Growth in youth sports strains facility capacities

Local News

January 22, 2010

Anonymous The Zope Gazette Fri Jan 22, 2010, 04:44 PM CST

By David Wilfong

Herald-Banner Staff

At present in Royse City there are two youth football leagues, and indications are that there is a third one on the way. The down side is that there is only one actual field for the youngsters to play on, that being the former home of the RCHS Bulldogs located on FM 1777.

According to RCISD Superintendent Randy Hancock, the field is currently at it's absolute full use for game times, being divided between youth leagues and the school district's own needs. An added league would, in effect, shorten the amount of time the field would be usable by the teams already playing there.

The issue was a hot debate during the school board's meeting last Monday night, with representatives of both current leagues attending along with others who came along for moral support.

Spencer Gilbert, president of the Royse City Amateur Sports Association, was the first to address the board. Gilbert is also a high school football coach in Terrell and stressed the importance of his team's competition against future opponents in the Rockwall, Rowlett, Mesquite and Garland areas.

Mike Price, the commissioner for the Royse City Youth Association also addressed the board. He stated that his organization has 230 children that need to use the field. He also stated that his organization routinely fills the stands at the older stadium for the team competitions.

"My organization's 28 years old," Price said. "Been in Royse City all that time, playing on that field."

Price noted the various local organizations that participate and benefit from his league's home games. He added that people coming in from out of town to compete with his teams are contributors to the local economy as well.

Price did state that his organization is looking to buy property in the area for an expansion of play options.

Later during the action item segment of the meeting. Hancock addressed the issue stating that the school district is not planning on reducing the availability of playing times for the athletic facility, but that the time will now have to be divided between three leagues instead of two.

"We all know that October was a brutal month for rain," Hancock recalled. "Between your use of that field and our use of that field, we just about destroyed the field. It was a very unusual year, and we recognize that, and we know that. However, we also know that we're putting a lot of kids on that field a lot of days."

In essence, each of the two existing leagues will have to make room for the newer league.

There was no representative of that league present at the meeting.

The board asked that the administrators of each league, who have already received the schedule of available dates, meet together and work out a schedule amongst themselves and come back to the board with their compromise.

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