By Adam Allington, St. Louis Public Radio
St. Louis, MO – A popular St. Louis kickball league has been banned from Tower Grove Park in south city.
The St. Louis BigBalls Kickball league includes some 2,500 players, mostly from St. Louis County, on teams with names that can't be repeated on radio.
Tower Grove Park Director John Karel said the park tried to accommodate the league's penchant for lewd behavior and alcohol consumption, but had reached a breaking point.
"When something is consistently showing a pattern of abusive language, public urination, nudity, and disrespect for park rangers we don't have a choice, this thing was getting out of hand," Karel said.
But Ted McCluskey, director of the BigBalls Leagues said the park knew what to expect, and that kickball is the target of a small group of discontented residents.
"It's a beer league, they knew that going in," says McCluskey. "Sometimes people act like fools and we're there to stop it. But when people are sitting on balconies with binoculars looking for incidents they're going to find some."
Two other kickball leagues have not been banned and are still allowed to play games in the park.