I’ve played on a lot of teams.
Basketball teams.
Church league teams.
Kickball teams.
Business teams.
I’ve even been part of group projects where one person did all the work while the other three somehow got an A.
And through all of that, I’ve learned one thing: the best teams usually win.
Now, that doesn’t mean the best individual players always win. We’ve all seen teams with the biggest or tallest stars go home early.
It means the groups that learn how to communicate, sacrifice, trust one another, and pull in the same direction usually end up holding the trophy. Shout-out to the New York Knicks. I still can’t believe it.
Fairfield County could learn a thing or two from a good basketball team. Because we’ve got talent.
We’ve got seven County Council districts. We’ve got town councils in Ridgeway and Winnsboro.
We’ve got public schools, private schools, and charter schools.
We’ve got churches on just about every corner. We’ve got so many churches that the trees are starting to get nervous.
We’ve got farmers, teachers, entrepreneurs, retirees, tradespeople, first responders, and young people full of ideas.
The problem isn’t that we don’t have enough players. Sometimes it feels like we’re all running different plays.
Meanwhile, all around us, communities are growing.
Blythewood continues to expand.
Lexington and Chapin have exploded over the past two decades.
Camden and Lugoff keep attracting families.
Newberry celebrates its identity while finding ways to grow.
Columbia keeps moving.
Lancaster and Chester continue looking toward the future.
Everybody is trying to figure out how to win. And Fairfield County sits right in the middle of opportunity.
We’ve got I-77, land, lakes, history, and we’ve got people worth betting on. We’ve even started seeing examples of teamwork closer to home.
Fairfield County, Winnsboro, and Ridgeway have partnered together on major infrastructure projects because they recognized that some challenges are simply too big for one community to tackle alone.
That’s wisdom.
What else could happen if we kept expanding the huddle?
What if neighboring communities learned from one another more intentionally?
What if counties stopped viewing each other as competitors and started acting like teammates?
After all, people cross county lines every day for work, church, school events, doctor’s appointments, and football games. The success of one community often spills over into another. Maybe our thinking should too.
Now, before anybody panics, teamwork doesn’t mean everybody agrees. It means remembering that the person across the table isn’t the enemy.
It means borrowing good ideas no matter where they come from. It means caring less about whose idea it was and more about whether it actually helps people. Because most of us want the same things.
Safe neighborhoods.
Good schools.
Roads that don’t require an alignment every other oil change.
More opportunities to earn a good living.
A reason for our children and grandchildren to come back home.
A little fun every now and then.
Those aren’t Republican values. Those aren’t Democratic values. Those are people values.
I don’t want Fairfield County to win at Winnsboro’s expense. I don’t want Ridgeway to win at Blair’s expense.
I don’t want South Carolina counties competing against one another while everybody else figures out how to work together.
I want us to become known as the place that figured out how to pull in the same direction.
The place where churches partnered; schools shared ideas; businesses invested; and communities celebrated each other’s victories.
Because at the end of the day, it’s not you versus me, left versus right, or us versus them. It’s us for us. We for we.
Now let’s get in the huddle and start acting like a team.
Kenny Robertson, an educator and comedian, is a native of Ridgeway.