December 26, 2018 Page 3B
Al l orter
forsyth@mymcr.net
About a dozen concerned
parents and coaches at-
tended Monday's recreation
board meeting to voice
their anger over three long-
time volunteer coaches not
being allowed to coach rec
basketball this year.
Family members and
friends of the three coach-
es, Tevin "T.K7 Chambliss,
Kadarius Puckett and
Fred Shannon, demanded
new rec directorLandon
Sparks, assistant rec direc-
tor Kim Pierson or the
three rec board members
in attendance, Ron Ship-
man, Lamarcus Davis and
Melissa Mixon, to tell them
why the coaches were let
go. However, rec employ-
ees rec board members all
declined to answer, saying
they were told by Mon-
roe County attorney Ben
Vaughn not to respond
due to it being a personnel
matter.
Sparks, who said the deci-
sion was "not personal;'
told citizens the coaches
had violated a department
rule but gave no further
specifics. The rec board
members said the nile
had nothing to do with
any actions toward youth
participants and said the
infraction was not related
to inappropriate or abu-
sive language. Sparks said
the three coaches are not
permanently banned and
will be allowed to coach
baseball in the spring if
they want.
Sparks, who said he
made the decision to ban
the coaches, said he told
the three coaches: "Your
services are not needed
for this season because we
could not make you happy
in football:'
However, Puckett's wife,
Jennifer Harris, said the
three coaches received an
e-mail from new county
manager Jim Hedges al-
leging the coaches had
engaged in "gross miscon-
duct'; "insubordination"
and "mistreatment of
clients and co-workers"
When Sparks and rec
board members still would
not speak about the allega-
tions, the coaches' support-
ers defended their perfor-
mance.
One parent, Katie Moore,
said, "These are three of the
best coaches that you have
out here, the most competi-
tive, the best for our kids:'
Another parent, A.J. Rol-
lins, said the only change
at the rec department is
Sparks' recent hiring, not
the three coaches' behavior
or performance.
"We've never had a prob-
lem with these folks be-
fore" Rollins said. "Never:
Rollins' wife Kristin said
she's never seen coaches
who can coach kids as
well as the three banned
coaches. She said the
coaches teach players about
winning and fimdamentals.
She said they also help raise
funds and pick kids up for
practice.
"These kids love them,'
Kristin Rollins said. "They
would rather not even play
at all or play on their team"
Yet another parent, Earl
Hitt, told the rec board
if the three coaches were
banned permanently, it
would be a "terrible dis-
service to this county."
As the 15 minutes of
public comments were
concluding, Moore said
she thought race was the
cause of Sparks' decision
since the new rec director is
white and the three banned
coaches are black.
Moore, who is white said,
"I guarantee you if I came
in here and filled that (vol-
unteer) paperwork out, you
wouldn't turn me down."
When asked why, Moore
replied, "I'm white"
Sparks urged the angry
citizens to appeal his deci-
sion to Monroe County
commissioners and said he
would not discuss further
the matter.
Rec board members
Adam Ham and Kenneth
Mantle were absent from
Monday's meeting. Monroe
County Dep. JeffWilson
was the lone other county
employee in attendance.
Rec board member Lamar-
cus Davis said he was dis-
appointed that no county
representatives were there
to address the concerns.
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Home games with Southern Conference
opponents Chattanooga, VMI, Samford
and Wofford along with a road trip to Cha-
pel Hill to face North Carolina highlight
Mercer's 2019 football schedule.
In conjunction with the release of the
Bears' 2019 schedule, Mercer announced
that season ticket packages for the six
home games will be avail-
able starting on Dec. 19.
Season ticket holders can
renew their packages and
prospective season ticket
holders can purchase pack-
ages by calling the Mercer
Ticket Office at (478) 301-
5470 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday through Friday or
eb r, tingtickets.mercer.
du.
Me~er opens the 2019
campaign on the road with
a SoCon contest at Westem
Caro "lma on Aug. 31. After
the first Of two open dates
for Mercer on Sept. 7, the
Bears welcome non-confer-
ence foe Austin Peay to Five
Star Stadium on Sept. 14 in
their fourth head-to-head
meeting since 2014.
The Bears head to Green-
ville, S.C. to face Furman on
Sept, 21 followed by a pair
of home contests against
Campbell on Sept. 28 and
Chattanooga on Oct. 5. The
meeting with Campbell will
be the first since 2013 when
Mercer recorded a 38-31
win over the Camels in
Buies Creek, N.C.
Following an open date on
Oct. 12, Mercer starts a six-
week span of games by host-
ing VMI on Oct. 19. After a
trip to The Citadel on Oct.
26, the Bears return home
for two straight weeks;
Samford comes to Macon
on Nov. 2 and Wofford visits
Five Star Stadium on Nov. 9.
Back-to-back road games against ETSU
on Nov. 16 and North Carolina on Nov. 23
dose out the regular season. Mercers dash
with the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill will mark
the two programs' second-ever meeting
and first since a 3-0 loss in 1925. The game
will also be Mercers fifth against a FBS op-
ponent since 2016.
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