Lacrosse league protests field cancelations
Annandale Youth Lacrosse, a program under the umbrella of the Annandale Boys & Girls Club, had already had a game schedule approved for this spring, then learned three of their dates were canceled without warning. The league is fighting back.
The league submitted their permit applications in September to the Park Authority and were given a schedule on Feb. 15 that assigned their games to Annandale High School, said Chris Johnson, ABGC’s boys lacrosse commissioner.
Then on March 7, the Athletic Services Community Use Scheduling branch of the Fairfax County Department of Neighborhood and Community Services told Annandale Youth Lacrosse that three of their game dates – May 10, 24, and June 14 – were canceled without an explanation.
Those dates were given to the DC Divas, a women’s full-contact football program.
“It seems someone at Fairfax County overrode the decision by the Park Authority,” Johnson said. “We want to know how this happened and why.” Lacrosse parents have mobilized to fight the loss of their field. They’ve sent emails to members of the Board of Supervisors and scheduled meetings with them for next week.
“The crazy thing is the DC Divas are an adult league based in Maryland and funded by a nonprofit in Texas,” Johnson said. They don’t meet the eligibility requirements for using school athletic fields. The fields are restricted to nonprofit organizations based in Fairfax County, and 75 percent of the players on their roster are not Fairfax County residents. They’re also selling tickets to their games at Annandale High School.
What’s more, Darryl Overton, the Hayfield High School football coach, who resigned after being accused of recruitment violations, is now the offensive coordinator for the DC Divas. “Nothing about this is kosher,” Johnson said.
Annandale Youth Lacrosse has about 200 players – boys and girls – in grades K-8. The kids attend schools in the Annandale, Falls Church, Justice, Woodson, and Lake Braddock pyramids.
To date, Annandale Youth Lacrosse has not been assigned a replacement field.
The cancelations not only affect Annandale Lacrosse, but also disrupt the master schedule developed by the Northern Virginia Youth Lacrosse League.
“For the life of me, I cannot understand how a Fairfax County nonprofit that serves the children of our community can be displaced by a professional Maryland sports team on a Fairfax County owned and operated field,” Johnson wrote in a March 7 email to parents.
“This is not an isolated incident,” he said. Annandale Youth Lacrosse, along with several other local youth organizations, faced a similar situation at Falls Church High School last spring. “Initially, we were informed that construction would prevent us from using the field, but we later discovered that the DC Divas were granted exclusive access to that same field.”
Annandale Youth Lacrosse had to finish the season on other fields. That was inconvenient as the goals, scoreboard, and other equipment had to be continually relocated, he said.
In an email to Supervisors Andres Jimenez (Mason), Pat Herrity (Springfield), and James Walkinshaw (Braddock) and Board Chair Jeffrey McKay, ABGC Lacrosse Commissioner Stacy Natoli requested immediate action to reinstate the previously approved permits.
It is clear that someone above the Park Authority “authorized these field allocations, despite the fact that these fields are taxpayer-funded and intended to support local community programming,” Natoli said.
She urged the Board of Supervisors to conduct “a formal review of Fairfax County’s field allocation policies, ensuring that nonprofit, community-based youth sports programs are not displaced in favor of external, professional leagues.”
On March 11, a county representative advised Annandale Youth Lacrosse that they can use the field at Annandale High School on May 10. The DC Divas, however, still have the other two dates.
