A South Side youth football organization is scrambling to salvage the rest of its season after losing access to Chicago Park District fields following a shooting along the sideline at a recent game.
Parents insist neither the shooters nor the victim had anything to do with the team. They gathered Friday night, along with the players and coaches, at the team’s home field in West Chatham Park, 8223 S. Princeton Ave., to protest the Park District’s decision.
The Hell Cats, as the group’s teams are known, also were denied permission to play upcoming games at the private fields of Hales Franciscan High School and De La Salle Institute, parents and coaches said Friday.
For the next two weeks, the team has lined up suburban sites for its games. But the fate of the rest of its schedule is up in the air.
It all started about 1:30 p.m. last Saturday, as the Hell Cats’ team of 7-to-9-year olds played at Mandrake Park, 3858 S. Cottage Grove Ave. During halftime, one parent said, two men approached another at the park and opened fire, hitting him in the left leg and right hip, according to police. The victim was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center in fair condition, police said.
Chicago police officials wouldn’t say if investigators believed the shooting was related to the game or its participants.
Most of the team’s games are played on Park District fields. But Wednesday, team staff said, they found out access to the fields they had booked for this season had been revoked. They weren’t notified; instead, they found out only when they made a routine call to check on the fields.
In response to questions from the Sun-Times, the Park District issued a statement saying the Hell Cats don’t have a “standing permit or partnership agreement” with the district, as equired of all football teams that aren’t part of District programming.
The statement did not address if the group had a permit before the shooting.
The organization has youth football teams for several age levels, and had five different teams competing at the state level last year.
Vaughn Harris, president of the Chicago Hell Cats, said the teams have lost “so much more” than just access to a field.
“It’s not just football,” Harris said. “This is their safe zone, this is their breath of fresh air. This is something different than what their everyday life is.”
Harris was helping run concessions when the shooting occurred about 20 feet away. He said he didn’t understand a move to punish the kids in the wake of an already traumatic event they had nothing to do with.
“Why would you not want to be a safe space for kids?” Harris said. “I thought that’s what the parks were for.”
Marissa Simmons, whose 10-year-old is on the team, said her kids are “doing OK” in the wake of the shooting, and that parents have been trying to give lots of “advice and hugs.”
She said the kids, of their own volition, decided to hold a prayer before practice Tuesday, as their own way of processing what happened.
Simmons took issue with the lack of communication from the parks department. Her ideal solution would see the city working with the team to try and make the parks a better place for all residents.
“Try to work with us to see what the problems are,” Simmons said. “What can we do together to make the community safer and to make this a safe haven for more than just Chatham or Mandrake, but every Chicago Park District park.”
Parents and coaches also want to see longer-term solutions, such as more police officers in parks to deter crime.
Regardless, Harris said, it’s “sad” the group had to hold a news conference to have their voices heard.
“We’re passionate about our kids being treated right because they get treated wrong in life already,” Harris said. “They’re counting on us to be their advocates.”
