Coaches, residents raise ethical concerns about O’Fallon youth soccer club merger

Local coaches and residents have expressed concern about discounted field rental rates at the O’Fallon Family Sports Park, inequity in other clubs’ playing time, and conflicts of interest within the Parks and Recreation Department after potential legal action came to light.

The city announced a merger between its youth soccer club, KiXX United FC, with Metro East Legacy FC of Belleville on April 6, to form Metro Alliance.

Mayor Herb Roach responded that an investigation will take place.

“As we move forward, we will make every effort to make sure that there will be transparency in any actions involving the city of O’Fallon,” Roach said.

“There is a lot of inaccurate information and incomplete information being spread,” he said.

“There have been several misleading statements by people opposing this merger. Many of these comments have come from people who have an interest in seeing these merged clubs fail and others from people who have been misled by inaccurate statements,” Roach said in a statement to the BND.

“One such statement was the rate that the fields were going to be rented for. At this point there is no agreed upon price. I can assure you that no one on the board of the new Metro Alliance FC will be paid any salary for their involvement. They are all volunteering their time and energy,” Roach said.

Metro Alliance is expected to draw 800 youth to participate, organizers said, ranging in age from 5-18. That would mean about 70-75 teams, depending on tryouts, which began Tuesday, May 11. The two clubs had been working for six months on the merger.

“KiXX and LEGACY clubs have built two premier youth soccer programs over the past two decades,” said Mary Jeanne Hutchison, O’Fallon director of parks and recreation, in the announcement. “By combining our strengths, we are now creating a new powerhouse that will provide greater opportunities for our current and future players.”

Games would be played at both the Family Sports Park and the Belle-Clair Soccer Park, which has 10 fields combined — 10 all-weather and eight premium grass fields.

The Family Sports Park soccer complex fields have been used by KiXX, Metro East Legacy, Gateway Rush and St. Louis Scott Gallagher Illinois on a regular basis in fall and spring. Softball and baseball games use diamonds there in summer.

The state-of-the-art soccer complex was part of the Destination O’Fallon proposal in 2016, an economic incentive to attract regional and national tournaments. It was funded by a 4% increase in the city’s hotel/motel tax, which was at 5% five years ago. The council approved Destination O’Fallon in November, which also included plans for the downtown plaza, now O’Fallon Station. Seven new turf fields were installed at the Family Sports Park in 2017, along with new bathrooms and parking lots. The cost was $4.58 million.

An attorney for Gateway Rush soccer club had recently sent letters to aldermen about possible legal action, which was discussed in an executive session during the May 3 O’Fallon City Council meeting.

Joe Reiniger is the executive director of Gateway Rush, a regional soccer club based in Troy. They use fields in O’Fallon and Caseyville. He said it was a taxpayer issue, not a soccer issue.

“This is not personal. All we want is equitable access to the fields,” he said.

He declined to comment further on the advice of their attorney.

Reiniger said he grew up in Caseyville, played soccer for Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and for the professional soccer teams — St. Louis Ambush and Steamers. Gateway Rush was formed in 2005, and there are players and coaches from O’Fallon.

Hutchison also declined to comment, referring questions to City Administrator Walter Denton. She did say: “We are transparent.”

Citizens expressed their concerns after soccer coach Keith Hamm shared his outrage in a Facebook post on the O’Fallon IL closed group page.

Titled “O’Fallon IL residents be aware of the back door deals your O’Fallon city officials are making!!!”, he said the soccer fields would not be leased in a fair manner, a city asset — KiXX United soccer club — was not sold but merged with another club and accused city employees of spending time on a non-city business.

“There was no public notice and there was never an opportunity for anyone to bid on the purchase of KiXX. By government standards, all assets owned by municipalities to be disposed of are required to be put up for bid to the public. Even though the KiXX program was an asset of the city of O’Fallon, it was not offered for public sale before merging with Legacy to form Metro Alliance.

More from soccer coach Hamm

“Giving this asset (KiXX United FC) away like this is no different than giving away a fleet of work trucks just because you don’t want them any more. If the asset has value, the city has a responsibility to sell and use that money for the city or taxpayer’s best interest,” Hamm wrote.

Hamm said the Parks Department was required to contribute $15,000 to Metro Alliance and pay half of the initial expenditures incurred in the formation and management until Metro Alliance is financially self-sufficient.

“City residents could be subsidizing and managing the day-to-day operations of this club for years to come,” Hamm said.

Hutchison signed an agreement to form Metro Alliance on March 22, he said. A four-year lease with the Belle-Clair Soccer League, doing business as Metro Alliance, to lease five fields at the Sports Park on Monday-Thursday, from 5-9:30 p.m. was signed in April.

Hamm, who coached for KiXX and coaches for Gateway Rush, followed up on Sunday, May 10: “It is clear after my initial post, that many city officials were not aware of any of this. I am not pointing fingers, not blaming anyone. But much of this should not be happening,” he said.

“Our Gateway Rush members have talked with most of the O’Fallon aldermen and it is clear that they do not know the full extent of what is happening inside the O’Fallon Parks Department. Remember that this merger and the long-term lease occurred without council approval,” he said.

No comment from O’Fallon aldermen

Alderman Todd Roach said, because of the threat of potential litigation, city attorney Todd Fleming has asked aldermen not to comment on the matter.

“I will say the issue has been raised and discussions have begun to investigate the claims made in this post plus others,” Todd Roach said. “I am very troubled by the claims that have been made, but also understand that there are often multiple sides to every story so I look forward to a complete and thorough investigation and will push for that to occur.”

Hutchison announced the merger to aldermen during a Committee of the Whole meeting March 29. The council has not taken any action on it.

The city’s Parks and Environment Committee met April 12 — after the merger was announced. Hutchison told the committee the revenue for the turf fields would increase by about $30,000, the fields are separate from the club, the city would manage the day-to-day business and she was on the board.

O’Fallon mayor provides background

KiXX was formed in 2005, with about six teams and about 70-75 players. Last year, they had about 33 teams with 390 players. They competed in the Southern Illinois Soccer League and St. Louis Youth Soccer Association leagues and were members of the Illinois Youth Soccer Association.

The mayor said prior to KiXX being formed there were no competitive soccer teams in O’Fallon.

“As with all our park programs, the city’s priority with soccer has been to provide opportunities for O’Fallon and nearby families. Prior to KiXX, O’Fallon families had to go out of town to play select soccer. The Parks and Recreation Department started the KiXX soccer club to fill the void and provide opportunities for O’Fallon families to play soccer in O’Fallon with their friends,” Herb Roach said.

“When our current turf soccer fields were authorized in 2016, another aspect was brought into the equation and that was the economic impact that it would have on our community and local businesses. It was built into the plan that the revenue that the new fields brought in would not only help our local businesses but would generate additional revenue for the city through rental of the fields, hotel taxes and other sales tax generated by the hundreds of families that attend major tournaments,” he said.

Budget figures from KiXX

“When field use agreements are made, it takes into consideration not only the rental of fields but, how much income will be derived from tournaments that the teams will have and how many families attending these tournaments will be utilizing our hotels and other business. The attendance at these tournaments generates revenue not just for our businesses but also benefits the city through various taxes. In a given year, these tournaments can produce hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional revenue,” he said.

“That being said, it has never been the city’s priority to make money off the KiXX program but rather to provide a program for the youth of O’Fallon which can aide them in improving their athletic skills, and developing sportsmanship, leadership and teamwork,” Herb Roach said.

According to recent budget figures, revenue from KiXX was $356,864.70 in 2018 and $441,510.34 in 2019. Last year, $375,162.20 was recorded.

Parks Committee Meeting

Rick Artime, a soccer coach for Gateway Rush, read a prepared statement at the city’s Parks and Environment Committee meeting Monday, May 10.

Both Hutchison and Superintendent of Recreation Andrew Dallner have children who played in the KiXX soccer club and now will play in Metro Alliance. Hutchison serves on the board as vice president; Dallner was a KiXX coach and will be one in the new league.

Artime said Hutchison is using city time to run a private business, which is a conflict of interest. He said Hutchison and Dallner have influence over who rents the fields and schedules the fields.

He talked of the fiduciary responsibility to citizens and taxpayers “to bring in as much money as possible to better the city of O’Fallon.”

He noted the regular rental fee of $80 for the soccer fields, but Metro Alliance would be charged $35 less — $45. He claimed bias and preferential treatment.

Metro Alliance Merger

The mayor said the merger continued its family focus. It was the city’s desire to provide more opportunities for O’Fallon families and to drive more support for local businesses.

“This merger will help O’Fallon soccer players to play in O’Fallon vs. having to travel to St. Louis for practices and games,” he said.

“The merger of KiXX with Metro East Legacy continues to proceed. All agreements and processes are being thoroughly reviewed before a final agreement is reached. This includes any payments made by O’Fallon or to O’Fallon for any services rendered to the organization,” Herb Roach said in his statement to the BND.

In the April 6 announcement, Herb Roach said:

“We are so excited that Metro Alliance has taken the first step to becoming a youth soccer powerhouse in Southern Illinois. We are looking forward to the long-term relationship of this merged club and the opportunities that it will provide to the youth of O’Fallon and the surrounding communities. We are also working closely with this new club to shape a long-term agreement that will benefit not only youth sports, but also the residents, businesses, and visitors of O’Fallon.”

Remarks from Metro Alliance president

Chris Lashley, president of Metro Alliance, said as a former soccer player, the game helps build self-esteem and self-confidence while also instilling the values of respect, responsibility and good sportsmanship.

“Interest in soccer continues to grow throughout America. With a new Major League Soccer expansion franchise gearing up for play just across the river in Missouri, we expect youth interest in soccer to be at an all-time high in Southern Illinois over the next several years,” Lashley said.

I’m excited to work hand-in-hand with Mayor Roach, the O’Fallon City Council, and others to maximize the value of the sport not only for our residents but for businesses and visitors of the area, as well,” he said.