Category: Sports

COLUMBIA – Alex Oakes has two kids who attend Blythewood schools and play in Richland County’s youth lacrosse league. Sean King has another.

Their children are among the 31 county youths who compete weekly in a sport where the only thing faster than action on the field is lacrosse’s growth in popularity. The league is doing well with both teams undefeated.

But it’s action off the field that’s threatening to turn the league into a spectator sport.

In the latest faceoff involving Richland County recreation, a dispute over lacrosse matches at Meadowlake Park has some Blythewood parents crying foul over a county councilwoman’s effort to stop the games.

“There are a lot of kids who are getting scholarships from this sport,” Oakes, a resident of Ashley Oaks, said. “A lot of schools are adding this sport to their program.”

Things reached a boiling point on April 22.

About 45 minutes into Saturday’s competition, Richland County Councilwoman Gwen Kennedy arrived, saying she had received complaints from some Meadowlake residents about the lacrosse competition.

Kennedy said players and parents weren’t authorized to be there.

League organizers said they told Kennedy they sought and received formal permission to use the field from the Richland County Recreation Commission, which for the time being remains under state control.

That’s when, parents say, Kennedy pledged to lobby for an end to lacrosse once recreation commission control returns to Richland County.

“Everyone was kind of stunned,” King said. “People asked if we got it on video, but we were just in shock. We didn’t think to document her behavior.”

Kennedy acknowledges she supports the county taking over recreation, but denies voicing any political motivations in the lacrosse dispute aside from addressing constituent concerns. She said the lacrosse games were interfering with their ability to enjoy the park.

“Nobody contacted them (homeowners) that it might interrupt activities. Nobody knew what was going on,” Kennedy, who represents part of Blythewood, told The Voice. “There were 20 cars out there and nobody knew what was going on.

“Furthermore, there was nobody there from the [Meadowlake] area playing on the teams,” she continued. “Why were they here from Lexington in Meadowlake Park, taking up space where the kids are playing football?”

King said there were players from Lexington and Irmo-Chapin present because they’re among three teams that compete in doubleheaders. Richland County is the other. He also said Meadowlake Park is a public park, not a private facility only open to certain people.

King also disputes the assertion that lacrosse hindered park access. He noted at the time, three baseball fields were completely empty, and there were people walking around the track that circles the lacrosse field.

“How can kids using facilities run through the county and sanctioned by the recreation commission be a negative thing?” King said. “We had 31 kids playing who are all residents of Richland County. Four live in Ms. Kennedy’s district.”

While the outburst seems like an isolated incident, concerned parents fear it’s indicative of larger problems they say still loom large over Richland County recreation.

James Brown III, the commission’s former executive director, was indicted in October 2016 on charges of misconduct in office and intimidation of a state’s witness.

The case is still pending, according to the Richland County Public Index.

A month later, former Gov. Nikki Haley issued an executive order authorizing the ejection of five of seven recreation commission members amid complaints of nepotism and neglect of duty.

The state later set up a committee to review applications for the board, a process that’s still in place.

Several bipartisan bills calling for the state to devolve oversight of the commission to Richland County Council have been filed in the General Assembly. But they all remained stalled in committee as of press time.

Since the state takeover, parents say the commission has been functioning with professionalism. Some contend Kennedy’s outburst was more about politics and reflective of her personal agenda to take control of the commission.

“I think it’s about nepotism, I think it’s about trying to put their pursuits, friends, families in the forefront of their own agenda,” Oakes said. “I think her (Kennedy’s) agenda is that she wants to be in control. She doesn’t like the fact she has constituents in Meadowlake that call and complain, and she can’t do anything about it.”

Kennedy acknowledges she’s eager for the commission to fall under county control, but she denies charges of nepotism and politics.

“Certainly if we’re going to pay that much money for the parks, sure I’m in favor of controlling it (the commission),” Kennedy said. “It’s the manner in which it (lacrosse) was done. It was not inclusive.”