't have what those kids over there at [the] Snoop League have," says Cheri Williams of the Long Beach Poly Junior Athletic Association.

The rap star is also offering financial incentives to parents. Snoop's league costs them half of what other leagues charge to play.

"Snoop created the league into something that's economically feasible for lower-income families and single parent homes who couldn't afford to play in existing leagues," says Haamid Wadood, a coach in the Snoop Youth Football League.

While supporters say he's simply trying to do what's best for the kids, critics say he's unfairly changing the rules to give his players gridiron glory.

But for now, Snoop is still the top dog.

© 2012 MSNBC Interactive.  Reprints

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