Providence Cobras Alums Speak Out in Support of Councilman and Coach Kevin Jackson

Providence Cobras Alums Speak Out in Support of Councilman and Coach Kevin Jackson

Members of the Providence Cobras Track Club family are speaking out in support of long-time coach and Providence City Councilman Kevin Jackson, who was arrested on Wednesday, May 11. 

The Rhode Island State Police allege Jackson embezzled over $127,000 from the urban youth track and field club over a six year span; Jackson maintained his innocence following his appearance at District Court this week. 

“I’m sorry to hear something happened. From what I knew from a personal perspective, Kevin spared no expense in allowing these kids to achieve, and get the experience they needed. We were truly grateful. There's no other program like it,” said Vanessa Dailey Harris, whose daughter Dakota is a Cobras alum — and an All-American and graduate of the University of Miami this year and competing in the U.S. Olympic Trials this summer. 

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From Running with the Cobras to “Running this Town”

Cobras alum and Providence resident Anthony Sanders said while he didn’t start track and field until his senior year in high school, it was an unrelated event in which he first met Jackson.

“Prior to my becoming a part of the Cobras, we had a local singing group, and we won chance to perform at a skating event in East Providence,” said Sanders. “Jackson helped us purchase outfits so we didn't go there looking like bums, and that's something I just remembered now after all these years. It was just something that he did. Looking back now, it was a great act of kindness.”

“Kevin meant a lot to me, and he still does,” says Sanders. “This is why this hurts. I know he’s innocent until proven otherwise.  To me, there are a lot of gray areas behind the scenes that I don’t know about.  I just know that Kevin is a mentor and a friend.”

Sanders said that when he first began competing with the Cobras his senior year in high school, it was the chance to fly on a plane for the first time that was one of the experiences that stood out.

“The coaches told us if we performed well [at regionals], we’d go to the national meet in Phoenix,” said Sanders. “I was excited but concerned, my brother and I came from a single parent home. They said don’t worry about it, we’ve got it covered, just do your best.  And we went -- both my brother and myself.  They fed us, they made sure we were safe, all those things.”

Sanders, who went on to study at Northeastern, said that Jackson was instrumental in helping him apply and get into the school. Now, Sanders runs his own running club in Providence for adults.

“I like to say ‘We Run This Town’ is a child of the Cobras,” said Sanders of the masters-level program.

From Cobras to Olympic Trials

Harris said that the Cobras program helped to provide opportunities for the athletes that would not have otherwise had the opportunity.

“The program itself was pretty much fully funded by the Cobras organization, so it was a service to the community, to enable children who didn't have the ability to take on the costs of training and traveling themselves,” said Harris. “For me, it was win-win.”

“From a sports perspective, that program truly helped my Dakota with the introduction to track and field, where she developed a love for jumping,” said Harris of her daughter, who holds the Rhode Island record for the high jump. “Without the experience of the Cobras, this might not have been a track she would have gone down, so to speak.”

“The Providence Cobras allowed them go out of state. Every year they went to Duke [University], where they got another level of competition. They competed at AAU and USTAF meets.  She was able to go to nationals quite a few times with the Cobras,” said Harris. “And they underwrote all of it.  Based of the number of kids, they would take up to twenty kids at at time on trips.”

“I’m hoping that this is just an allegation,” said Harris, of Jackson’s arrest. “Kevin was nothing but positive and honest.”

Keeping Kids Off the Streets 

Cobras alum Stacey Smith grew up in Mt. Hope and went on to compete at Ohio State. 

“I started with the Cobras in 1984-85, having Kevin there and as my high school coach at Hope. He taught me how to throw the shot,” said Smith. “He was a counselor at the [YMCA], he really put himself out there in a predominantly black part of town. He wasn't very welcomed at first, but he gained the trust of the community. He means a lot to us, his athletes -- and at our age now, we're not athletes, we’re just his friends.”

“I directly relate everything in my college success to what I learned from high school and the Cobras,” said Smith. “All the kids on the Cobras, we all grew up together, and that kept us out of trouble. We all had the same goals and ideals and a large part of that is due to the coaches.”