BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Bradford County and City of Starke officials are trying to build support for a sports commission that would coordinate investments in government-owned sports facilities and work to bring sports tourism to the area.
Bradford County Commissioner Danny Riddick told members of the Tourist Development Council on April 17 that he had been in preliminary discussions with City of Starke Chief Administrative Officer Jimmy Crosby, Starke City Commissioner Scott Roberts, and County Manager Scott Kornegay about the idea.
Crosby told the county tourism panel that improving the city’s Edwards Road Sports Complex is the only way to attract out-of-town teams to participate in tournaments at the park.
“We are lacking the quality compared to other communities,” he said.
Crosby said that during a recent tournament at the complex, the sewer system was overwhelmed by the number of people using the restrooms. He added that Starke is installing a six-inch sewer line to expand the complex’s wastewater capacity.
“Now, the city’s spending about $150,000 already on just maintenance to keep things up,” he said of the park’s sewer line and other improvements. Crosby said other urgent needs at the park include improvements or repairs to fencing and lighting.
The Starke official asked tourist development council members to reconsider their longstanding policy of only funding advertising for county events and to broaden the scope of the council’s funding to include investments in sports infrastructure.
“So, I understand it’s a paradigm shift, and I know you are not going to want to act on it today, but I think you need to assume the potential of what can happen,” he said.
Not enough toilets
TDC Chair John Miller noted in a memo circulated to council members that Braxton Britt of Bradford Youth Athletics, Inc., brought in 12 teams from Georgia, Tampa, Lakeland, Clay, and Alachua counties for a youth baseball tournament in March. The tournament attracted 800 people and booked 24 hotel rooms.
The memo also reported that three tournaments in April were to attract 82 teams from the same areas.
In the memo, Britt said he had to rent two port-a-potties for $300 to handle the restroom demand at one of his tournaments.
“Lots of ladies and just not enough seats for them all,” Britt wrote. “Almost like waiting in line at a concert for the bathroom.”
Britt also claimed that with additional improvements to the Edwards Road facility, he could book 24 events in 2026, resulting in an economic impact of $300,000.
Crosby told the TDC that his vision for sports tourism in the county is too big for the tourist development council to handle alone and proposed a partnership with other entities like the county and municipalities.
“Once the conversation starts, we need to move on it pretty quick,” he said, “or it’ll fall apart.”
County Manager Scott Kornegay added that another reason to move fast on the idea is that budget season is approaching for local governments.
“So, now’s the time to get a line item in the budget to commit to this, if we have some assurance that we’re all on the same page.”
A great athletic program for the county and city combined
Riddick said he had discussed the idea of a county-wide sports organization with his fellow county commissioners, who instructed him to gather more information about the concept.
“We’re trying to come up— and team up together to have one athletic program for Bradford County to do soccer, flag football, baseball, softball,” he said. “We’ve got racquetball courts down there. You’ve got a skateboard park. You’ve got a pickleball court.”
He added that he and Kornegay, Crosby, and Roberts plan to meet with eight community leaders on May 5th to advance the idea further.
“We’re going to meet,” he said, “put this together and see what is the best way to move forward to make this a great athletic program with the city and the county combined.”
