Central Eastern Connecticut Athletic Association, Inc.
PO Box 105
Hebron, CT 06248
______
May 20, 2007
Ms. Karen Strid
Chairman
Hebron Board of Selectman
15 Gilead Street
Hebron, CT06248
Re: Acquisition of Athletic Field Space
Dear Ms. Strid:
I am writing this letter as a resident of the Town of Hebron and as a member of the Board of Directors for the Central Eastern Connecticut Athletic Association, Inc. (CECAA) to request your assistance and any available information you may have regarding the policies and procedures for requesting athletic field space in the Town of Hebron. As you may be aware, CECAA, Inc. is currently operating a boys youth lacrosse program composed of six teams in the Town of Hebronwith limited field access at RHAMHigh Schoolbecause no Hebron town fields were made available for use. We also operatea regional girls program composed of three teams, with more than half of the participants living in Hebron.This program was forced to use field spaceexclusively in Colchester because there was not adequate field space in Hebron. Your support and attempt to provide some athletic field space during the first two years of these programs is well appreciated, however, there is still a great need for additional or alternative field space.
As these programs have become more popular, youth registration has increased for both the boys and girls programs. Unfortunately, because of our increased registration and corresponding team numbers, the boys youth program has been forced to severely limit home games and several practices due to the lack of available field space resulting from conflicts with other town sports programs. In addition, as stated before, the girls youth program has been forced to practice and play games on alternative athletic fields, out of town, because of the limited field space available.
These situationsare the result of several factors including the numerous youth sports teams with which the boys and girls team must compete for athletic field space and the physical field size made available. On more than one occasion, over forty youth boys lacrosse players have been forced to practice on a field that is equivalent in size to one-half of a soccer field. In addition, the field size requirementsfor girls youth lacrosse, especially the older girls (7th and 8th Grade),is larger, and more space (both behind the goals and on the side-lines) is required for a regulation field.
Lacrosse is the fasting growing youth sport in the United States. Based on a survey conducted by US Lacrosse, participation between the years of 2001 and 2006 has doubled to half of a million participants. Following this trend, CECAA, Inc. has seen participant numbers double from last year to this year. The game is unique when compared to other spring youth sports because the number of participants remains high, even among older age groups. In part, this may be attributed to the ability of lacrosse programs to accommodate larger team sizes with varying skill levels.
Therefore, in an effort to ensure equal and adequate athletic field space for the boys and girls youth lacrosse programs in the Town of Hebron, we respectfully request the necessary information regarding policies concerning field use, and procedures required to formally request and secure athletic field space in the Town of Hebron. We are very proud of the accomplishments and progress made by our youth lacrosse programs and wish to ensure that all participants, both boys and girls, are provided with access to appropriate athletic field space in order to safely participate in the sport of lacrosse. We make this request in an attempt to work cooperatively with and gain access equivalent to that of other sports.
Thank you very much for your cooperation and attention.
Sincerely,
Theodore E. Bromley
______Chris DiPasquale – President (Hebron) ● Erica Bromley – Treasurer (Hebron)
Sue Trama – Secretary (Colchester) ● Ted Bromley – Board of Directors (Hebron)
Tracy Loskant – Board of Directors (Colchester) ● Kathy Scott – Board of Directors (Colchester)
Mark Schauster – Board of Directors (Hebron) ● Darcy Izzarelli – Board of Directors (Hebron)