After School Sports Programs

By Larry Sweeney, Jr.

The need to continue providing and encouraging a venue for our children to enrich their bodies , as well as their minds, must have the support of the Board.

Little League, baseball, football, soccer, basketball, cheerleading, all encourage youth participation. To ensure the facilities they currently use will always be available to them, the Board must keep these properties in our community.  

Many of these leagues have made tremendous improvements to our facilities and fields. They have installed sprinklers, built bleachers, dugouts, fences and sheds. They paint and maintain these improvements. These same facilities are used by the schools during the day through out the school year.

CYO Basketball provides a structured environment for the youth of Fremont to participate in an excellent and popular basketball league.

These programs provide hours of enjoyment for the children, parents, families and community. They are all a shining example of the benefits of children's team sports. They provide, as well, a perfect venue for Fremont's children to learn about cooperation, teamwork, leadership, practice, and friendship. These programs allow many within our community to spend quality time with our children, as well as providing a safe and nourishing environment in which to grow.

Recently, the Board enacted a plan to charge these groups a fee for use of the very fields and courts they have improved by the donation of their time and funds. The projected revenue from this scheme would realize less than 1/10 of 1% of the total District budget.

At a time when many communities are struggling to provide quality after school programs for their children, as well as trying to figure out how to fund these needs, our School Board decided to charge our children a fee to participate in the thriving programs they and their parents helped develop!

Youth baseball, football, soccer, basketball, and cheerleading should be able to use these facilities free of charge, after posting the appropriate bond and insurance, meeting the District requirements.

The School Board is currently investigating strategies which would engage our students after school. We already have some of the most successful and encompassing programs in place. Let's not lose this golden opportunity to gain public trust and support!  We need to encourage our community involvement in the already available after school sports programs.

We should not "slap the very hands" that provided countless hours of support, coaching, building, and mentoring.