Smyrna Youth Soccer Players Denied Use of Fields

by Justin Ove

Around 200 young Smyrnans enrolled in a local soccer league can’t find a place to play inside city limits, despite the abundance of taxpayer-funded playing fields.

That’s because another soccer league has an agreement with the City of Smyrna to use the fields, WSB-TV reports.

According to a Smyrna City Council member, the Smyrna Bulldogs Soccer Club at Riverline Park is barred from using public fields because their application was denied by the state’s governing body for youth soccer, a claim their president denies.

Currently, the Smyrna Soccer Club has the city’s blessing to use taxpayer-funded soccer fields like the ones at Riverline Park, while the Bulldogs are in the doghouse.

The president met with Smyrna Mayor Max Bacon last week regarding the issue, and was told the mayor will make a decision soon.

Councilman Wade Lnenicka said he felt it was wrong for any Smyrna resident’s child to be denied use of publicly-funded soccer fields, and said city staff could solve the problem if left to their own devices.

Jennifer Bennett, the city’s communications director, said in a statement that parents and organizers in both groups need to work together to find a solution to the problem.