Sports

Springfield Youth Home Opener on Turf Field Draws Mixed Reviews

Parents liken using field without clock or PA system to 'eating cake without the icing.'

The following is a letter to the editor:

It started out as an exciting and much-anticipated day for the Springfield Jr. Dawgs first home opener, but turned out to be a bit of a disappointment, as they were welcomed to their new facility with no score board or clock, no PA system, and locked gates that not only made it very inconvenient to get to the field or visitor stands, but drew complaints from the opposing town's parents as they had to walk a great distance to get to their seats. (It also most likely hurt sales at the Snack Shack as the visitors were not taking the hike back over once they reached their seats.)

Conversations could be heard throughout the healthy crowd (100 to 125 people), which showed up in force to help support the 8 to 12 year olds, about how beautiful the field was but how little the school or town seemed to care about the youth programs which were someday going to be "feeder" programs for the high school.

According to a source, the youth program was told that they would need to pay for someone to run the clock. Although that didn't seem fair, it was not a big deal - the program agreed to pay for the use of the score board. After all, it's for the kids.

Then they were told that they needed a "district employee" - of which there are only four people - to run the clock. Supposedly, the Athletic Director sent the emails out on Friday, which we all knew wouldn't get anyone in time. The PA system - we won't dare guess what the qualifications are to use that  - maybe have a Ph D in Broadcast Journalism?

The good part to Sunday is that the Jr Dawgs had a great day with E Team (3rd & 4th Grade) playing a great game against New Providence. And both the C (6th & 7th grade) and D (4th & 5th grade) Teams won their games. Sad part is that the field, that was supposed to be for all the children in Springfield, wasn't used the way these children (or their parents) thought it would be used. It was kind of like eating cake without the icing!

-- Jr Dawgs Parents


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