RSS 2.0 FeedJuly 15, 2010, Merrick Life
Merrick teams seek fields
Many of Merrick PAL's programs may fold if they cannot play on the CHSD fields.
Newly sworn-in Central High School District board President Nina Lanci got an earful at Tuesday night’s board meeting from Merrick soccer and lacrosse officials who contended that closing five school fields to community groups would deprive hundreds of community kids from participating in sports teams, leaving many of them vulnerable to seeking other activities such as drugs.
In March, the school district’s special Field Committee to study the feasibility of new synthetic turf concluded that the Calhoun, Kennedy and Mepham High School fields should instead be closed to outside useage from traveling community teams for example, and be used only for school football, soccer and lacrosse teams during their seasons. Closing them for use only during the seasons would allow better and stronger grass to grow. Because of budget constraints due to reductions in state aid, the district asserts it is unable to purchase new synthetic fields without the spectre of raising taxes.
The report further concluded that Merrick Avenue and Grand Avenue Middle School fields should be closed as well to community traveling teams and all other sports teams indefinitely. Kids need a chance Those actions have drawn the ire of both community sports team officials and parents. Susan Mandeltort spoke first to the newly reconfigured board – which also included the election of Trustee Dr. Matthew Kuschner as the new Vice-President – to remind them that if it wasn’t for the community traveling teams such as PAL, many kids would not have a chance to play sports because they would never get onto school teams. She implored the board not to close the fields, for the benefit of the kids, or at least delay their closings.
“It’s hard when a child does not make it onto a high school team,” she told Merrick Life afterward, “so without the PAL teams and some structure in their lives they could get involved in drugs such as heroin.” Matt Kurzweil, president of Merrick Travel soccer, then addressed the board, saying that 1,500 kids play soccer in Merrick’s travel teams, and that the teams are being challenged to find fields to play on at the times they need to play.
The teams used Merrick Avenue and Brookside on a regular basis on Sundays. “By closing Merrick Avenue, several hundred kids may not be able to play soccer this year,” if some accommodations can’t be found, said Mr. Matt Kurzweil. With a two-season schedule – one in spring and the other in fall – that needs to be met, he then offered to partner with the board to finds solutions to the scheduling conflicts facing his travel teams. “What can we do to partner with you, fundraise or maintain the fields?” he posed to the board.
Steve Siegal, of the Merrick Travel soccer team, also asked the district to consider delaying the field closings. “We may have to cut from 30-40% of the program and may lose kids to other programs” if the closings went through now, he said.
Not doing their job
John Pinto, former district board member, member of the district’s Field Committee and former North Merrick school board member, then added his lacrosse teams into the mix, saying lacrosse teams play only in spring and that his teams can’t share a field with any other teams because it would be dangerous. Two soccer games can often be played on one field. “We have 200 boys and girls who need a home field come spring,” he said.
He then declared, by referring to the Field Committee report, that the district is “not doing what we said we’d do in the field report. There is no mention of closing five fields in that report. “If we had put in synthetic turf, there would be no need to cancel any programs now,” he continued. He then mentioned that state Assemblywoman Earlene Hooper had a bill close to being presented in the state Legislature that would enable school districts to free up to 60% of their accrued liability funds to use for such items as purchasing synthetic turf. “$3 million would take care of it,” he said.
He complimented the district for its aggressive work in maintaining the Merrick Avenue field during spring, but then noted that with lack of watering, “The grass became burnt and it’s no good right now.” John Scalisi, director of facilities for the district, bristled at the comment, saying that it was a “wiring problem in the well” that had prevented workers from watering the fields. He said there was general agreement at a recent facilities conference that hotter-than-usual weather had stressed many fields around the area, and not much could be done to alleviate that stress. He told the board that the district had begun an organic fertilizer program, and had spread 3,000 pounds of grass seed around the fields so far.
Still, parent Jim Santana expressed dismay over the field situation. “This has been going on with these fields for years,” he exclaimed. “My son broke his toe playing on these fields. It’s a safety issue, and the community is spending money on something that doesn’t work!”
Expressing sympathies
Trustee Susan Schwartz expressed sympathies to the teams on behalf of the board for the potential loss of sporting activities for children. “We are just as frustrated at finding solutions to help the kids, too. We don’t want to have to take the fields away from the teams.” Diane Seaman, immediate past-president of the board, then reached out to both Mr. Scalisi and Saul Lerner, director of physical education, athletics, health and driver education for the district, to instruct them to sit down with members of soccer and lacrosse teams to see how they can accommodate the teams. Mr. Scalisi said that accommodations could certainly be made, but stressed that sacrifices would have to be made across the board.
Mr. Lerner told Merrick Life that there are still 27 fields available for use, but many of them are occupied by permitted teams. He said he would sit down with the soccer and lacrosse team presidents to see when fields are available at which times, but that the teams would have to work their schedules around which fields are available.
Skip Haile, vice-president of Merrick Travel soccer, told Merrick Life after the meeting that he was pleased that the board considered their pleas for working out schedules. “I didn’t think at the beginning of the meeting they would be open,” he said. He maintained that the travel groups were in a position to raise funds to provide for grass seed, or to rake the fields if necessary. “We want to maintain an open dialog with the district,” he concluded, so the difficulties can be shared.