ABC7 I-Team helps local children's soccer club get $11K refund from abruptly-shuttered sports center

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Coach Bill Dekker is the director of the Midwest Wings Soccer Club.

"So, we are now fighting to try to get your money back," Dekker said.

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With the help of the Pullman Community Center, the kids are kicking the balls again after their former sports center shut down in January.

"With no notice or anything, they just close the doors," Dekker said.

Dekker said he had to postpone tournaments, which were days after the closure of the Ho-Chunk Southland Center, a place where they have played for more than 20 years. Then he says a battle started off the field.

"We're out $13,000. And I'm still hopeful that we can work that out because at some point, reasonable people are going to prevail," Dekker said.

Dekker says the Southland Center owed the league $12,742, much of it for time unused on the field.

"We paid for time we didn't use yet, not anticipating whatsoever that they would just pull the rug out from underneath us," Dekker said.

He says the money is needed to keep the ball rolling.

"We collect these fees from these parents and the teams that play in our league. And they trust us to do what we say we're going to do," Dekker said.

He says after inquires and emails where he provided his breakdown of what was owed, the facility's attorneys did agree to give him some money back. Dekker says they initially offered to give $4,200 back, but he did not take it.

So, the ABC7 reviewed Dekker's documents and sent them to the Southland Center. The facility responded to the I-Team saying, "We have been actively working to determine, and process refunds as fairly and efficiently as possible. Our priority has been to handle this process with transparency and fairness."

Southland says Dekker "received a request for necessary information at the same time as everyone else but did not provide the requested details for over a month." The center saying it had to "follow up multiple times on missing information."

Dekker disputes that.

"So, I gave them a sheet that said, this is exactly what we've used so far in our contract and here's what we paid," Dekker said.

Days after sending ABC7 a statement, Southland told Dekker they would change the refund amount. In an email, an attorney offered more, but still disputed Dekker's $12,742 figure. The attorney said, "I calculate that you paid $11,242.50 for reservations that you could not use because of the facility closure."

"And we were able to come up to a fair settlement because of your involvement," Dekker told ABC7's Jason Knowles.

Dekker shared a refund release showing he will be getting a check for $11,242.

"I think they looked at it harder when, you know, the I- Team was involved in taking a look at it, and I think they realized that it was an honest evaluation of what they owed us. And they, you know, they were able to look at the numbers, probably, better, and more objectively," Dekker said.

Dekker says that extra money he was seeking was for money he collected from parents to pay for uniforms and coaches for a different a program which he was unable to be finished because of the closure.

The facility says that did not count for time not used on the field.

The coach says he is happy with the outcome, but that there were additional costs when the facility closed, like money spent on marketing events, which had to be canceled.